SCENTING POWERS. 231 



a combination of gray, intermixed with black and 

 brown spots, while the nose, muzzle, and face are 

 black. The tail, which is bushy, but much less 

 so than that of the fox, is divided by a dark ring, 

 the upper part of which is sandy gray and the 

 lower white. Its destructive powers are enormous ; 

 so much so that pastoral farmers, before the intro- 

 duction of strychnine, were often driven by its 

 ravages from their homesteads. 



In character this animal is a strange combina- 

 tion of courage and timidity, for at one time it will 

 treat the presence of human beings with contempt, 

 nay, even attack them, while, on another occasion, 

 it will avoid them by the use of every artifice with 

 which it is cognisant. 



Several times I have possessed these animals. 

 To tame them I found impossible on account of 

 their extreme nervousness. One specimen that I 

 possessed for a short time would go into a fit if 

 suddenly alarmed or an attempt made to handle it. 



When hunting, the wild hounds always go in 

 packs, the number of members in such an associa- 

 tion being sometimes over fifty ; and so perfect 

 are their powers of scent that, when once they 



