720 MR. G. H. GURNEY ON NATURAL HISTORY 
siesta, for he was lying basking in the heat, and the sun shining 
on his coat made it look like red satin as he went off ; never 
again, however, did I go out shooting with only a small 
collecting gun. This Leopard must have been of rather 
a cowardly disposition I think, generally they come for one 
without any provocation, unlike a Lion who, if you do not 
molest him, does his best to get out of the way unnoticed, 
but a Leopard is such a sneaking animal, going about his 
hunting in such a distinctly underhand manner ; they are 
great nuisances to the settlers in East Africa who go in for 
cattle-farming, in many respects worse than a Lion ; when 
one hears a Lion roaring, it means that he has fed, otherwise 
the tremendous noise which can be beard for miles on a tropical 
night, would put all the game on the qui-vive ; but the Leopard 
never makes any noise at all at night, sneaking all round the 
place and looking for a hole to get in at. 
On March 22nd we camped at a charming place called 
Bondoni, where the country was very open and park-like, 
with long grass and scattered trees and bushes, and deep 
ravines or dongas filled with prickly shrubs and densely thick 
undergrowth ; on a patch of sand in one of these dongas we 
found the big round track of a Lion which was evidently quite 
fresh, and after some hesitation our “ boys ” were induced to 
go down into the bottom and beat out the ravine, while we 
stood on the top with loaded rifles ready for anything ; how- 
ever the Lion had evidently not stopped there, but must have 
gone on, for there was nothing in it except a Hyiena and a pair 
of sharp-eared Jackals; the following day we had a most 
exciting hunt after a Cheetah, which when killed proved to be 
a very large female, evidently suckling cubs which were no 
doubt living in one of the small caves in the dongas from 
which it was impossible to get them out. 
It was at this camp that I first saw and afterwards shot 
some of the remarkable Jumping Hares ( Pedctes sardaster). 
which are decidedly local and by no means found everywhere 
in East Africa, these extraordinary animals, which are very 
like a miniature Kangaroo, go off in a series of bounds, leaping 
into the air as they run away ; they are not unlike tough rabbit 
