258 THE BLACK-BACKED JACKAL. 



In India, the tiger is often followed during his nightly quests by a company of these 

 animals, and in most cases by a single old Jackal, called in the native tongue, the Khole, or 

 Kholah-balloo, whose expressive cries are well understood by the hunters, whether bipedal or 

 quadrupedal. Many a tiger has been discovered and brought to Ms death by the yell of a 

 Jackal, which led the pursuers on his track. When the tiger has killed some large animal, 

 such as a buffalo, which he cannot consume at one time, the Jackals collect round the carcass 

 at a respectful distance, and wait patiently until the tiger moves off and they can venture 

 to approach. 



As soon as the tiger moves away, the Jackals rush from all directions, carousing upon the 

 slaughtered buffalo, and each anxious to eat as much as it can contain in the shortest time. 

 So eager are they after their prey that they are jealous not only of their companions, but of 

 the vultures that gather round every dead animal, and snap fiercely at them as they wheel 

 round on their broad pinions, or try to push their beaks among the noses of the fighting and 

 struggling Jackals. But although they may snap and snarl, they never seem to inflict any 

 real injury. They are so audacious in their hunger that they will follow human hunters, and 

 take possession of the dead game in a marvellously shameless manner. 



They always keep a sharp watch for wounded animals, and pursue them with such relent- 

 less vigor that they are said never to permit their weakened prey to escape their fangs. One 

 of these wild dogs, as they really seemed to be, has been known to leap at the throat of a 

 wounded Axis deer, and then to hang with such indomitable pertinacity that it resisted all 

 the efforts of its wretched victim to free itself from so terrible a foe. When hanging by its 

 teeth, it contracted its body into as small a compass as was compatible with its size. 



Although not a brave animal individually, yet it will, when hard pressed, fight with great 

 ferocity, and inflict extremely painful and dangerous wounds with its long and sharp teeth. 

 It has a great dread of the civilized dog, but has more than once been known to turn the tables 

 on its pursuers, and to call the help of its comrades to its aid. ' On one of these occasions two 

 greyhounds had been sent in pursuit of a Jackal, which immediately made for a rising ground 

 covered with grass and small bushes. Dogs and Jackal arrived at the spot almost simulta- 

 neously, when the Jackal gave a cry of distress, which was immediately answered by the 

 appearance of a small pack of Jackals, which issued in every direction from the cover, and 

 attacked the hounds. The owner of the dogs was at the time impounded in thick mud, and 

 coidd not reach the spot in time to rescue his hounds from their furious enemies until they had 

 been most severely mangled. One was quite unable to walk, and was carried home by bearers, 

 and the other was so dreadfully bitten over his whole person that he appeared to have been 

 fired at with buck-shot. Both dogs ultimately recovered, but not until the lapse of a long time. 



On another occasion, when a pack of hounds was hunting a Jackal, a very much larger 

 pack of Jackals came to the rescue, and in their turn attacked the hounds with such vehe- 

 mence that they were unable to take the field for many weeks afterwards. So fierce were the 

 assailants in their attack, that even when the hunters came to the aid of their hounds the 

 Jackals flew upon the horses, and were so persevering in their onset that a rescue was not 

 effected without considerable difficulty. If unmolested, the Jackal is harmless enough, and 

 will permit a human being to pass quite closely without attempting to bite. 



The Jackal is tolerably susceptible of human influence, and if taken when very young, or 

 if bom into captivity, can be brought to follow its master about like a dog, and to obey his 

 orders. If it should be made captive when it has once tasted a free life, it behaves after the 

 manner of the dingo, being shy, suspicious, and treacherous towards those who may come 

 unexpectedly within reach of its teeth. It is rather remarkable that the animal loses its 

 unpleasant odor in proportion to the length of its captivity. The name of "aureus," or 

 golden, is derived from the yellowish tinge of the Jackal's fur. In size it rather exceeds a 

 large fox, but its tail is not proportionately so long or so bushy as the well-known "brush" 

 of the fox. 



The Black-backed Jackal is an inhabitant of Southern Africa, being especially abun- 

 dant about the Cape of Good Hope, from which circumstance it is sometimes termed the Cape 



