close quarters. The cheetah seemed to think
better of it, however, for he stopped, and hung
his head like a dog who tries to intimidate and
fails; suddenly he pricked his ears, ran off to
one side, and disappeared behind the tree. It
would seem that he had caught sight of some
of the natives who were running away, and
resolved, coward as he was, to attack them.
Next minute he reappeared within six paces of
the gentleman, who threw up his gun, fired at
him, and missed;—in a moment the cheetah
sprang upon an unarmed young native who was
standing behind his master with a loading rod,
threw him down, clawed him, and made off. The
young man was not much hurt—to all appearance
—and after a few minutes two more balls were
rammed down, and pursuit commenced. They
had not to go far. Close by a house, the inmates
of which had fled earlier in the day, lay the
cheetah, pawing the air. Another ball, through
the heart, settled him, and he was carried home
in triumph.

On the very next day, a female cheetah and
cub were seen in another village not far off,
where they remained for three weeks at least.
An opportunity was afforded of observing their
habits when they have young, which does not
often occur. It was evident that these animals had
strayed from their usual haunts, and found themselves
at break of day among the abodes of man.
The attacks of the male were evidently in self-
defence, and, had evening closed before he was
killed, he would have left the village. The
female and cub were apparently waiting for him.
Soon after their arrival the mother killed a dog.
The village in which they took up their abode
was so entirely devoid of any game, that it is
impossible they could have found any, yet, with
the exception of that one dog, nothing of any
kind was missed by the people during the
remainder of their three weeks' stay. They
used to sleep in the gardens of the people. I
have myself seen their marks in the morning,
and the places where, cat-like, they had
scratched against the walls. A man would come
out of his house and see the cheetah and cub in a
tree close by; then he would run away; and, as
soon as they saw him, they would run away.
Their footprints were to be seen at the tanks,
but it is my firm belief that during all that time
they ate nothing, and were waiting for the male
cheetah to bring them their food: the female
devoting herself to the protection of the young
one. Almost every day during that time, the
before-mentioned gentleman tried to have a shot
at them, but he never could succeed. There
were many plantations of young palmyral trees
in which they used to hide, and it is well known
that a cheetah will lie almost as close as a
partridge. At length, they seemed to get tired of
waiting, and one morning they walked off. The
people were at first terribly afraid, but after a time
they began to think they were deities in disguise,
as they hurt neither man nor beast. The
effects of the male cheetah's attacks on the
woman and man were remarkable. Although
the young man had rejoined the party in pursuit,
and had been in at the death, and seemed but
slightly hurt, he felt the effects next day in
great prostration and pain. He and the woman
were despatched to a hospital, where they
remained for a long time; their wounds suppurated;
those of the poor woman became
frightful, and eventually death ensued. The
young man recovered, but will bear the marks to
his dying day. A cheetah's claws are as sharp
as a dissecting-knife, and contain poisonous
matter, which generally produces ill effects.

A MONOTONOUS "SENSATION."

A CERTAIN house at the corner of an obscure
but tolerably respectable street in London was
said to be troubled. The troublous signs were
of the usual kind. Silks of the very best and
stiffest quality were heard to rustle on the stairs,
and their sound was varied with the clanking of
chains. Doors, after they had been securely
locked, banged loudly, and when their noise had
attracted attention were found to be as securely
locked as before. The windows, too, were given
to clatter on the calmest nights, and bells that
could only be rung from the parlour and the
drawing-room tinkled unpleasantly after every
one was in bed on the upper floors.

As to the cause of trouble reports differed.
Some talked about an old man in a seedy black
suit, who had once kept a school, but had lost
it through caning a little boy too hard, and had
killed himself by drinking as a necessary
consequence. Others preferred the legend of an
old woman, who, having accumulated enormous
wealth (say £250), had devoted herself with
unaccountable assiduity to the vocation of bone-
picking, and after being missed for some time,
had been found in her garret in a state of
approaching decomposition, having, it seems,
chosen that mysterious mode of departure for no
other reason save a morbid desire to give the
coroner a job. A tale, too, was afloat about an
Irish labourer, whose head was turned by a
heavy prize in the Austrian lottery, and who, in
the frenzy of excitement, threw himself out of
window, but as historical criticism proved that
he lived two streets off, it was generally felt
that his decease, lamentable as it might be in
the eyes of his immediate friends, could scarcely
affect a house in which he had never resided,
and although it was proved that he had on one
occasion repaired a breach in the chimney of
the troubled domicile, such a very temporary
connexion with the premises was clearly
insufficient to establish a right of troubling. Public
opinion, therefore, was divided between the old
schoolmaster and the female bone-picker, nor was
the objection that neither of these could have
anything to do with chains or silks to be regarded
as in the slightest degree valid. A stiff
brocade and a hundred-weight of iron chain are
the proper appurtenances of the ghost, as a
ghost, when he or she designs to address the ear
rather than the eye, and do not bear any reference
whatever to the circumstances or vocation