90 WILD ANIMALS. 



place of meeting in the jungle we found a few rough-and-ready- 

 looking natives in charge of three carts, or rather small two- 

 wheeled platforms, drawn by bullocks. On each vehicle sat, in 

 an erect attitude, a beautiful leopard, strongly chained, and with 

 a hood over his eyes, similar to those used for hawks. We were 

 soon under way and driving towards the herd of antelopes, which 

 could be seen grazing in the distance, and which had been marked 

 down beforehand. There was no difficulty in getting the carts to 

 within a hundred and twenty yards of the deer. Then one of the 

 cheetahs, a fine male, was unhooded and set free. 



" Its departure from the gharry, and its decision in choosing 

 the most covered line on the open plain for rushing on its prey, 

 were so instantaneous and rapid as to be quite marvellous. It 

 seemed to vanish from the cart and appear simultaneously half- 

 way towards the fine black buck it had singled out for attack. 



" When at about thirty yards from the unsuspicious troop they 

 suddenly became aware of the deadly peril they were in. One 

 and all sprang into the air with galvanic bounds, and no doubt 

 expected to escape easily by flight, 



" But our hunting-cheetah is, I suppose, for a hundred yards, 

 by far the fleetest of all wingless things ; and this one was soon 

 in the midst of the affrighted throng, which scattered wildly and 

 panic-stricken in all directions, as their leader — a fine black 

 buck — was struck down in their midst. There he lay, alone, in 

 his death agony, in the deadly clutch of his beautiful and relent- 

 lesp foe. We all ran as hard as we could, and were sooa 

 surrounding the strange group. Neither animal moved, for the 

 buck was paralyzed by fear — his starting eyeballs and dilated 

 nostrils alone gave evidence of life. The cheetah, on the other 

 hand, with his body spread out over the prostrate form of his 

 victim, seemed to strain every nerve in pressing his prey against 

 the earth as, with his long, sharp fangs buried in its delicate 

 throat, he continued the process of strangulation; he was very 

 motionless, but his eyes were fixed upon us with a glare of 

 extraordinary ferocity that became intensified as his keepers 

 rushed forward and seized the deer by the hind-leg. The brute 

 now growled fiercely, and, tightening his clutch, looked so 



