HUNTING-LE OPARD. 
445 
It appears from the accounts of the natives who capture hunting-leopards that 
these animals hunt either in pairs or in family parties. After they have gorged 
themselves they repose in their lair for a couple of days or so, and then proceed 
to a particular tree, where they meet other members of their kind, whence they 
probably watch the movements of their expected prey. Such trees are recognised 
by the marks made on the bark by their claws, and the hunters are in the habit of 
capturing the leopards by surrounding the tree with a number of raw-hide nooses. 
From time immemorial tame hunting-leopards have been kept by the native 
potentates of India, as part of the royal state, for the purpose of hunting the Indian 
black-buck (antelope) or other game. “ In this sport,” writes Sir Samuel Baker, 
“ all persons, excepting the keepers of the animals, are simply spectators, and no 
interference is permitted. Each chita occupies a peculiar cage, which forms the 
body of a cart, drawn by two bullocks. When game is expected, the chita is 
taken from the cage, and occupies the outside seat upon the top, together with 
the keeper. The animal is blinded by a hood similar to that worn by a falcon, and 
it sits upright like a dog, with the master’s arm around it, waiting to be released 
from the hood, which it fully understands is the signal that game is sighted.” 
On the particular occasion described, there were plenty of black-buck, and 
“ we were not long,” continues Sir Samuel Baker, “ in finding a herd, in which were 
several good old buck, as black as night. Nothing could be more favourable than 
the character of the ground for the natural habits of the chita. The surface was 
quite flat and firm, being a succession of glades, more or less open, surrounded by 
scattered bush. A chita was now taken from its cage, and it at once leaped to the 
top, and sat with its master, who had released it from the hood. After an advance 
of about two hundred yards, the wheels making no noise upon the level surface, 
we espied the herd of about twenty antelopes, and the cart at once halted until 
they had slowly moved from view. Again the cart moved forward for seventy or 
eighty paces, and two bucks were seen trotting away to the left, as if they had 
caught a glimpse of the approaching cart. In an instant the chita was loosed. For 
a moment it hesitated, and then bounded forward, although the two bucks had 
disappeared. We now observed that the chita not only slackened its pace, but it 
crept cautiously forward, as though looking for the lost game. We followed quietly 
upon horseback, and in a few seconds we saw the two bucks about a hundred and 
twenty yards distant, standing with their attention fixed upon us. At the same 
instant the chita dashed forward with an extraordinary rush. The two bucks, at 
the sight of their dreaded enemy, bounded away at their usual speed, with the chita 
following, until all the animals were lost to view in the scattered bushes. We 
galloped forward in the direction they had taken, and in less than three hundred 
yards arrived at the spot where the chita had pinned the buck. This was lying 
upon its back without a struggle, while the firm jaws of its pursuer gripped it by 
the throat. The chita did not attempt to shake or tear the prey, but simply 
retained its hold, thus strangling the victim, which had ceased all resistance. 
“ The keeper now arranged the hood upon the chita’s head, thus masking the 
eyes, which were gleaming with wild excitement, but it in no way relaxed its grip. 
Taking a strong cord, the keeper now passed it several times around the neck of 
the buck, while it was still held in the jaws of the chita, and, drawing the cord 
