Appendix. 387 
the common native cur—gave birth to four or five pups. A 
peon was told to destroy them, and, waiting until the bitch 
was out of sight, he carried them off to the end of the 
orchard, some 400 or 500 yards from the house, and threw 
them into a pool of water which was only two to three feet 
deep. The bitch passed the rest of the day in rushing 
frantically about, searching for her young, and in the evening, 
a little after dark, actually succeeded in finding them, 
although they were lying at the bottom of the pool. She 
got them all out, and carried them, one by one, to another 
part of the grounds, where she passed the night with them, 
uttering at intervals the most piercing cries. In the morn- 
ing she carried them to still another spot, where there was 
a soft mould, and then dug a hole large and deep enough to 
bury them all, covering them over with the loose earth. 
Her task done, she returned to the house to sleep all day, 
but when night came again the whole piteous performance 
was repeated: the pups were dug up, and she passed the 
long, piercingly cold night—for it was in the depth of 
winter—trying to keep them warm, and uttering, as before, 
distressing cries. Yet a third time the whole thing was 
repeated ; but after the third night, when the dog came home 
to sleep, the dead pups were taken out of the ground and 
buried at a distance. 
Such an action as this strikes one with astonishment only 
because we have the custom of burying our dead, and are too 
ready at all times to regard the dog as human-like. But the 
explanation of the action in this case is to be found in the 
familiar fact that very many animals, including the dog, 
have the habit or instinct of burying or concealing the thing 
they wish to leave in safety. Thus, the dog buries the bone 
it does not want to eat, and when hungry digs it up again. 
When a dog buries or hides the dead body of the she dog it 
was attached to, or the she dog buries her dead young, it is 
with the same motive—namely, to conceal the animal that 
cannot be roused, and that it would not be safe to leave 
exposed, 
