THE HUNTING LEOPARD OR CHEETAH. 277 



door ! It made off to a neighbouring nullah and 

 there devoured the stomach and a great part 

 of the rump. The calf certainly weighed over 

 200 Ibs. ; yet the cheetah was able to drag the 

 body several hundred yards, when its own weight 

 could not have been over 70 Ibs. even if full 

 grown. 



The cheetah is particularly fond of dog's flesh 

 and does useful service in carrying off super- 

 fluous pariah dogs which otherwise would in- 

 crease to such an extent as to be a source of 

 danger to the villagers themselves. It is seldom 

 one sees a dog in the country where the hunting 

 leopard has taken up its abode. Sooner or later 

 even the 'cutest of 'cute pariah dogs falls a 

 victim to its arch enemy. I have had seven dogs 

 carried away from my bungalow in eighteen 

 months. Among these was a black pariah that 

 the servants had named Hooseearee (the wary 

 one), so alert was it. It would never on any 

 pretence leave the servants' quarters after night- 

 fall. I often tried to tempt it out with a bone 

 after dinner, but no ; hungry or not, Hooseearee 

 was not to be cajoled into the open. One night 

 while I was having my dinner, a pheeall (an animal 

 of the jackal kind said to act as a decoy to tigers, 

 leopards and other of the great carnivora) sent 

 forth its hideous howl near the servants' quarters. 

 I was long anxious to secure one of these 

 creatures, as I had heard so much of them, but 

 had never come across anyone who had shot one. 

 I ran for my Winchester and hurriedly loading it 



