Appendix. 387 



the common native cur — gave birth to four or five pups. A 

 peon was told to destroy them, and, waiting until the bitch 

 was out of sight, he carried them off to the end of the 

 orchard, some 400 or 500 yards from the house, and threw 

 them into a pool of water which was only two to three feet 

 deep. The bitch passed the rest of the day in rushing 

 frantically about, searching for her young, and in the evening, 

 a little after dark, actually succeeded in finding them, 

 although they were lying at the bottom of the pool. She 

 got them all out, and carried them, one by one, to another 

 part of the grounds, where she passed the night with them, 

 uttering at intervals the most piercing cries. In the morn- 

 ing she carried them to still another spot, where there was 

 a soft mould, and then dug a hole large and deep enough to 

 bury them all, covering them over with the loose earth. 

 Her task done, she returned to the house to sleep all day, 

 but when night came again the whole piteous performance 

 was repeated : the pups were dug up, and she passed the 

 long, piercingly cold night — for it was in the depth of 

 winter — trying to keep them warm, and uttering, as before, 

 distressing cries. Yet a third time the whole thing was 

 repeated ; but after the third night, when the dog came home 

 to sleep, the dead pups were taken out of the ground and 

 buried at a distance. 



Such an action as this strikes one with astonishment only 

 because we have the custom of burying our dead, and are too 

 ready at all times to regard the dog as human-like. But the 

 explanation of the action in this case is to be found in the 

 familiar fact that very many animals, including the dog, 

 have the habit or instinct of burying or concealing the thing 

 they wish to leave in safety. Thus, the dog buries the bone 

 it does not want to eat, and when hungry digs it up again. 

 When a dog buries or hides the dead body of the she dog it 

 was attached to, or the she dog buries her dead young, it is 

 with the same motive — namely, to conceal the animal that 

 cannot be roused, and that it would not be safe to leave 

 exposed. 



