INTERVIEW WITH TWO CHETAHS. 51 
properties of the Chetah. In fact, man has established a kind of quadru- 
pedal falconry, the Chetah taking the place of the hawk, and the chase being 
one of earth and not of air. The Asiatics have brought this curious chase 
to great perfection, and are able to train Chetahs for this purpose in a 
wonderfully perfect manner. 
When a Chetah is taken out for the purpose of hunting game, he is hooded 
and placed in a light native car, in company with his keepers. When they . 
perceive a herd of deer, or other desirable game, the keepers turn the 
Chetah’s head in the proper direction, and remove the hood from his eyes. 
The sharp-sighted animal generally perceives the prey at once, but if he fails 
so to do, the keepers assist him by quiet gestures, 
No sooner does the Chetah fairly perceive the deer than his bands are 
loosened, and he gently slips from the car. Employing all his innate artifices, 
he approaches the game, and with one powerful leap flings himself upon the 
animal which he has selected. The keepers now hurry up, and take his 
attention from the slaughtered animal by offering him a ladleful of its blood, 
or by placing before him some food of which he is especially fond, such as 
the head and neck of a fowl. The hood is then slipped over his head, and 
the blinded animal is conducted patient and unresisting to the car, where he 
is secured until another victim may be discovered. 
The natural disposition of this pretty creature seems to be gentle and 
placid, and it is peculiarly susceptible of domestication. It has been so 
completely trained as to be permitted to wander where it chooses like a 
domestic dog or cat, and is quite as familiar as that animal. Even in a state 
of semi-domestication it is sufficiently gentle. One sleek and well-conditioned 
specimen with which I made acquaintance behaved ina very friendly manner, 
permitting me to pat its soft sides, or stroke its face, and uttering short self- 
sufficient sounds, like the magnified purr of a gratified cat. Unfortunately, 
the acquaintance was rudely broken up by an ill-conditioned Frenchman, who 
came to the front of the cage, and with his stick dealt the poor animal a 
severe thrust in the side. The Chetah instantly lost its confident expression, 
and was so irritated by this rough treatment that it would not permit a repe- 
tition of the former caresses. 
Some time ago, while engaged in examining the larger Felide, I wished to 
investigate the structure of the Chetah’s foot, some persons having said that 
its claws were retractile like those of the cat, while others stated that they 
were constructed like those of the dog. So I went into the Chetahs’ cage at 
the Zoological Gardens, and rather to the surprise of the animals. Thinking 
that the Cat tribe were tolerably alike in disposition, and supposing that if I 
went up to either of them they would be alarmed, I sat down with my back 
against the wall, and quietly waited, taking no notice whatever of the 
Chetahs. 
In a short time the curiosity of the cat-nature overcame distrust, the two 
Chetahs came closer and closer, until at last the male, who was larger and 
stronger than his mate, began to sniff at my hand with outstretched neck, 
Finding that no harm ensued, he came a little closer, and I began to stroke 
his nose lightly. This he rather liked, and before long I was able to stroke 
his head, chin, neck, and back, the animal being as pleased as a-cat would 
have been. Presently he came and.gat down by me, and I then got from his 
neck to his legs, just as Rarey used to “ gentle” a horse. , 
The next move was to lift up his foot and put it down again, and then, 
taking hold lightly of his wrist, to press the fore-finger on the base of the 
claws so as to press them from their sockets. This rather startled him, and 
with a sharp hissing sound he struck smartly forwards, As he struck, I 
slipped my hand up his leg, so that the blow was ineffectual, and presently 
Ez 
