96 WILD ANIMALS. 



by conyjletely cowing his nature that we ventured to interfere 

 with him. Now and then he would manage to break, or other- 

 wise free himself, from his bonds, when, with fearful yells and 

 imprecations, the terror-stricken natives would be seen running 

 wildly to and fro in search of shelter ; but I never remember him 

 doing any mischief to the people on such occasions. Woe, how- 

 ever, betide any smaller animal, such as a puppy, a pig, or a fowl, 

 that then crossed his path. The cheetah in question unfortu- 

 nately succeeded one day in escaping, never to be recovered ; and 

 from its fearlessness of man and local knowledge it became more 

 destructive to the hen-roost and the sheep-fold than one in its 

 wild state would have been." 



The fact is evident from sundry experiences of this nature that 

 the creature requires kind attention and a certain amount of 

 liberty ; under good treatment it will be a very exceptional animal 

 that will not become perfectly tame and free from dangerous 

 propensities. 



Cheetahs do not breed readily in confinement, although they 

 are so freely domesticated in Arabia and India. Mr. Bartlett is 

 reported as saying that it has never to his knowledge bred in 

 England, but Dr. Giinther afl&rms that it has bred in the gardens 

 of Frankfort.^ The young animal is said to have its soft brown 

 hair free from spots, which is curious, and a reversal of the order 

 of things, for the young of the lion and puma and other unmarked 

 cats are distinctly spotted until their first far is changed. 



The cheetah was known to the Greeks and Romans, as is evident 

 from a bas-relief in the Louvre ; but it could not have been exten- 

 sively employed. The Crusaders appear to have learnt the method 

 of hunting from the Mussulman princes in Syria, and to have 

 introduced it into Europe. 



Frederick the Second, King of Sicily, in 1228 made a journey to 

 Jerusalem, and on his return, in 1231, adopted many of the 

 Saracen customs, among them that of hunting with the cheetah. 

 He also received from them some useful hints with respect to hawk- 

 ing, for in his Latin treatise on that art he claims the merit of having 

 introduced into Europe the hood to cover the falcon's eyes. In the 

 ' Cassell's " Natural History." 



M 



