242 THE LEOPARD. 



contribute. Equally savage, equally dastardly, and equally 

 cruel, he closely imitates the manners of the lion and the 

 tiger, on a somewhat reduced, but still formidable scale. Ante- 

 lopes, monkeys, and the smaller mammals constitute his usual 

 prey, upon which he darts forth from his secret stand, and 

 which he pertinaciously pursues even upon the trees where they 

 may have taken refuge, climbing after them with surprising 

 agility. Man he generally endeavours, if possible, to avoid ; 

 but when hard pressed, he fears not to make head against the 

 hunter -, and it frequently requires the exertion of no common 

 share of skill and intrepidity in the latter, to save himself from 

 the deadly fangs of the infuriated object of his pursuit. Occa- 

 sionally, indeed, the cravings of hunger stimulate the treacherous 

 animal to attack the unwary woodcutter, or the lone traveller 

 whose path has led to his secret haunts j but in this case he 

 rarely, if ever, shows himself openly in broad day, but watches 

 with insiduous glare for the fatal opportunity of springing 

 upon his victim from behind, and of annihilating his power of 

 resistance before it could possibly be exerted in his defence."* 



In captivity, especially if accustomed to that state from an 

 early age, the leopard is as susceptible of being rendered tame 

 and docile as the generality of his tribe. 



The female goes with young sixteen months. 



**# The CHETAH, objectionably called the HUNTING LEOPARD 

 (Cynailurus jubata, Wagl.), differs in so many essential charac- 

 teristics from the truly feline animals, that it has very properly 

 been permitted to constitute a distinct genus or sub-genus. 

 Its claws are only partially retractile ; it is gregarious, and of 

 a mild disposition, so much so that it is frequently tamed and 

 employed in the chase. But as a remarkable contrast to this, 

 its dental system is upon a more murderous plan than that 

 of the animals which properly belong to the genus Felts t not 

 possessing the flat projection on the large tearing molar of the 

 upper jaw, which is found in all the other predaceous genera, 

 and the development of which is in inverse proportion to the 

 * Tower Menagerie (1829), p. 37. 



