NHD7/1036

Asian Cheetah

‘Acinonyx jubatus venaticus’

Original inscriptions: ‘Chitta Tyger. A Chitta or Leopard speckled with small spots.’ ‘This Animal catches the Deer, the young kind of this animal will serve very soon to Chace but old one will take up to two years to practise for hunting. The male and female of this kind are exact in hunting. When we set about to hunt, we should put this Animal upon a cart and soon after we arrived at the place designed for Chace we ought to loose the ropes, tied in the neck and hip as well as the cover of its eyes, soon after the Animal will see the Deers and run as swiftly as a deer, a grey hound or a fine Horses, some time more swiftly than these animals. If the deer sometimes escaped from His efforts He will be very fierceness that the person who rears it could not then go near it without some flesh in his hand. This animal will not kill a man but hurt a little. This animal may use for whole twelve months. The people first catch this by fixing a snare in the ground at Desert, and its said by Nadur people who lives in the wood that this animal even when it was at the wood feeds upon the Deer, when this animal was caught they sew the eyes of it until it was properly accustomed to the people, and then its necessary to put a socket or cover to its eyes. In order to bring this animal into the posssesssion of the man there is a medicine that is, take a little saffron and camphor and velvet insect and grind it well and feed it and likewise a little musk camphor and saffron being well grinded safely into the eyes, which will be in man’s possession very soon. Its necessary to carry this animal an hour time every day in the morning and in the evening to the public street and markets that the animal may be well accustomed with the crowd of the people. The Animal of this kind at the Desert of Western part near Mysore will be very diligent in Chace but the animal drawn in this was caught in this part of the eastern country. It’s a custom to feed this animal twice a day at 10 O’Clock in the morning and 4 in the evening, as we feed the Hawks. The Moor people are very fond to rear this, many sickness will frequently happen to this animal, some sickness will be cured by giving a purge, some sickness will be cured by giving a smoak of powder in his snout. This Animal must always be put upon a cot that it may not lick the earth and fell in sickness. Some time a flesh will grow in its tongue like a thorns and some time indigestion will take place for which we must burn a hot iron wire on the head to the former sickness and on the hip to the latter, we must not feed it with much flesh that he may fell in sickness of Rumatism. This will breathe highly some time in hot season. So many sickness will happpen to the Animal, but the people who rears it must take great care to bring it up to practise the Chace.’

Further inscriptions: ‘Mysore Coll. of Drawings.’ [erroneously ascribed in c.1880]

Artist:

Medium: Watercolour

Size:

Note: The Cheetah is shown tethered and its hood is separately detailed.