i 4 2 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



Elephants, Tigers and other animals, and one of these may here be 

 given. He says : " . . . When watching for a Tiger by moonlight I 

 was entertained until his arrival by the proceedings of three Jackals. 



"Two arrived before sunset, and their elaborate care in approach- 

 ing the carcase of the bullock the Tiger had killed, though it lay in 

 open ground, and they might have known the Tiger could not be 

 secreted in very close proximity, was highly amusing. 



"When close to it they would suddenly scamper off, apparently 

 with the object of drawing some movement from the Tiger if it 

 were anywhere near. 



"Having at last plucked up courage to begin, one fell to 

 voraciously, tugging away at the skin and making a great noise, 

 whilst the other watched assiduously, never essaying to taste the 

 tempting flesh. Presently the sentry raised every hair on its body 

 and tail, lowered its head into the attitude of a dog in vomiting, 

 tucked in its tail, and made a quick shuffling movement forward, 

 ludicrously like an aggressive turkey. 



" ' Here comes the Tiger,' thought I ; but presently I descried the 

 cause in the shape of a third Jackal. 



"The jealous sentry the first-comers were evidently a pair 

 would not permit its approach, and the new-comer at last lay down 

 with an assumed air of unconcern to await its turn. 



"The Jackal had been tugging away at the dead bullock for about 

 half-an-hour, the sentry not having had its turn yet, when both 

 started away from the carcase and looked fixedly in a direction almost 

 under my tree. They then commenced to make a peculiar sniffing 

 noise, and changed places restlessly, running first a few paces to 

 one side, then to the other, but never taking their eyes off the object 

 that had attracted them. I knew they had viewed the Tiger. 



"I had never seen a Tiger's reception by Jackals before; but 

 their demeanour was so marked that I felt certain to what to attribute 

 it. It was a moment of intense excitement, as I could not turn to 

 look in the direction from which I felt sure the Tiger was approach- 

 ing. Presently the Jackals, after changing their note to a sort of 

 sharp twittering, evidently intended to conciliate their lord and 

 master, retired to some little distance, and I shortly heard the quiet, 

 measured footfall of the Tiger almost below me. I had the wind in 

 my favour. Presently the striped head and shoulders came into 

 sight, and after one or two pauses their owner marched to the tail of 

 the bullock and stood looking in the direction of the Jackals. 



