o 



46 Unexplored Spain 



trotting up to within n few yards — whether to devour the 

 supposed rabbit or merely from curiosity was not apparent. On 

 realising the situation, she turned and dashed off with an 

 indignant snort, followed by her striped brood, Init did not go 

 far before stopping (like Lot's wife) to listen and look back. 



Later, at the Sabinal, just upon dusk, a fox appeared about 

 120 yards away, down-wind. Though quite aware of our 

 presence, both by scent and sight, he deliberately sat down on 

 his haunches to watch ; but no charm of the chillar would induce 

 a nearer approach, and a rifle-ball whistling within an inch or two 

 of his ears broke the spoil. 



On May 16, 1910, a mongoose responded with unusual alacrity 

 to the first " call," running up within twenty yards. This was 

 an adult male and weighed 8|^ lbs. 



We have endeavoured to rear some of these animals in cap- 

 tivity. The young wild-cats are by far the most intractable — 

 perfect fiends of savage fury, quite unamenable to civilisation. 

 The lynx at least affects a measure of subjection, but remains 

 always unreliable and treacherous in spirit. The story of how 

 one of our tame lynxes attacked and nearly killed a poor lavan- 

 dera is told in Wild Sjyai?!, p. 447. 



