MEERKATS. 159 



self-satisfied smirk ; impudence and independence dis- 

 playing themselves at the same time in every line of 

 his plump little figure. With his large, prominent 

 forehead, giving evidence of the ample brain within, 

 one need not, perhaps, wonder at his being one of the 

 most sagacious of animals ; although it is certainly 

 almost startling to find all the intelligence of a dos: in 

 a wee thing which you can put in your pocket, or 

 which, if buttoned up on a cold day inside the breast 

 of your ulster, is as likely as not, when tired of that 

 retreat, to squirm out down your sleeve. He is abso- 

 lutely without fear ; and with consummate coolness 

 and audacity will walk up to the largest and most 

 forbidding-looking dog, although a perfect stranger to 

 him, and, carefully investigating the intruder on all 

 sides with great curiosity, express disgust and defiance 

 in a succession of little, short, sharp barks — " quark ! 

 quark 1 quark ! " He is soon on the friendliest terms 

 with all the resident dogs in the place; showing a 

 marked preference for those possessing soft, long- 

 haired coats, on which he evidently looks as a provision 

 of nature existing solely for his benefit, and in which, 

 like the little Sybarite that he is, he nestles luxuriously 

 on cold days, chattering and scolding indignantly, with 

 a vicious display of teeth, if the dog, getting up and 

 going away, rudely disturbs his nap. Out of doors he 

 is the inseparable satellite of the dog; and during 

 strolls about the farm — in which, by-the-by, one is 

 often attended by a motley crew of furred and feathered 

 friends — the meerkat is sure to be seen following 



