The chetah, or hunting leopard, has, according to some authorities, been used for centuries in Barbary and the East Indies for the pursuit of the deer and antelope; and during the middle ages was also held in some repute in both France and Italy. In size the chetah ranks amongst the lowest of its kind, neither so large nor powerfully built as the English mastiff: Cuvier placing it as the last of the large spotted cats. In colour it is of a pale yellow on the upper part, white underneath, and covered all over with very small spots, but without any regularity in their disposition. The general appearance, however, of the chetah is all in his favour; while his temper and habits are much superior to the common run of those animals in which he is classed.

Having little personal knowledge of the pastime in which he is engaged, we think it better to at once go to book for the necessary elucidation. Orlick, in his Indian travels, thus minutely details the operation our print is intended to illustrate :

"The leopard is hoodwinked, as falcons are. As soon as the huntsman is near enough to the game the cap is taken off from the leopard, the leader strokes his hands over the eyes of the animal, and turns his head towards the antelope. Scarcely does the leopard perceive it, when he immediately springs forward; but if he does not succeed in overtaking the antelope in two or three leaps he desists and quietly lies down, when his leader takes him up into the cart and gives him some meat and water to strengthen him. The attempt is then renewed; but if he fails a second time he is quite discouraged, and is unfit for the chase for some days. The antelope possesses such elasticity that it makes leaps of thirty or forty paces, and therefore easily escapes from the leopard; and hence it is indispensable to get as near the game as possible. But if the leopard succeeds in catching the antelope, he leaps upon its back and clings to it with its paws; it falls down; he thrusts his fangs in the neck of his hapless victim and sucks his blood, and then quietly follows his leader."

Johnson, in his " Field Sports of India," gives us the chase a little more graphically, particularly the pas de fascination, which the chetah would appear to practise so successfully

"When antelopes or other deer are seen on the plain, should any of them be separated from the rest, the chetah's head is brought to face it, the blinds are removed, and the chains taken off. He immediately crouches and creeps along, with his belly almost touching the ground, until he gets within a short distance of the deer; who, although seeing him approach, appears so fascinated that he seldom attempts to run away. The chetah then makes a few surprising springs and seizes him by the neck. If many deer are near each other they often escape by flight; their number, I imagine, giving them confidence, and preventing their feeling the full force of that fascination, which, to a single deer, produces a sort of panic, and appears to divest him of the power or even inclination to run away or to make resistance. It is clear they must always catch them by stealth, or in the manner I have described; for they are not so swift even as the common deer."

WHAT DOES THE FOX THINK OF IT?

BY CECIL.

"Quæ in vitâ usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident; quæque agunt vigi, lantes agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt."—CICERO.

Animal Instinct-Analysis of Reasoning-Kinds of Instinct-Innate Peculiarities of Animals-Memory-Habit-Amusements-Origin of Thought-Comparison between Instinct and Habit-Household Words-Thoughts communicatedThoughts affected by Circumstances-The Existence of Foxes depends on the Chase-Haunts of Foxes-Food of Foxes; their Appetites-Foxes, and Mr. Charles Dickens' Description of Fox-hunting-Abode of Foxes-Finding a Mountain Fox-Actions of disturbed Foxes when not pursued-Indications of Stoutness, of Weakness-Halloos unheeded-Line of Foxes-Foxes holding to Woodlands-How defeated-Variations of Thought accounted for-Attractions -Fires used-Stratagems-Manoeuvres-Beckford's Authority-Causes of Foxes changing their Points-Foxes found in Gorse Coverts; their limited Knowledge of Country-Degeneracy-Superiority of Foxes in Olden Times-Blank Days-Abundance of Foxes; their Love of Seclusion-Anecdote-Conclusion of the Season-Retrospective Remarks-Deficiency of Sport-Evidence of Bell's Life-Change in Countries.

Instinct is a ruling power with which animals as well as men are endowed, for the preservation of their respective species. Repetitions of similar events linked together form an inference or process of reasoning; and if animals cannot be admitted among the class of thinking creatures, instinct affords them a negative power of reasoning nearly allied to thought. There are two kinds of instinct: one which leads us to a knowledge of what will most probably happen; the other from what has resulted from certain events, and will occur again in case those events are repeated. The first is enlightened instinct, the peculiar faculty of man-the other blind instinct, possessed by animals; this latter property comprises hunger, thirst, the necessity for protection against the vicissitudes and inclemency of the weather, the desire of repeating causes which have produced agreeable sensations, the fear of pain and death, with others calculated to continue the propagation of their kind. Foxes after having been pursued by hounds may be said to gain a kind of mechanical instinct or restlessness; they have experienced terror, perchance fatigue may have occasioned them pain, and therefore they must have vivid remembrances of unpleasant sensations. Some of the peculiarities with which animals are endowed appear to be innate or hereditary; a sense of danger is thereby established, to which experience adds greater caution, as in cases of foxes after having been once hunted, they are more on the alert to avoid a repetition of that ceremony.

Memory is a faculty with which animals are very certainly gifted; it is particularly conspicuous in horses and dogs; between the latter and foxes there is great affinity.

Habit conduces to a chain of conceptions, essentially differing from each other, according to the circumstances from which they derive their origin. Men who have passed the greater portion of their lives in London or other populous cities acquire tastes and ideas from very different

sources than those who reside in the country. The former require a constant train of exciting incidents to afford them amusement, the latter are pleased and contented with pastoral pursuits and sporting engagements. Different ranks in society form sentiments of an opposite character, the origin of which is habit. The peer and the man of fortune, whose principal object is the pursuit of some gratification which may enable him to pass the day with the greatest share of pleasure, when he rises in the morning studies how he can most successfully engage himself in the attainment of that emotion. But one amusement does not engross the attention of all; neither is it meet that it should. Some men enjoy racing, hunting, shooting, deer-stalking, fishing, yachting, cricket: few are skilled in each of those pursuits, therefore selecting that which is most agrecable to their own particular tastes and mode of life, engage in such as are suitable to the season. The tradesman, whose leading passion is to increase his store of wealth, regards that as his greatest enjoyment, and considers himself happy if, after a day of prosperous adventure, he can occasionally pass the evening at some place of public amusement, and an occasional trip into the country on a Sunday is the extent of his rural accomplishment. Much more expansive is the scope from whence men derive their enjoyments when the modififications between civilization and barbarism are confronted. Hence a great variety of thoughts arise. One human being will think himself happy under influences and engagements in various occupations which would render another miserable.

By analogy the instinctive faculties of animals may be traced; their propensities regulate to a great extent the development of their various degrees of instinct, which may be termed their mode of reasoning, or, in other words, their thoughts. But as the condition of animals of kindred species varies under peculiar circumstances, so are their necessities controlled, and those necessities lead to numerous conclusions, whereby instinct is brought into effect. In these respects their positions are capable of comparison with the human race.

But what does the fox think of it ?—is a question at the conclusion of a very amusing article by Mr. Charles Dickens, which appeared some little time since in his copiously endited publication styled "Household Words." Seeing that the talented author notices most subjects of interest, it would have been extraordinary if he had omitted fox-hunting. When a companion sits musing, although we may be in his presence, unless he expresses his thoughts we are unable at the moment to conceive upon what subjects he may be cogitating. Subsequent events may bring about indirect conclusions; but if it were not for the power of expressing our ideas by speech, one mau would gain little more from another in point of thoughts than we can from a fox or any other animal; indeed, although it is impossible to define the time, we may guess at "what the fox thinks of it" with greater accuracy than we can judge the thoughts of an uncommunicative person. As particular circumstances cause various members of the human race to think very differently on similar subjects, so do certain influences act upon the vulpine . tribe. If foxes had the power of communicating their thoughts, there is no doubt they would expostulate most urgently against being hunted; but that would be a very ungrateful complaint, seeing that in this island they owe their present existence to the fondness of Englishmen for the

chase. If fox-hunting were to be discontinued, foxes would very soon be annihilated.

The mountain foxes are the wildest of this crafty race; rocky cavities surrounded by nature's picturesque embellishments afford them birthplaces and retreats in many cases secure from intrusion either of man or hound. Such places of resort are seldom met with in the midland counties, except a few particular spots in Derbyshire and the Wrekin. and Titterstone Hills in Shropshire; on the coast they are more numerous, and some may be found in Yorkshire; there are several in Wales, one especially in the Goggerddan Hunt, if my recollection serves me, called Borth rocks, retreating into which many a fox has saved his life, and many a gallant hound has been precipitated headlong to destruction by eagerly rushing along the narrow tortuous path in pursuit of their chase, when having gained the rendezvous he is safe for the remainder of the day. Foxes bred in large woodlands are very different in their habits from those which are fostered in small coverts, gorse preserves, and spinnies, abounding with rabbits, kept principally for their support. The former are wandering animals, compelled to obtain a living by their own exertions, and are often compelled to roam considerable distances ere they can find rations suited to their palates; rats are to them as venison, mice as mutton, frogs as turtle, with black beetles for desert; these are the dainty morsels of their precarious feasts. How the homebred semi-domesticated foxes of the preserves fare is quite a different matter; like the affluent proprietors of the land who support them, they revel in profusion without much labour in procuring it; rabbits are constantly at command, when from inactivity, listlessness, and probably satiety, they disdain to seek for their venison, their mutton, or their turtle. From personal observation with a tame fox which I kept for several years, his decided preference was for rats: present him with a rabbit and a rat, he invariably seized upon the latter. Hunted by hounds, foxes retaliate upon the inferior animals, and in their turn enjoy the pleasures of the chase as the principal means of procuring their living. Do they now and then regale themselves on a partridge or pheasant? Perchance they may, when wounded birds attract their notice; but they must be greatly pressed by hunger before they are reduced to take the hen birds from their nests, as at that season they are unpalatable; and yet of these crimes vulpecidally-disposed keepers are wont to accuse them; a plump pullet is far more enticing-but how shall they indulge in such captures if the entrance to the henroost be carefully protected? From these remarks, it is reasonable to infer that foxes, like the human race, are subject to a variety of cogitations, dependent upon their condition, their haunts, and mode of living. It is difficult to imagine what they could be, and it would doubtless be very entertaining if foxes could communicate to us their notions upon several of the pleasing associations which Mr. Charles Dickens has so elegantly introduced as appertaining to fox-hunting, but they certainly would not join in admiration of the emphatic "Tally-ho!" To the pursuers it is an exclamation of immense excitement-to the pursued "it is a deadly wail," and assuredly that is "what foxes think of it." Could it be supposed they find attractions in nature's gay and picturesque beauties? In some measure it would appear they do; when we find them in their gorgeous palaces of golden-tinted gorse, or on craggy steeps beautifully adorned