94 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



has gone out of fashion in most parts of India. 

 The cheetah was blindfolded and taken in a 

 cart until within sight of a herd of buck. Then 

 its eyes were uncovered and it was launched on 

 the herd, from which it at once singled out 

 a victim, hurling itself in its direction at so 

 tremendous a pace as often to overtake it at 

 the first onslaught. If it failed, the perform- 

 ance was over, for the cheetah is not one of the 

 persistent try-try-try-again order of animals, but 

 sulks if baulked of its prey and does not dream 

 of making another effort to catch it. It must 

 be admitted that it shows wisdom in this, for, 

 with such a start, the fleet-footed blackbuck 

 would never allow itself to be caught. The 

 hunting - leopard is nowhere very plentiful 

 nowadays, though one well-known sportsman 

 mentions having encountered no fewer than 

 five of these animals in a district in which he 

 was after bison. 



LION, TIGER, AND LEOPARD 



Coming now to the carnivorous animals of 

 India, passing mention must be made of the 

 Indian lion. Not everyone seems to realise, 

 indeed, that there are lions anywhere out of 

 Africa. The American puma, it is true, is 

 known by that name in its own country, but it 

 is no more a true lion than its neighbour, the 



