174 



THAT'S IT ; 



as its victim, if there be one in it. The ante- 

 lopes, now thoroughly alarmed, make off at the 

 top of their speed ; the leopard gradually, and 

 with perfect ease to himself, diminishes his dis- 

 tance till within fifty or sixty yards of the one 

 he is in special pursuit of; and then, quickening 

 his pace to its utmost, is alongside the animal 



in an instant with a lightning-like rush. He 

 gives it a pat with his paw, generally on the 

 haunch, which makes it stagger, and ere it has 

 time to recover from the shock the leopard seizes 

 it by the throat and holds it till the keeper comes 

 up and puts the antelope out of pain by cutting 

 its throat. The leopard is immediately rehooded, 



511. 



a little of the blood is caught in a large wooden 

 ladle (carried on the cart for the purpose) mixed 

 with part of the entrails, and thrust under his 

 nose, when he looses his hold of the antelope to 

 lap up the blood, &c. After this meal he quietly 

 submits to be led away to, and put on, his cart, 

 and is allowed a few minutes' breathing-time 

 preparatory to a second run. In this manner 

 one leopard will kill four or live antelopes in 

 succession. 



Though the above is a description of what 

 generally happens, there are variations accord- 

 ing to the ground on which the antelopes are 

 found. If it be dotted with bushes or tufts of 

 high grass, the leopard does take advantage of 

 these to approach his game, at a canter or trot, 

 very close ere he makes his final rush. But, to 

 see the sport to most advantage, it should be on 

 a perfectly open plain, such as antelopes prefer 

 to other haunts, and where there is nothing 

 which the leopard can use to screen his ap- 

 proach : then is seen in perfection his amazing 

 speed, even as compared with the known swift- 

 ness of the antelope.* 



Our next selection from the 

 carnivorous order will present a 

 marked contrast with the pre- 

 ceding. The seal tribe are four- 

 limbed , mammiferous (milk-giving), 

 and carnivorous animals ; instead 



* Illustrated Loudon News. 



of belonging to the order ot 

 " fishes,' 9 they are allied to car- 

 nivorous Quadrupeds. The exhi- 

 bition of what has been termed 



512. 



a " talking fish" 13, in various 

 parts of America and* Great 

 Britain, is an instance of the 



