There were plenty of black-buck, and we were not long 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 cheetah. The surface was quite flat and firm, being a succession of glades more or less open, surrounded by scattered bush. A cheetah was now taken from its cage, and it at once leapt to the top, and sat with its master, who had released it from the hood. After an advance of about 200 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 70 or 80 paces, and two bucks were seen trotting away to the left, as they had caught a glimpse of the approaching cart. In an instant the cheetah was loosed; for a moment it hesitated, and then bounded forward, although the two bucks had disappeared. We now observed that the cheetah 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 120 yards distant, standing with their attention fixed upon us. At the same instant the cheetah dashed forward with an extraordinary rush; the two bucks, at the sight of their dreaded enemy, bounded away at their usual speed, with the cheetah following, until all animals were lost to view among the scattered bushes. We galloped forward in the direction they had taken, and in less than 300 yards we arrived at the spot where the cheetah had pinned the buck; this was lying upon its back without a struggle, while the firm jaws of the pursuer gripped its throat. The cheetah 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 cheetah'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 cheetah, and drawing the cord tight, he carefully cut the throat close to the teeth of the tenacious animal. As the blood spurted from the wound, it was caught in a large but shallow wooden bowl or ladle, furnished with a handle. When this was nearly full, the mask was taken off the cheetah, and upon seeing the spoon full of blood it relaxed its grasp and immediately began to lap the blood from its well-known ladle. When the meal was finished, the mask or hood was replaced, and the cheetah was once more confined within its cage, as it would not run again during that day.