MAMMALIA— JACKAL. 149 



inhabits the warmer parts of the old continent, and seems to occupy the 

 place of the wolf, which is not there so common. " In size," says Mr Ben- 

 nett, " he is about equal to the common fox, but he differs from that equally 

 troublesome animal in the form of the pupils of his eyes, which correspond 

 with those of the dog and of the wolf; in the comparative shortness of his 

 legs and muzzle ; in his less tufted and bushy tail ; and in the peculiar 

 marking of his coat. The coloring of his back and sides consists of a 

 mixture of gray and black, which is abruptly and strikingly distinguished 

 from the deep and uniform tawny of his shoulders, haunches, and legs ; his 

 head is nearly of the same mixed shade with the upper surface of his body, 

 as is also the greater part of his tail, which latter, however, becomes black 

 towards its extremity ; his neck and throat are whitish, and the under 

 surface of his body is distinguished by a paler hue." The yellow which 

 is about him is the reason why many authors have called the jackal the 

 golden wolf. 



As the species of the wolf approaches that of the dog, so the jackal finds 

 a place between them both. The jackal, or adil, as Belon says, is a beast 

 between the wolf and the dog. To the ferocity of the wolf, it joins, in fact, a 

 little of the familiarity of the dog. Its voice is a kind of a howl, mixed 

 with barking and groaning ; it is more noisy than the dog, and more vora- 

 cious than the wolf; it never stirs out alone, but always in packs, of 

 twenty, thirty or forty ; they collect together every day, to go in search of 

 their prey ; they make themselves formidable to the most powerful animals, 

 by their number ; they attack every kind of beasts or birds, almost in the 

 presence of the human species ; they abruptly enter stables, sheepfolds, and 

 other places, without any sign of fear ; and when they cannot meet with 

 any other thing, they will devour boots, shoes, harnesses, &c, and what 

 leather they have not time to consume they take away with them. When 

 they cannot meet with any live prey, they dig up the dead carcasses of men 

 and animals. The natives are obliged to cover the graves of the dead with 

 large thorns, and other things, to prevent them from scratching and digging 

 up the dead bodies. The dead are buried very deep in the earth ; for it is 

 not a little trouble that discourages them. Numbers of them work together, 

 and accompany their labor with a doleful cry ; and, when they are once 

 accustomed to feed on dead bodies, they run from country to country, follow 

 armies, and keep close to the caravans. This animal may be styled the 

 crow of quadrupeds ; for they will eat the most putrid or infectious flesh; 

 their appetite is so constant and so vehement, that the driest leather is sa- 

 vory to them; and ski flesh, fat, excrement, or the most putrefied animal, 

 is alike to their taste. 



