Hunting-Leopard 



sheep, and goats ; but I have never known them to eat carrion. The 

 largest antelope I have seen killed is a bull koodoo ; they fairly stalk their 

 game, up wind, coming in with a grand rush at the last, if the animal 

 bolts. They invariably kill by strangulation, and though I have examined 

 many such victims, I have never seen a double set of fang-wounds, showing 

 that they very seldom relax the first grip of the throat till the animal is 

 dead. They disembowel their prey in a dirty, clumsy style, quite unlike 

 lions and leopards, usually eating some meaty portions of the entrails, but 

 never burying them. The viscera are first eaten, then the nose, tongue, 

 and ears, the whole head in fact being more or less lacerated and eaten. 

 I think the cheeta must be, for a limited distance, at any rate, about the 

 swiftest animal in the world, and many times, when well mounted and over 

 good ground, have I failed even to force them into their best pace. I once 

 saw what they can do in the way of running. When stalking some sable 

 antelope near the Oliphants River, the boys drew my attention to a koodoo 

 bull feeding across a creek, about 200 yards distant, and I was debating 

 whether the koodoo in hand would not be better than the sable in the 

 bush, when the former suddenly started, glanced behind it, then, laying its 

 horns back, dashed through the creek towards us, with two creatures, which 

 I thought were wild dogs, in pursuit. These ran but slowly at first, 

 though the koodoo, knowing his danger, was flying at top speed. He looked 

 to have had about 70 yards' start, and when the cheetas — for such his 

 pursuers were — stretched themselves out he was about 120 yards ahead. 

 But they now moved like lightning, running low with long easy strides, 

 which quickly put them on the right flank of their victim, who swerved to 

 the opposite side, but next instant the foremost cheeta's fangs were in his 

 throat, and he came headlong to the ground in a cloud of dust. I believe 

 both these cheetas were males, for I shot one, and the other, which I spared 

 on account of the entertainment he had afforded me, appeared, if anything, 

 the larger of the two. There is little sport in shooting these beautiful 



