Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-03-31
HUNTING WITH THE CHETAH.
How the Popular Sport of India
COnduCted,

How the Popular Sport of India i,
Conducted.
The February Century" contains
an article on Hunting with the che"
tah,' sport which has been known
for more than 1000 years. 1t is still
sometimes practiscd in India.
The chctuh. commonly known as
the hunting leopard, is taken. bound
and in Il wagon, to the seen of the
sport. When his prey is sighted and
the wagon has been brought sufficient
~ near. the animal is looScd from his
bonds. The following is an extract
from the Century" article:
In Il few minutes. that To cur any
iouS minds seemed intCrminahl". we
managed to diminish the diStHmc. to
the requisite point. and again HE
straps Wcr" liberated. Tn hu"d WAS
then slipped from the chrtah'S h ad.
He saw the animals ut once: his dH
quivcrcd all over with CXcitrm mt, the
tail Strengthened and the haCklcS IN
his shoulders stood erect, while hii
eyes cleaned and he strained III lhe
cord. which was held short. In
second it was unfaStcned, there WAS Il
yellow streak in the air AMI tn" che
tab was crouching low some yards
away. In this position, and taking adj
vantage of Il certain mrvcnnCSS If
the ground, which gave him cover. he
Scalthily crcpt forward toward Il buck
that was feeding some distance away
from the others. Suddenly this ante
lopc saw or scented his enemy. for he
WAS off like the wind. He WAS. how
ever. too late: the chctah had been too
quick for him. Al there was to b. seen
was flash. as the supreme rush WAS
made. This movement of the ch"tah
is said 10 be. for the time ii lasts. HE
quickest thing in the animal world.
far surprising the speed of Il race
horse. Certainly it surprised all of us.
who were intcntly watching the tie
tails of the scene being enacted in our
view. The pace WIS so marv"louSly
great that the chrtah actually Sp"ang
, ST the buck. although by this ii T." he
terrified animal WaS fairly >trvI he'd
out at panic speed. This Gv rSti ,uling
the mark by the chetah had tie effect
of driving the antelope, which >W"ry"d
off Immediately from his line. into ran
ming round in a circle. with the clrtah
on the outside.
The tongaS We're galloprd up. nul
the excitement of the occup mis- can
hardly be described. In my ragrrn -
to see the finish. | Jumped off and luuN
to running, but the hunt was soon
over. for before | could get quite NJ.
the chrtIh got close To til" buck. nii,l
with Il spring at his launches. brought
him to the ground. The leopard then
suddenly released his hold. and Sprang
at his victims throat. throwing his
prey over on its back. where it WIS
held when we arrived at the spot. The
chctah was then crouching low. Sucf>-
ing the blood from tn" iu@ular VEN.
while tcnaciouSly clinging With his
mouth to the antclopc'S throat. The
buck gave only Il few SpaSmu.lic JERKS,
and appeared to be dead. althouyh
probably not so in reality. but "ni?
stopped down and plunged Il knit" il
to the bucks neck close To the Sp II
where the chctah still held fact. This
coup de grace not only terminated tn
poor things existence, but caused the
blood 10 flow freely, which one of til"
men proceeded to catch in Il larg,'
wooden bowl with 4 long handle. that
he had brought for the purpose. When
this was full, the hood was thrust over
the chetah's eyes, his fcttcrS were re.
placed, and he was ultimately induced
the bowl of steaming hot blood being
slipped under his nose. Into this dain-
ty reward for his trouble he at once
plunged his head, and with ferociou.s
eaSerncSs Tapped up the whole of it.