198 THE CiSEETAH 



fleetest among the many varieties upon which he 

 preys would seek to escape in vain. 



I have only seen two or three of these animals, 

 which, although fairly numerous in some portions 

 of the country I have visited, are, it would 

 seem, but rarely encountered. I have sometimes 

 thought it possible that the infrequency with 

 which they have been reported may connect itself 

 with the probability of their having been mis- 

 taken for leopards. In any case, I have never 

 shot one, and the only specimen to come into my 

 possession did so in a singular and perhaps not 

 uninteresting manner. I had been shooting south 

 of the Inyamissengo branch of the Zambezi, and 

 was in the act of resting one day after many 

 hours of toilsome march in a portion of the district 

 which struck me as being particularly beautiful 

 and park-like — a fascinating alternation of thin 

 forest and plain in which the latter appeared 

 somewhat to predominate. Whilst thus occu- 

 pied, I saw a large eagle of, I believe, the crested 

 martial variety, which had been soaring not very 

 far over the adjacent tree-tops, make a determined 

 but unsuccessful swoop down at something on 

 the edge of the bush not very far away. This 

 manoeuvre the bird repeated, then made another 

 attempt, which seemed equally fruitless. As 

 she came over me I shot her with a charge of 

 S.S.G. Down she came with a broken wing, and 

 as my people approached to recover her she got 

 upon her back and presented so menacing and 

 fierce an appearance, with her large hooked beak 

 and immense, powerful talons, that she had to be 



