76 THE HIGHLANDS OF CE^^TEAL INDIA. 



up to my horse by a wolf they had encountered when 

 out coursing foxes and jackals ; and onl}^ once saw 

 the dogs get the better of one without assistance from 

 the gun. On that occasion I had out a couple of 

 young greyhounds, crossed between the deerhound and 

 the Kampore breed ; and along with them was a very 

 large and powerful English bull-mastiff, rejoicing in the 

 name of ''Tinker," whose exceedingly plebeian looks 

 in no woy belied his name. He was an old hand at 

 fighting before ever he left the purlieus of his native 

 Manchester ; and in India had been victor in many 

 a bloody tussle with jackal, jungle cat, and pariah 

 dog. His massive head and well-armed jaws combined 

 in a high degree the qualities of a battering-ram and 

 heavy artillery ; and his courage was in full propor- 

 tion to his means of offence. On the present occasion 

 the three dogs espied the enemy sitting coolly on his 

 haunches on the top of a rising ground, and the young 

 dogs, taking him no doubt for a jackal, went at him 

 full speed, Tinker as usual lumbering along in the 

 rear. Soon, however, the hounds returned in a panic, 

 with their tails well down, and closely pursued by the 

 wolf, a large dark-gray fellow, snappiug and snarling 

 at their heels. The greyhounds fled past Tinker, who 

 steadily advanced, dropping into the crouching sort 

 of run he always adopted in his attack. No doubt 

 Master Wolf thought he too would turn from his 

 gleaming rows of teeth and erected hair, as all his 

 canine assailants had done before. But he never was 

 more mistaken, for the game old dog, as soon as a pace 

 or two only remained betwixt him and the enemy, 

 suddenly sprang to his full height, and, with a bound, 

 buried his bullet head in his advancing chest. I saw 



