VOICES OF THE NIGHT 81 



relays of performers ; till madness seemed the next 

 item on the programme. When this is not going 

 on, the native pariah dogs yap, several of them 

 together ; so fast and shrill and with such intensity 

 for hours in succession, that one wonders why 

 they don't fall down and die, out of sheer fatigue. 

 Soon after this come the jackals, but they are a 

 welcome relief to the ear, after the irritating 

 monotony of the tom-tom and the dogs. They 

 come in from the jungle, swarming along in packs 

 in search of food. As they come by, the leader 

 howls out in a high voice, " Dead Hindoo-o-o-o ! " 

 dropping his voice slowly on every 0. The next 

 one takes up the refrain, " Where ? where ? " several 

 notes higher, and well sustained. " Here ! here ! " 

 screeches the third, in the shrillest of trebles ; and 

 then the whole pack bursts into a demoniacal 

 chorus of yap-yappings, howls, and barkings, which 

 gradually grow fainter and fainter, till they die off 

 in the distance. On a moonlight night in addition 

 to these, the brain-fever bird sits and cries all night 

 till dawn. He begins on a certain note, and 

 gradually shrills it up and up like a scale ; till you 

 wonder when he will stop. On the topmost note 



