The Cheeta, or Hunting Leopard

Cf. Chapters on Hunting Dogs and Cheetas, being an extract from the “Kitabu’ l-Bazyarah,” a treatise on Falconry, by Ibn Kustrajim, an Arab writer of the Tenth Century. By Lieut.-Colonel D. C. Phillott and Mr. R. F. Azoo (Journ. and Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Jan., 1907, pp. 47–50):

“The cheeta is the offspring of a lioness, by a leopard that coerces her, and, for this reason, cheetas are sterile like mules and all other hybrids. No animal of the same size is as weighty as the cheeta. It is the most somnolent animal on earth. The best are those that are ‘hollow-bellied,’ roach backed, and have deep black spots on a dark tawny ground, the spots on the back being close to each other; that have the eyes bloodshot, small and narrow; the mouth ‘deep and laughing’; broad foreheads; thick necks; the black line from the eyes long; and the fangs far apart from each other. The fully mature animal is more useful for sporting purposes than the cub; and the females are better at hunting than are the males, and such is the case with all beasts and birds of prey.”

See Hippolyte Boussac, Le Guépard dans l’Egypte ancienne (La Nature, 21st March, 1908, pp. 248–250).

XIX., p. 400 n. Instead of Hoy tiao, read Hey tiao (Hei tiao).

XIX., p. 400. “These two are styled Chinuchi (or Cunichi), which is as much as to say, ‘The Keepers of the Mastiff Dogs.’”

Dr. Laufer writes to me: “The word chinuchi is a Mongol term derived from Mongol činoa (pronounced čino or čono), which means ‘wolf,’ with the possessive suffix -či, meaning accordingly a ‘wolf-owner’ or ‘wolf-keeper.’ One of the Tibetan designations for the mastiff is čang-k’i (written spyang-k’yi), which signifies literally ‘wolf-dog.’ The Mongol term is probably framed on this Tibetan word. The other explanations given by Yule (401–402) should be discarded.”

Prof. Pelliot writes to me: “J’incline à croire que les Cunichi sont à lire Cuiuci et répondent au kouei-tch’e ou kouei-yeou-tch’e, ‘censeurs,’ des textes chinois; les formes chinoises sont transcrites du mongol et se rattachent au verbe güyü, ou güyi, ‘courir’; on peut songer à restituer güyükči. Un Ming-ngan (= Minghan), chef des kouei-tch’e, vivait sous Kúblái et a sa biographie au ch. 135 du Yuan Che; d’autre part, peut-être faut-il lire, par déplacement de deux points diacritiques, Bayan güyükči dans Rashid ed-Din, ed. Blochet, II., 501.”

XX., p. 408, n. 6. Cachar Modun must be the place called Ha-ch’a-mu-touen in the Yuan Shi, ch. 100, fo. 2 r. (Pelliot.)

XXIV., pp. 423, 430. “Bark of Trees, made into something like Paper, to pass for Money over all his Country.”

Regarding Bretschneider’s statement, p. 430, Dr. B. Laufer writes to me: “This is a singular error of Bretschneider. Marco Polo is perfectly correct: not only did the Chinese actually manufacture paper from the bark of the mulberry tree (Morus alba), but also it was this paper which was preferred for the making of paper-money. Bretschneider is certainly right in saying that paper is made from the Broussonetia, but he is assuredly wrong in the assertion that paper is not made in China from mulberry trees. This fact he could have easily ascertained from S. Julien, who alludes to mulberry tree paper twice, first, as ‘papier de racines et d’écorce de mûrier,’ and, second, in speaking of the bark paper from Broussonetia: ‘On emploie aussi pour le même usage l’écorce d’Hibiscus Rosa sinensis et de mûrier; ce dernier papier sert encore à recueillir les graines de vers à soie.’ What is understood by the latter process may be seen from Plate I. in Julien’s earlier work on sericulture, where the paper from the bark of the mulberry tree is likewise mentioned.

“The Chi p’u, a treatise on paper, written by Su I-kien toward the close of the tenth century, enumerates among the various sorts of paper manufactured during his lifetime paper from the bark of the mulberry tree (sang p’i) made by the people of the north.

“Chinese paper-money of mulberry bark was known in the Islamic World in the beginning of the fourteenth century; that is, during the Mongol period. Accordingly it must have been manufactured in China during the Yüan Dynasty. Ahmed Shibab Eddin, who died in Cairo in 1338 at the age of 93, and left an important geographical work in thirty volumes, containing interesting information on China gathered from the lips of eye-witnesses, makes the following comment on paper-money, in the translation of Ch. Schefer:

“‘On emploie dans le Khita, en guise de monnaie, des morceaux d’un papier de forme allongée fabriqué avec des filaments de mûriers sur lesquels est imprimé le nom de l’empereur. Lorsqu’un de ces papiers est usé, on le porte aux officiers du prince et, moyennant une perte minime, on reçoit un autre billet en échange, ainsi que cela a lieu dans nos hôtels des monnaies, pour les matières d’or et d’argent que l’on y porte pour être converties en pièces monnayées.’

“And in another passage: ‘La monnaie des Chinois est faite de billets fabriqués avec l’écorce du mûrier. Il y en a de grands et de petits.... On les fabrique avec des filaments tendres du mûrier et, après y avoir apposé un sceau au nom de l’empereur, on les met en circulation.’

“The banknotes of the Ming Dynasty were likewise made of mulberry pulp, in rectangular sheets one foot long and six inches wide, the material being of a greenish colour, as stated in the Annals of the Dynasty. It is clear that the Ming Emperors, like many other institutions, adopted this practice from their predecessors, the Mongols. Klaproth is wrong in saying that the assignats of the Sung, Kin, and Mongols were all made from the bark of the tree ču (Broussonetia), and those of the Ming from all sorts of plants.

“In the Hui kiang chi, an interesting description of Turkistan by two Manchu officials, Surde and Fusambô, published in 1772, the following note headed ‘Mohamedan Paper’ occurs:

“‘There are two sorts of Turkistan paper, black and white, made from mulberry bark, cotton and silk refuse equally mixed, resulting in a coarse, thick, strong, and tough material. It is cut into small rolls fully a foot long, which are burnished by means of stones, and then are fit for writing.’

“Sir Aurel Stein reports that paper is still manufactured from mulberry trees in Khotan. Also J. Wiesner, the meritorious investigator of ancient papers, has included the fibres of Morus alba and M. nigra among the material to which his researches extended.

“Mulberry-bark paper is ascribed to Bengal in the Si yang ch’ao kung tien lu by Wu Kiën-hwang, published in 1520.

“As the mulberry tree is eagerly cultivated in Persia in connection with the silk industry, it is possible also that the Persian paper in the banknotes of the Mongols was a product of the mulberry. At any rate, good Marco Polo is cleared, and his veracity and exactness have been established again.”

XXIV., p. 427.