NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



of the ground and bush makes it possible, the jackals 

 are hunted more or less successfully by men on horse- 

 back, accompanied by packs of hounds. In the 

 neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth, jackals are still 

 quite plentiful, and may occasionally be seen after 

 sundown. However, a momentary glimpse is usu- 

 ally all that is obtained, for the eyes, nose, and ears 

 of a jackal are three highly- developed avenues 

 through which it becomes acquainted with the 

 approach of enemies. 



At dusk one evening, as I walked in the vicinity 

 of some dense thorny scrub at Port Elizabeth, a 

 Grysbuck antelope, in its haste and terror, almost 

 collided with me. It had barely vanished into the 

 bush before two jackals, with noses to the ground, 

 broke through the bushes at the spot where the buck 

 had appeared. Their pace carried them a couple 

 of yards or so out into the open, and, catching sight 

 of me, they swerved round, and in an instant were 

 gone. They had evidently been very hot on the 

 trail of the little buck. 



When camped out under a creeper-covered shrub 

 in the forest, wrapped in a waterproof blanket and 

 with a couple of faithful dogs to do sentry duty, the 

 low wailing cries of the jackals, which at intervals 

 break the stillness of the night, sound almost 

 uncanny. It begins with a mournful wail, and ends 

 with what might be construed into a cynical laugh. 

 My companion on one of these occasions was a 

 young man who had never slept anywhere but in a 



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