78 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
approach till a clammy touch had given him the 
strength of terror to shriek for aid. There was no 
doubt of his firm conviction of the fact of the 
occurrence, and I felt that he must know more about 
it than I possibly could; but the subject was not 
discussed with that detail I could have desired, 
especially as the natives took the absolute truth of 
the story as a matter ef course. 
During my stay in the Ganges Division I investi- 
gated the reason of the peculiar cry uttered by 
jackals, which is never taken up nor in any way 
acknowledged by the pack. The vernacular term 
for this call is “‘pheau,” in imitation of the sound ; 
but it is necessary to hear it echoing in the still 
night, and responded to by the started deer, in 
order to appreciate its mournful weirdness. There 
can be no doubt that the “pheau” is merely an 
alarm cry, and that in the forest it most frequently 
signifies that the jackal either sees or hears a tiger 
or panther, or has crossed the fresh track of one or 
the other. On one occasion I watched a jackal 
sitting some 20 yards from a tiger who was drink- 
ing on the river-bank. The jackal uttered this 
ery frequently, and ultimately followed the tiger as 
he wandered slowly into cover. Another time when 
riding I heard the cry, and saw a jackal sitting in 
the forest path ahead, and in a few minutes a tiger 
walked slowly across the road. This beast killed a 
woman the same evening not far from the spot. 
My method of investigation was to stalk the jackal, 
and ‘watch him till I discovered the cause of his 
alarm ; and it did not at first strike me that this 
might be located in the trees above as well as on 
