THE AFRICAN HUNTING DOG 107 



in leisurely manner towards the nearest water, being 

 continually joined on the way by stragglers from all 

 directions. In drinking, deep pools and large rivers, 

 are, as far as possible, carefully avoided, no doubt from a 

 lively fear of crocodiles, and shallows near the main 

 streams, or small pans in the otherwise dry sand-spruits 

 are preferably chosen. 



Having satisfied their thirst, the pack next seek some 

 sandy stretch the bed of a dry watercourse or river 

 bank where, if the hour is still early, and the sun not 

 too hot, the members will roll and bask, while truants keep 

 dropping in. Later, as the day gets warm, repair is had 

 to the shade of a tree, to a cool clump of reeds, or to a 

 patch of undergrowth, where sleep is indulged in during 

 the hot hours. As the shadows begin to lengthen, and 

 the air cools, the time approaches for another visit to the 

 water, immediately after which comes the evening hunt. 

 This over, they may drink again should there be sufficient 

 light ; but, generally speaking, I do not think Hunting 

 Dogs care about moving through the bush on dark nights, 

 and at such times the pack usually rests, huddled up 

 together for warmth and mutual protection. When 

 returning to camp late one night I came on a number 

 apparently sleeping, in the midst of a dense thicket, 

 and no doubt this is a general practice. 



There is no other beast of prey in Africa responsible 

 for so much disturbance of game as the Hunting Dog, and, 

 in proportion to his numbers, there is none which deals 

 out more wholesale destruction. A pack, descending 

 suddenly upon a district, scatters the game far and wide, 

 and it is not difficult to discern from the restless and 

 uneasy manner of the impala and other antelopes, as 

 well as from the fact of the herds being split up and 

 scattered into small parties, that these bush pirates are 



