MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 399 



authority of the late Colonel J. W. Watson, who was ft very keen observer 

 .and shikari, that in 1884, there were not more than twenty Cheetahs (the 

 local name, the panther being known as the dipdo or spotted one) If any 

 thing the number was overestimated by Colonel Watson, for during the succeed- 

 ing 17 years, when I was serving in the Provmce and became fntimately ac 

 quainted with a greater part of it, I only heard of nme, two of which were 

 shot by natives, in the neighbourhood of Chotila, midway between Wadhwan 

 and Rajkot ; two by Mr. S. A. Strip of the Wadhwan Garassia School, within 

 a few miles of the Civil Station, and the remaining five, including two which 

 were speared respectively by Mr. Waddington of the Rajkumar* College and 

 myself, by two young officers. These five which consisted of a mother and 

 four well grown cubs were obtained within a short distance of the Rajkot 

 Civil Station during the rains of 1894. Khobar had been brought to ths two 

 -officers by some Koli shikaris, that three panthers had been marked down by 

 ,them. On reaching the spot with the men, they found the animals lying up 

 ■under a small bush, in the open, and had no difficulty in shooting the lot 

 ,as they showed no fight. It was only after the bodies had been brouf^ht into 

 Rajkot and seen by others, that they discovered what the animals they had 

 shot really were ! The Kolis said they had seen two other larger animals, 

 which it was presumed were the parents as the ones which had been shot 

 were only three-quarters grown cubs, and it was arranged that the men should 

 try and find them, and, that should they succeed in doing so, we should ride 

 them down and spear them. 



On the following morning, the news was brought into camp, that they had 

 been found and surrounded, and not an hour later we found them in a patch of 

 long grass between some low hills, and very restless as they were moving about 

 with their tails cocked up and visible above the grass. They broke cover in 

 two different directions at a great pace but we had no difficulty in eventually 

 catching them up rough as the ground was, and spearing them. Like the others 

 they did not show any fight and it seemed a pity that the}- should have been 

 destroyed but we had no means of catching them alive, there being no profes- 

 sional snarers in the country and sooner or later they were bound to be shot by 

 village shikaris. One of them turned out to be the mother and the other, 

 v'^nother cub, showing that there had been four in the litter. The coats of all 

 of them were in good condition, but otherwise they were very thin and the 

 ■mother especially looked half starved. This was as far as I could ascertain the 

 first time that hunting leopards had been seen anywhere near Rajkot and 

 this family of them must have wandered there in search of food from the 

 country round Vichia and Tardan where I was told they are occasionally met with. 

 Their favourite havmt however is the large rugged tract of countiy, known as 

 the Tanga, which includes the greater part of the districts of Chotila, Chobari, 

 Anandpur, Than, etc. This appears to be their stronghold from which 

 they occasionally wander away into the surrounding plains but never to any 

 great distance. There are other localities further North especially in the direc- 

 tions of Dhrangdhra, Mali a and Tankara under Morvi, where antelope 

 are plentiful and other conditions apparently favourable for them but for some 

 good reason or other they are never found very far away from the Tanga limits. 

 The same remark appUes to the Southern districts of Kathiawar, including the 

 Gir Forest, the Girnar, the Barda, and Alache Hills, Sihorand the siuri-ounding 

 country. All these districts hold panther, but I have never heard of a hunt nig 

 leopard having ever been met with in any of them. 



It is many years since I left Kathiawar (nearly 20) and although there 

 certainly were a few hunting leopards left in the Tanga comitry when I did 

 ■stay there I am unable to state if there are any left there now. 



Maesh Hall, South Moltoij, L. L. FENTON, Lt. -Colonel. 



N. Devon., \m Maij 1920. 



