238 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. xxvi 



sharply threw up his hand in a military salute, and 

 my dog, who was standing by me at the time, 

 doubtless mistaking this action of the native for a 

 preliminary to striking me, flew at him and seized 

 him by the jaw, tearing him very badly. There 

 was nothing else to do but have poor old Jumbo 

 destroyed ! I hadn't the heart to shoot him myself, 

 so commissioned one of my men to perform this act 

 for me, but his death upset me, and, even now, the 

 memory of this wild pet of mine is green in my 

 mind. 



The natives, without exception, say that lions 

 will never come near wild dogs, and there may be 

 some truth in this, for a pack of them would prove 

 a formidable foe to any beast of the forest. They 

 are very swift and almost tireless, and their fangs 

 are peculiarly adapted for tearing their prey to 

 pieces. I once saw a couple of wild dogs pursue a 

 hartebeeste, and they kept pace with this fleet beast 

 with the greatest of ease, every now and then 

 springing at and plucking a mouthful of living flesh 

 from its flanks. I shot the hartebeeste, and, scared 

 by the report of my rifle the wild dogs promptly 

 bolted. 



