Leopards, when wild, select three places. In one part of the country they hunt; in another part they rest and sleep; and in a third district they play and amuse themselves. They mostly sleep on the top of a hill. The shade of a tree is sufficient for the leopard. He rubs himself against the trunk. Round about the tree, they deposit their excrements, which are called in Hindí ák'har.

Formerly, hunters used to make deep holes and cover them with grass. These pits were called odí. The leopards on coming near them, fell down to the bottom; but they often broke their feet in pieces, or managed by jumping to get out again. Nor could you catch more than one in each pit. His Majesty therefore invented a new method, which has astonished the most experienced hunters. He made a pit only two or three gaz deep, and constructed a peculiar trapdoor, which closes when the leopard falls into the hole. The animal is thus never hurt. Sometimes more than one go into the trap. On one occasion no less than seven leopards were caught. At the time of their heat, which takes place in winter, a female leopard had been walking about on the field, and six male leopards were after her. Accidentally she fell into a pit, and her male companions, unwilling to let her off, dropped in one after the other,—a nice scene, indeed.

His Majesty also catches leopards by tiring them out, which is very interesting to look at.

Another method is to fasten nooses to the foot of the above mentioned tree. When the animal comes to scratch itself, it gets entangled.

His Majesty generally hunts leopards thirty or forty kos from A´grah, especially in the districts of Bárí, Símáwalí, Alápúr, Sunnám, Bhaṭindah, Bhaṭnír, Paṭan in the Panjáb, Fathpúr Jhinjhanú, Nágor, Mírt'ha, Jodhpúr, Jaisalmír, Amrsarnáyin; but several other more remote spots have been selected as hunting grounds. His Majesty used often to go to the first mentioned places, take out the leopards that had fallen into a pit, and hand them over to the keepers. He would often travel over great distances, and was perhaps just on the point of resting a little; but before he had done so, good news were brought from some other hunting ground, when he hastened away on a fleet courser.

In former times, people managed to train a newly caught leopard for the chase in the space of three months, or if they exerted themselves, in two months. From the attention which His Majesty pays to this animal, leopards are now trained, in an excellent manner, in the short space of eighteen days. Old and active keepers were surprised at such results, and extolled the charm of His Majesty's knowledge. From good motives, and from a desire to add splendour to his court, His Majesty used to take it upon himself to keep and train leopards, astonishing the most experienced by his success.

A rather remarkable case is the following. Once a leopard had been caught, and without previous training, on a mere hint by His Majesty, it brought in the prey like trained leopards. Those who were present had their eyes opened to truth, and experienced the blessing of prostrating themselves in belief on His Majesty.*

Attracted by the wonderful influence of the loving heart of His Majesty, a leopard once followed the imperial suite without collar or chain, and like a sensible human being, obeyed every command, and at every leopard chase enjoyed it very much to have its skill brought to the test.

There are two hundred keepers in charge of the kháçah leopards. A proper system of training has been laid down.