THE JACKAL. 



FOit MOL'^'TAl.N, FIKLD, AND TAUM. [the jackal. 



'* Near tt) the pntes, conferring' iis tlu-y Jn-w, 

 Arj;u«, the iU»(?, liis iimu-nt ini»>tir knew ! 

 And not umonseious of the voire iind treail, 

 Lifts to the sound his ears, and renrs his liead. 

 He k.iew his lord— he knew, and strove to meet ; 

 He strove in rain to crawl and kiss his feet ; 

 Yet. all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes, 

 Salu x: his master, and confess his joys. 



« • * * * 



The dop, whom fate thus pranted to behold 

 His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll'd, 

 Tiikes a last look, and havinj; seen him, dies — 

 So dos'd, for ever, fuitltlul Argus' eyes." 

 Otiier iustances of woll'-domestication are on 

 record ; and tliey are taught, ia the East, to go 

 through certain perforinancea in which we 

 have seen dogs engaged in this country. Tliis 

 is more partieuhirly the case in Persia, where, 

 it is said, they are exhibited as spectacles to 

 the people. There, when young, they are 

 taught to dance. Biiffon brought up several 

 wolves. During their first year, he tells us, 

 they were very docile, and even caressing ; 

 and, when well fed, would never disturb the 

 poultry nor the other animals ; but at the age 

 of eighteen months or two years, their natural 

 ferocity made its appearance, and they had to 

 be chained up. One of them, up to its 

 eighteenth or nineteenth month, lived peace- 

 ably and amicably with all things ; but when 

 he arrived at this age he made an attack upon 

 the fowls, and killed the whole in one niglit, 

 without eating one of them. This was evi- 

 dently not the instigation of hunger, but of a 

 wanton natural ferocity. Another, after break- 

 ing his chain, and killing a dog with which he 

 lived in great familiarity, made his escape. 



Before entering upon the theories which 

 assign the wolf as the original of the dog, we 

 will briefly describe the characteristics of the 

 jackal, which has, also, had its advocates as 

 being the original type of the dog. Of the 

 animals known by this name, one species — 

 Canis Anthus — is a native of Senegal ; another, 

 the Cape jackal — Canis mesomelas — is a native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope ; and a third, the 

 common jackal — Canis aureus — is spread from 

 the north of Africa, through Syria, Persia, and 

 the greater part of India. Colonel Sykes 

 states it to be numerous in Dukhun, where it 

 is called Kholah by the Mahrattas. It is 

 somewhat larger than a fox, but its tail is 

 shorter in proportion, reaching only to the 

 hock ; its head is short, with a pointed muzzle ; 



the general colour nbovo is grey, abruptly di- 

 vided from n paler tint Hpread over the under 

 Hurface, anil the tail ia blightly tipued with 

 black. 



It is supposed to bo the Sliual of the Scrip- 

 tures ; ia the Chical of the Turks ; and ia tho 

 Sciagal, Sciugal, Schiachal, or Sliacal of tho 

 Persians. 



Tlie jackal goes in troops, which lie concealed 

 in holes and burrows during the day, but come 

 forth at night to hunt for food. They give 

 chase to sheep or antelopes and other animals ; 

 like the wolf, stealing, fox-like, into fowl- 

 roosts, and attacking any living thing they aro 

 capable of overcoming. They do not, how- 

 ever, confine themselves to living prey. Car- 

 rion, and ofl'al, of every descri jtion, is accept- 

 able to them, and they devour it with the ut- 

 most greediness. Nor are roots and fruits less 

 sought after ; in the vineyard they make great 

 havoc, and their fondness for grapes is noto- 

 rious. The " shriek" of the jackal is terrific 

 Those travellers who have heard them, describe 

 the nocturnal yells of these animals as ex- 

 tremely piercing and dissonant ; now close, 

 now at a distance — troop answering troop from 

 different points — themselves unseen ; while 

 their fearful chorus breaks the stillness of the 

 hours of darkness. Their cries thus heard 

 amidst the ruins of cities of ancient date, might 

 seem " to listening Fancy's ear" like the wail 

 of legions of spirits over the departed glories of 

 other days. Mouldering ruins, fallen temples, 

 crumbling tombs, and craggy rocks, are the 

 abodes of the jackal. 



Sly and suspicious in its disposition, the 

 jackal, when taken young, is nevertheless easily 

 tamed, and loses that unpleasant odour which 

 renders tb'e wild animal almost intolerable. 

 There is, we believe, in the Zoological Gardens, 

 a hybrid, between the jackal and the dog. 



Having thus described and illustrated, by 

 anecdote, the disposition of the wolf, and de- 

 scribed the characteristics of the jackal, we aro 

 sufficiently prepared to show the arguments as- 

 signed bv^ various naturalists for the different 

 theories they have advanced in reference to the 

 original type of the dog. JMr. Bell is one of 

 the most eminent defenders of the wolf theory. 



" In order," says he, " to come to any ra- 

 tional conclusion on this head, it will be ne- 

 cessary to ascertain to what tvpe the animal 



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