Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1894-03-22
FULL or FIGHT.
a Cheetahs Battle with Pair Of Big
English Mastiffs.


Dore Lawton has spent some time
in the Island of Ceylon Speaking
of cheetahs, he said, want to
tell you story of battle between
English nastiffs and thoroughbred
Ceylonese cheetah.
There is very general impress
sion that the cheetah and the royal
Bengal tiger are just about the same
thing, but this isn't so. The main
difference in them is that the former
is not so bloodthirsty as the latter
Right down in his heart he is not
man-eater, but he can digest that
kind of meat when occasion requires.
| AS rule he will give the human
| brotherhood wide berth, but if you
corner him there is no telling how
hard he can fight. Stir him up and
| he will make the fur fly in fast and
furious fashion. He has been known
| to lie in wait along the mountain
roads for human prey, but these in
| stances are rare, and his manivorous
taste is not very highly developed,
There are many authentic statements
recorded where cheetahs, at certain
seasons of the year, have appeared
| in the mountain villages, generally
seeking the fires which have been
lighted for cooking purposes on the
| hard earth floors of the rude huts.
Then the population migrate, leave
| the cheetah to his glory, and report
at the neighboring village that the
| animals are working havoc among the
| hogs and humans. On one occasion
of this kind Capt. Baker, the great
| Oriental sportsman, made an investi-
! cation on the spot, shot a cheetah as
it stood before the fireplace in a hut,
and made the discovery that the ami
NAL had sought the warmth because
of a peculiar disease of the jaws and
teeth. On examining the mouth of
the dead cheetah he saw that, the
gums were full of maggots, and these,
when warmed by the fire, would
crawl far enough out of the sockets
of the teeth to be reached by the
cheetah' claws.
l There was coffee planter who
lived near Randy, whose bungalow
was in the mountains, and whose
name was Dawson. He had a num-
Der of fine China pigs, which became
the apple of the cheetah's eye. The
feline tribesnan made nightly calls,
and the porkers were borne off one
by one. Attempts to shoot the in
truder failed Two English mastiffs,
belonging to neighboring planter,
were invited over and placed in the
piggery. Dawson, his neighbor and
myself wrapped ourselves in heavy
coats, for the nights in those parts
are very chill, and climbed into a
crows nest, which had been built in
tree top near by. The early hours
of the night were as dark as Erebus
and Jagged painfully, the oppressive
stiffness being now and then broken
by the cry of some wild denizen of the
Jungle Toward one o'clock the pale
light of the moon fickered through
the dense foliage. Cooped up in the
nest, we were half asleep, when, with
cat-like screech, a magnificent
cheetah bounded over the palings of
the enclosure, and for an instant
crouched to take survey of the
situation.
''The mastiff closest the outside,
and very near as large as the cat,
bounded at him, and was struck dead
with a single blow from the cheetah,
which then quickly approached the
pen. The other mastiff, q female,
doubly enraged at the fate of her
mate, with terrific growl fastened
her fangs deep in the throat of the
cat. A red-hot fight followed With
screeches, Kisses and growls the cat
and dog rolled over and over, the
cheetah making desperate efforts to
break the dogs hold, but it was no
go. The mastiff had come to stay.
Dawson got down from the nest in
2 quick order, and with well-aimed
: pistol shot sent the cheetah to its
7 last, long home. The dog was hor-
! ribly injured, it having been literally
disembowelled by the claws of the
great cat. She was sent via rail tc
the Marine Hospital at Colombo
sewed up and carefully nursed back
to health. The cheetah measured
, seven and one-half feet from the emo
of his nose to the tip Of his tail, ano
was about the largest ever killed il
that district.
: 81 tell you, sir, the cheetah is s
cat from away back. No dog is any
thing like match for it in a fail
: fight. The cheetah is worthy kins
man of the Bengal tiger, and will
the latter animal no lion is to be com
pared in strength, agility, or fighting
qualities. ~ Washington Star.