196 THE CHEETAH 



and maintain such astounding speed as the 

 cheetah. Where the lion, leopard, and other cats 

 carefully drive their prey to an ambush, or stalk 

 it, or lie in wait overhead or in concealment, the 

 cheetah overtakes his game and kills by sheer 

 superiority of pace. His principal fare consists 

 as a rule of the smaller antelopes and the half- 

 grown young of some of the larger varieties, and 

 these, from the moment of alarm, he can run down 

 in every case. On coming alongside his fleeing 

 quarry, the cheetah usually endeavours to strike 

 it a terrible blow on the croup with his forepaw, 

 which, when going at full speed, frequently has the 

 effect of knocking the buck completely over, 

 whereupon the pursuer fixes his teeth in the wind- 

 pipe, and death ensues quickly from strangulation. 

 Should these tactics fail, however, the cheetah 

 launches himself with a tremendous spring upon 

 the fleeing antelope's shoulder, and maintains his 

 position there, holding on with teeth and claws 

 until exhaustion brings both headlong to the 

 ground. 



A very charming French gentleman who passed 

 some years vainly endeavouring to make a living 

 by agriculture in a somewhat remote portion of 

 the Mozambique Company's territory, and finally 

 died there, informed me that once, in the great 

 slightly wooded plains to the east of Gorongoza, he 

 saw a cheetah run down and capture an immature 

 blue wildebeeste. From the account he gave me 

 of what took place, as witnessed by him from 

 beginning to end from the summit of a lofty ant- 

 hill, I remember that there was no evidence that 



