JACKALS, ETC. 275 



barks indicative of a find. On joining in the 

 hunt I discovered that she had managed to climb 

 to a considerable height from the ground through 

 the network of interlacing branches, and had 

 reached a point where, in a state of frantic excite- 

 ment and some embarrassment owing to the 

 unstable nature of her footing, she was slipping 

 about and barking furiously, dangerously near to 

 her hissing and growling quarry. A small dog is 

 no match for a great civet even on the ground, 

 and far less so among the branches, and so I was 

 fain to remove her forcibly and leave the enemy 

 to make off without further molestation. When 

 I next came into close quarters with a civet I 

 had no help from a dog, and owed the privilege 

 solely to the fact that the animal was too deeply 

 absorbed in an attractive occupation to notice my 

 approach. It was on one of those breathless 

 evenings towards the close of the rainy season, 

 when sudden, drenching showers alternate with 

 shining intervals, during which swarms of white 

 ants emerge to spend their brief winged existence. 

 My attention was attracted to the presence of a 

 swarm by the sight of multitudes of kites sailing 

 to and fro over a particular point in the garden, 

 a phenomenon which, at or shortly after sundown, 

 can only be interpreted as indicative of an unusual 

 abundance of winged prey, more especially when, 

 on careful scrutiny, the birds can be seen every 



