180 THE FOX 



them, the cross being generally between wild wolves 

 and the female dogs of the traders. 



In appearance, in habits, and in the way he runs 

 before hounds the jackal is strikingly like a fox. 

 The Indian jackal, which may or may not be of the 

 same species as the European or African (there is 

 much difference of opinion on this point), is very 

 widely distributed in India, and is also found in 

 Ceylon and Burmah. In Southern Afghanistan there 

 were few or no jackals, but they followed our armies 

 up the Bolan Pass, attracted by the abundance of 

 food a camp affords. I have heard it said that the 

 jackals followed the armies in the same way during 

 the first Afghan war, and gradually disappeared after 

 the English had left. 



In India the jackal is to a certain extent protected 

 on account of its usefulness as a scavenger. Its 

 strange weird notes, like those of a ghostly pack of 

 hounds in full cry, may be heard even in the outskirts 

 of the most populous cities. In its habits the jackal 

 is, like the fox, a hunter by night and a seeker of con- 

 cealment by day. Though jackals live on carrion 

 and offal in the neighbourhood of towns and villages, 

 in the jungle they are true hunters, and chase and 

 overpower by numbers antelopes, goats, and sheep, 

 choosing generally the young or weakly animals. 



