WILD ANIMALS TRAINED TO HUNT 89 



beyond demanding a certain amount of time and 

 patience, is not a difficult task to pursue. 



On being taken out to hunt, the leopard, with a 

 bandage or ' hood ' placed over its eyes, is enclosed 

 within a cage on wheels, to which a pair of bullocks 

 are harnessed. It is then conveyed to the district 

 where its quarry, usually the black-buck or Indian 

 antelope, is to be found, and, having arrived there, 

 the animal is removed from its travelling cage by its 

 keeper and placed upon the outside of the structure 

 in readiness to be released for the chase. Directly 

 the game is sighted, the bandage is removed from 

 the creature's eyes and its leash undone. Taking 

 a look around and espying its prey, the leopard 

 wiU stealthily creep along towards its victim and, 

 having succeeded in approaching near enough to 

 its liking, rush forward to its quarry, which it rarely 

 faUs to overtake and overthrow. In the meanwhile 

 its keeper and the assembly of spectators have been 

 following the chase as rapidly as possible, and the 

 former, on coming up to the leopard, quickly 

 replaces the hood over its eyes, fiUs a bowl with 

 the blood of its prey and, after removing the hood 

 once again, offers it a drink and thereby induces it 

 to release its hold upon its victim, when it is then 

 taken back to its cage. It is recorded that the 

 Persians employed the cheetah for the purpose of 

 hunting game as far back as the year 865 B.C., and 

 that the Assyrians also indulged in the practice 

 at an even earlier date. 



The caracal, or red-lynx, as it is sometimes called, 

 is another of the cat tribe which is kept by the 



