THE CHEETAH, or Hunting-leopard, is the only example of its particular group, though there was an extinct form, whose remains are found in the Siwalik Hills, in the north of India. It is very widely dispersed animal, found in Persia, Turkestan, and the countries east of the Caspian, and in India so far as the lower part of the centre of the peninsula. It is also common in Africa, where until recent years it was found in Cape Colony and Natal. Now it is banished to the Kalahari Desert, the Northern Transvael, and Bechuanaland.
The cheetah is more dog-like than any other cat. It stands high on the leg, and has a short, rounded head. Its fur is short and rather woolly, its feet rounded, and its claws, instead of slipping back into sheaths like a lion's, are only partly retractile.
Mr. Lockwood Kipling gives the following account of the cheetah and its keepers: "The only point where real skill comes into play in dealing with the hunting-leopard is in catching the adult animal when it has already learnt the swift, bounding onset, its one accomplishment. The young cheetah is not worth catching, for it has not yet learnt its trade, nor can it be taught in captivity... there are certain trees where these great dog-cats ( for they have some oddly canine characteristics) come to play and whet their claws. The hunters find such a tree, and arrange nooses of deer-sinew round it, and wait the event. The animal comes and is caught by the leg, and it is at this point that the trouble begins. It is no small achievement for two or three naked, ill-fed men to secure so fierce a capture and carry it home tied on a cart. Then his training begins. He is tied in all directions, principally from a thick rope round his loins, while a hood fitted over his head effectually blinds him. He is fastened on a strong cot-bedstead, and the keepers and their wives and families reduce him to submission by starving him and keeping him awake. His head is made to face the village street, and for an hour at a time, several times a day, his keepers make pretended rushes at him, and wave clothes, staves, and other articles in his face. He is talked to continually, and the people's tongues are believed to be the most effective of things to keep him awake. No created being could withstand the effects of hunger, want of sleep, and scolding; and the poor cheetah becomes piteously, abjectly tame. He is taken out for a walk occasionally- if a slow crawl between four attendants, all holding hard, can be called a walk- and his promenades are always through the crowded streets and bazaars, where the keepers' friends are to be found; but the people are rather pleased than otherwise to see the raja's cheetahs amongst them." Later, when the creature is tamed," the cheetah's bedstead is like that of the keeper, and leopard and man are often curled up under the same blanket! When his bedfellow is restless, the keeper lazily stretches out an arm from his end of the coat and dangles a tassel over the animal's head, which seems to soothe him. In the early morning I have seen a cheetah sitting up on his couch, a red blanket half covering him, and his tasseled red hood awry, looking exactly like an elderly gentleman in nightcap, as he yawns with the irresolute air of one who is in doubt whether to rise or turn in another nap."
This charming and accurate description shows the cheetah. In the field he is quite another creature. He is driven as near possible to the game, and then unhooded and given a sight of them. Sir Samuel Baker thus describes a hunt in which a cheetah was used: "The chase began after the right-hand buck, which had a start of about 100 yards. It was a magnificent sight to see the extraordinary speed of pursuer and pursued. The buck flew over the level surface, followed by the cheetah, which was laying out at a full stretch, with its long, thick tail brandishing in the air. they had run 200 yards, when the keeper gave the word, and away we went as fat as horses could carry us. The horses could go over this clear ground, where no danger of a fall seemed possible. I never saw anything to equal the speed of the buck and the cheetah; we were literally nowhere, although we were going as hard as horses could carry us; but we had a glorious view. The cheetah was gaining in the course, while the buck was exerting every muscle for life or death in its last race. Presently, after a course of about a quarter of mile, the buck doubled like a hare, and the cheetah lost ground as it shot ahead, instead of turning quickly, being only about thirty yards in rear of the buck. Recovering itself, it turned on extra steam, and the race appeared to recommence at increased speed. The cheetah was determined to win, and this moment the buck made another double in the hope of shaking off its terrible pursuer; but this time the cheetah ran cunning, and was aware of the former game. It turned as sharply as the buck. Gathering itself together for a final effort, it shot forward like an arrow, picked up the distance which remained between them, and in a cloud of dust we could for one moment distinguish two forms. The next instant the buck was on its back, and the cheetah's fangs were fixed like an iron vice in its throat. The course run was about 600 yards, and it was worth a special voyage to India to see that hunt."
