176 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



by man and profoundly modified in their characteris- 

 tics by cross-breeding. Among these wild species to 

 which is given the honor of being regarded as ances- 

 tors of the domestic dog, I will mention the jackal, 

 which abounds in Africa as well as Asia. 



"The jackal looks a little like the wolf, but is 

 smaller and is harmless to man. Its coat is red, 



varied with white under 

 the stomach and black 

 on the back. It has 

 a pointed muzzle and 

 erect ears. Its timidity 

 causes it to feed on the 

 remnants left over by 

 animals bolder and 

 Jackal stronger than itself. 



When the gorged lion abandons its half-devoured 

 prey, the jackals, crouching in the neighborhood and 

 waiting until his lordship has finished, hasten up in 

 companies to the disdained carcass and clean it to the 

 bone. For the same reason the jackal frequents in 

 troops the outskirts of villages and encampments in 

 the hope of finding garbage and carrion. In the day- 

 time it stays quietly in its den among the rocks, but 

 at nightfall it issues forth in quest of food with a 

 sort of sharp howling that continues all night. 

 There is nothing so disagreeable as the nocturnal 

 concert of a band of jackals prowling around dwell- 

 ings. One of them begins with a cry something like 

 argee in a very piercing and prolonged tone. 

 Scarcely has it finished when a second takes up the 



