68 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



the leopard, taking advantage not only of the wind, but 

 of every sheltering bush and tuft of grass, as he crawls 

 along glued flat to the ground. Arrived within con- 

 venient distance, he makes his rush like a flash of light- 

 ning, and has already covered probably half the inter- 

 vening distance ere the unhappy victim has so much 

 as raised its head. The prey is most likely pulled down 

 before it has got into its stride ; but, even should it 

 get a fair start, for the first few hundred yards its pursuer 

 can move at nearly double its pace, and its chance is a 

 slender one. 



Racing up alongside its quarry, the chita springs with 

 unerring aim at the throat, or on to the back, when its 

 weight and the pace at which both are moving bring 

 pursuer and pursued headlong to the ground. The grip 

 of the teeth is never relaxed ; the claws, though they 

 cannot be fixed firmly into the flesh as the leopard's are, 

 nevertheless afford the chita a purchase, and the prey, 

 bitten through the jugular, or with compressed wind- 

 pipe, quickly surrenders its life. 



Chitas are not so regular in returning to their kills 

 as other cats. I think they will often come back once, 

 but cannot be depended upon to do so, especially if they 

 have been alarmed. Their usual practice seems to be 

 to eat as much as they can, and then to go and drink at 

 the nearest water. After this it is quite a matter of 

 chance whether they return to lie up near the kill or not ; 

 if they do, they probably eat some of it the next night, 

 but I never knew them come back to it after the second 

 night ; no matter how much meat was remaining. They 

 are, therefore, very destructive animals, much more 

 so than leopards, and, relatively to their size and 

 power, than lions. A large male chita was shot by 

 a trap" gun set over his own kill a young waterbuck 



