Intelligence of Wolves 129 



me, were far from agreeable, and I do not recommend 

 it for people with delicate nerves. But in bush-life 

 danger becomes familiar ; in those moments men must 

 support one another, and I should no longer have had 

 the right to expect my men to risk their lives at my 

 side if I had abstained from helping them when I was 

 able to do so. 



The African wolf is, as I have said, the only 

 enemy of the lion, a fact which my men and I 

 knew well ; but, as often happens in such a case, 

 none of us thought of it with the exception, of 

 course, of Tambarika, who once more showed his 

 presence of mind and made use of his knowledge of 

 the habits of animals. 



Wolves sometimes show proofs of intelligence and 

 reasoning. For example, when traversing the country 

 in every direction in search of game, they continually 

 cross rivers, and, knowing that the water hides one of 

 their worst enemies, the crocodile, this is the method 

 they adopt to avoid it. Assembling at the edge of 

 the water, they bark so as to attract the crocodiles ; 

 when this is done they set off at full speed, either up 

 or down stream, and when a hundred yards away 

 throw themselves into the water and cross the river 

 in a body in the deepest silence. Very often have 

 we heard them barking, for they can be heard a 

 very long distance ; and one day we witnessed this 

 trick. It is stated that dogs use similar strategy, but 

 I have never seen an example. Besides, the dog has 

 hardly sufficient reason for wishing to cross streams, 

 and when he does so it is generally in the arms of 



