92 VELIDJE. 



the Decean. How far south in India C. juhatns ranges does not 

 appear to be recorded ; the animal is not found on the MaLabar 

 coast, nor, according to Jerdon, in Ceylon, and its range is pro- 

 bably nearly tlie same as that of the Indian antelope. It does not 

 appear to be found north of the Gauges, and it occurs nowhere 

 east of India. 



Hdbits. Being used in the chase, and considered an important 

 or even necessary appanage to the state of many Indian princes, 

 the hunting leopard is eagerly sought after by the particular class 

 of men who capture wild animals ; and as only the adult is valued, 

 its habits are well known to those who occupy themselves with 

 capturing and training it. Their accounts are, of course, like all 

 such descriptious by uneducated men, in all parts of the world, a 

 mixture of observed facts and traditionary fable ; but some of their 

 most interesting statements appear to be confirmed by independent 

 testimony. In Sterndale's ' Mammalia of India and Ceylon,' p. 202, 

 an admirable description of the capture of two hunting leopards is 

 quoted from the 'Asian;' whilst Jerdon describes, from his own 

 observation, the trainuig of a young animal brought up in captivity, 

 and quotes from Buchanan Hamilton *, Vigne f, and W. Elliot J 

 accounts of the method in which the " chita " is used to hunt 

 antelope. A capital description is also given by McMaster§. 



The principal haunt of this feline in India is in low, isolated, 

 rocky hills, near the plains on which live antelopes, its principal 

 prey. It also kills gazelles, nylgai (Jerdon once observed a pair 

 stalking some of the latter), and doubtless occasionally deer and 

 other animals ; instances also occur of sheep and goats being carried 

 off by it (a goat was once taken away by one from my own camp 

 in Khandesh) ; but it rarely molests domestic animals, and has not 

 been known to attack men. Its mode of capturing its prey is to 

 stalk up to within a moderate distance of between 100 to 200 

 yards, taking advantage of inequalities in the ground, bushes, or 

 other cover, and then to make a rush. Its speed for a short dis- 

 tance is remarkable, far exceeding that of any other beast of prey, 

 even of a greyhound or kangaroo hound, for no dog can at first 

 overtake an Indian antelope or a gazelle, either of which is quickly 

 run down by C.juhatus if the start does not exceed about 200 

 yards. McMaster saw a very fine hunting leopard catch a black . 

 buck {Antilope cervicajyva) that had about that start, within 400 

 yards. It is probable that for a short distance the hunting leopard 

 is the swiftest of all manmials. 



This animal, according to the accounts of tlie men who capture 

 it, usually passes two days, after gorging itself, in resting in its 

 lair, and on the third day repairs to a particular tree, which forms 

 a rendezvous for other animals of the species. On this tree it 



* The quotation is said to be from the ' India Sporting Review.' 



t Tnivels in Kashmir, Liidak, &e. i, p. 41. 



X Mad. Journ. L. S. x, p. 107. 



§ Notes on Jerdon's Mamuials of India, p. 32 



