Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-04-08
THE HUNTfNG LEoPARD.
4 Singular Kind or sport which " Prnc-
tlced lii the jungle.

Ep0nuenI 10 OkF If1utUq 1ct0gt0afS, That i
witnessed the only instance ever saw
of the black buck being run into and
killed By the cheetah, or hunting
leopard. Many consider this a low
kind of sport, but think 1t is equal to
n partridge shooting. besides being q
beautiful sight. | shall therefore de-
scribe as we'll as can what ] saw. On
arriving with my friends at the place of
meeting in the jungle we found few
ough-and-ready-loo natives in
charge of three carts, or rather small
two-wheeled platforms. drawn by bull
locks. On each vehicle sat, in an erect
attitude, beautiful leopard, strongly
chained and with hood over his ewes,
similar to those used for hawks. We
were soon under way and driving to-
ward the herd of antclopes which could
be seen grazing in the distance and
which had been marked down before
hand. There was no difficulty in getting
the carts to within 120 yards of the deer.
Then one of the cheetahs. fine male,
was tlnhooded and set free. It's depar-
ture from the ghary and its decision in
choosing the most covered line in the
open plain for rushing on its prey were
so instantaneous and rapid as TO be quite
marvellous. ii seemed to vanish from
the cart and appear simultaneously half
way toward the fine black buck it had
singled out for attack. When at about
thirty yards from the unsuspicious troop
they suddenly became aware of the
deadly peril they were in. One and al
sprang into the air with galvanic
bounds, and no doubt expected to cs-
cape easily by flight. But the hunting
cheetah is, / suppose, for a hundred
yards, by far the fieetest of all wingless
things; and this one was soon I'M the
midst of the aifrighted throng, which
scattered wildly and panic-stricken in
all directions, as their leaders fine
black buck WAS struck down in their
midst. There he lay, alone, in his death
agony, in the deadly clutch of his beau
tiful and relentless foe. We ran as hard
rs we could and were soon surrounding
the strange group.
Neither animal moved, for the buck
was paralyzed by fear his starting eye
balls aud dilated nostrils alone gave
evidence of life. The cheetah, on the
other hand, with his body spread out
over the PROSTATE form of his victim,
seemed to strain every nerve i'm pressing
his prey against the earth as, with his
long, sharp fangs buried i'm its delicate
throat, he continued the process of
strangulation. He was very motionless.
but his eyes were fixed upon us with a
glare of extraordinary ferocity that be-
came intensified as his keepers rushed
forward and seized the deer by the hind
L.
and, tightening his clutch. looked so ex-
tremely dangerous that w.s far from
enyying those who were in such close
proximity to him. But they know their
trade. With long, sharp knife they
cut the deer's throat and caused the
warm blood to spout in torrents into the
face of the half-wild beast, whose whole
frame now seemed to thrill with ecstasy.
One of the operators, in the meanwhile,
caught a quantity of the crimson life
stream in wooden bowl, and forced
the steaming fluid under the very nose
of the excited leopard, who. quitting his
hold. at once began to lap with avidity.
While cngaged-in this process the leather
hood was swiftly clapped over his eyes,
and the collar, with two chains attach
Ctls WdS@&tA3 1Ont1tt Ills HECK. w IlA1G
this was going on third man had cut
off one of the bucks. hind legs. and this,
the Lions share, was held close to the
bloody chalice, which was no sooner
emptied than the brute seized the meat
thus provided with y vice-like grip.
Each chain was now grasped by a
different man. who, BY keeping apart so
that the tethcr remained taut, kept
the leopard between them in such way
that neither was within reach of his
claws or teeth. Then the third individual,
who had ever retained his hold of the
shank-bone Of the leg Of venis0n, gently
drew the chectah to the little cart that
had now been brought close up. AS
soon as the beast felt himself against
theedge Of his own familiar chariot he
sprang lightly upon it and proceeded to
demolish his srlcculent moroccan at his
ease. ! now inspected the carcass Of
the deer, with 4 view TO ascertaining. If
possible, how the cheefall had been able
50 instantane0slsls tO strike down such
a powerful animal Immediately on get
ting up with II. | al once observed a
single long. deep cash iii the flank,
which was evidently caused by the de-
cisiye blow. But | could not imagine
with what weapon the leopard had been
able to infiict this very strange-lookina
wound, for the cheetah has L foot ike !
dog and his claws are not retracfile.
Turning then to the beast a. 1t sat on
the cart inspected 1t closely and saw
that the dew-cIaW, which ii the dog ap.
pears such useless appendage, Il Fepre-
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