50 



arc to be found in every part of the country, close to cantonment* 

 near to which tigers have not been for years ; and if the peculiar 

 wail be caused by old age, it should be more often heard in canton- 

 ment than in camp. Like other sportsmen, I have never heard this 

 unearthly yell, unless when I knew, or had reason to believe, that 

 a tiger was on foot and have more than once seen a jackal sneaking 

 about apparently interested in the movements of a tiger ; but I can- 

 not account for the cry. Are we sure that it does proceed from a 

 jackal ? May it not be some signal, or call, or caterwaul of a tiger 

 in person ? No one, until he heard it would suppose that a tiger 

 could utter a sound so unlike a roar as the cry mentioned in the 

 remarks on the hunting leopard, page 39 of these notes. I do not 

 attribute much weight to the instance given at page 144 of Jerdon, 

 of a jackal and cheeta being turned out of the same bush. I once 

 aided in killing a panther that got out of the same bush, and at the 

 same moment, a hare did. Both of the animals must have been 

 there for some time, for it was at the end of a hard morning's work ; 

 and my two comrades, the beaters and I, had all been resting about 

 the spot as we came up, and all the guns except mine had been made 

 over to the attendants ; -suddenly a couple of pariah dogs coming 

 up with a beater went into the bush, the panther and hare forth- 

 with jumped out of it at different angles, the former losing his life 

 in the proceeding. These two creatures certainly could not have 

 had any interest in common. 



In support of the statement at page 142 of Jerdon, I may men- 

 tion that one of my brother officers saw a wounded antelope that 

 he was following up, coursed and killed by a couple of jackals. 



Opinions differ regarding the speed of a jackal. My own evi- 

 dence would be that, if gorged, as he often is in the morning, and 

 if he has not got a long start of the dogs any strong greyhounds 

 will run into him almost immediately ; and that as they are then 

 not blown, they kill him with ease. 



If however he be empty and has so long a start that the dogs get 

 somewhat out of wind before they overtake him and therefore hesi- 

 tate to close with him, he will give a very long run before he is 

 stopped. 



I have heard of jackals having been ridden down by a single 



