THE HYAENA DOG 99 



night time. Bold as the boldest wolves, they will 

 drive off prey from within a hundred yards of a 

 house, run into it and pull it down before a horse 

 can be saddled in pursuit ; a quarter of an hour later 

 nothing is left but bones. ^ Thomas Pringle, the 

 South African poet, relates how a pack of wild dogs 

 once chased a hartebeest antelope right across his 

 garden and orchard. Lively times indeed ! 



Sir Cornwallis Harris, in his book of portraits of 

 South African animals — now quite a rare work — has 

 figured an interesting picture of wild life. The 

 scene is laid at the foot of a low rocky hill. Above, 

 in the clear azure, float countless vultures, descending 

 like black ghouls upon a carcase which, already 

 rent in pieces, lies in the midst of a struggling 

 gorging company, composed of more vultures and 

 two species of hyaena. Various individual feasters 

 are tearing at detached portions of the banquet, and 

 in the foreground two vultures struggle for the same 

 piece of carrion. Close by are seen five hunting- 

 dogs, apparently from their nonchalant attitudes 

 comfortably full-fed ; of this small pack two are 

 sitting on their haunches, and a third is reclining as 

 if for purposes of digestion. It does not appear that 



1 When Delegorgue was in Africa lie heard a terrible story regardinj^ 

 the hyji'na (lo<;. A hunter havinj^ wounded an eland antelope was slowly 

 followini^ it a distance of 2,()ljl) paces, when a pa(;k of forty wild dogs 

 appeared and gave chase to the ([uarry. The hunter hastily rode up and 

 dispersed them, but to his amazement on reaching the spot where the 

 eland had been, only bones were left ! Determined on revenge, he at 

 once pursued tiie dogs. Full fed after their heavy meal, thej' began 

 disgorging great pieces of hastily-bolted meat, the ground for a distance 

 of many paces being littered with these ghastly relics. 



