THE RAINS 125 



house, and to this they directed their steps. Now I 

 understood the object of their visit : they had come 

 to plunder or to reconnoitre. 



Having reached the poultry-house, they walked round 

 it. It was most interesting to watch them, for, as I 

 was sitting within the house, they were unaware of my 

 presence. They moved very slowly, and with extreme 

 caution, looking constantly around to make sure there 

 was no danger ; moving thus along, they made the 

 complete circuit of the poultry-house, as they did so 

 narrowly inspecting it ; then they descended to the 

 next terrace below, struck into a narrow footpath, and 

 trotted away down to the river. Either, I presume, 

 they had discovered that the poultry-house could not 

 be entered, or else they had arranged their plan of 

 attack, and intended to return after nightfall and put 

 it into execution. 



The jackals are nocturnal animals, though not 

 entirely such ; they do occasionally wander abroad 

 in the day-time, but then they usually wander singly, 

 and confine their wanderings to the ravines and to the 

 margins of the rivers. Except on this occasion, I 

 never saw a party of jackals abroad during the day- 

 time, nor did I ever see even a solitary jackal venture 

 during the day-time into the compound of an inhabited 

 house, or, indeed, into a station at all. 



At night the jackals hunt and move about in packs, 

 but I am not quite sure whether they always live in 

 communities ; they do sometimes, for I have twice 

 come across what I may term their warrens. They 

 were both situated on slightly elevated spots, sur- 



