n6 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



straight across, and two or three of the leaders, leaping 

 in, began to follow ; but after swimming a few yards 

 they evidently thought better of it, and turned back to 

 their companions, when the whole pack moved slowly 

 away. Exceptions, however, occur. On another oc- 

 casion an impala took to the water a little below the 

 station, and swam across a deep and strong-running 

 channel, some thirty yards in width, to an island. The 

 pack of Hunting Dogs which was in pursuit halted on 

 the brink, all except one, which boldly plunged in, crossed 

 to the island, and there killed the buck, swimming back 

 to the mainland after he had eaten as much as he wanted. 

 This is the only case I ever knew of the pursuit being 

 maintained through deep water ; but instances con- 

 stantly occur of game being chased across shallows, and 

 killed in the water itself. 



Troops of Hunting Dogs often show great indifference 

 to man's presence, and a reluctance to retire before him, 

 which is often, and I am sure quite wrongly, put down 

 to the natural ferocity and fearlessness of the animals. 

 It is probably due to the comparative immunity which, 

 in wilder parts of the country, they enjoy from the 

 hunter, whose time is much too fully taken up, as a rule, 

 in the pursuit of game, to allow him to spare much of it 

 for the arduous business of seeking and following so 

 migratory and unprofitable an animal as the wild dog. 

 After having been systematically hunted and shot at for 

 a time, there is no animal which seeks safety quicker ; 

 and the pack south of the Sabi in the Game Reserve, 

 which has undergone considerable experience of man 

 and his ways, latterly have invariably turned down 

 wind on finding themselves followed, so that they may 

 be able to detect the near approach of their enemies 

 laboriously toiling on their tracks. 



