THE HUNTING LEOPARD 59 



that over a short distance the cheetah is the fleetest animal on the 

 face of the earth. Even the greyhound and the race-horse are slow 

 by comparison. But the cheetah cannot run far without resting, 

 and if he fails to catch his prey at the first attempt, he makes no 

 effort to follow it up. Sir Samuel Baker gives an account of a hunt 

 with the cheetah. The animal was taken to the scene of the hunt 

 in a cage. When the game was sighted the cheetah was loosed 

 and crept cautiously towards its prey. Sir Samuel Baker says: 

 " We followed quietly upon horseback, and in a few seconds we saw 

 the two bucks about a hundred and twenty yards distant, standing 

 with their attention fixed upon us. At the same instant the 

 cheetah dashed forward with an extraordinary rush. The two 

 bucks, at the sight of their dreaded enemy, bounded away at their 

 usual speed, with the cheetah following, until all the animals were 

 lost to view in the scattered bushes. We galloped forward in the 

 direction they had taken, and in less than three hundred yards 

 arrived at the spot where the cheetah had pinned the buck. This 

 was lying upon its back without a struggle, while the firm jaws 

 of its pursuer gripped it by the throat. The cheetah did not 

 attempt to shake or tear the prey, but simply retained its hold, 

 thus strangling the victim, which had ceased all resistance. 



" The keeper now arranged the hood upon the cheetah's head, 

 thus masking the eyes, which were gleaming with wild excitement, 

 but it in no way relaxed its grip. Taking a strong cord, the 

 keeper now passed it several times around the neck of the buck, 

 while it was still held in the jaws of the cheetah, and, drawing the 

 cord tight, he carefully cut the throat close to the jaws of the 

 tenacious animal. As the blood spurted from the wound it was 

 caught in a large but shallow wooden bowl or ladle, furnished with 

 a handle. When this was nearly full, the mask was taken off the 

 cheetah, and, upon seeing the bowl full of blood it relaxed its 

 grasp, and immediately began to lap the blood from the well- 

 known vessel. When the meal was finished, the mask or hood was 

 replaced, and the cheetah was once more confined within its cage, 

 as it would not run again during that day." 



Another traveller tells us that if the cheetah fails to strike his 

 prey at the first rush he walks about for a few minutes in a tower- 



