WOLVES. 
214 
mitted the caresses of any one but his keepers, manifesting to 
all strangers the savageness and moroseness of his species.” 
“ Between the dog and the wolf there is a natural enmity, 
and those animals seldom encounter each other on at all equal 
terms without a combat taking place. Should the wolf prove 
victorious, he devours his adversary ; but if the contrary be the 
case, the dog leaves untouched the carcass of his antagonist. 
“The wolf feeds on the rat, hare, fox, badger, roebuck, stag, 
reindeer, and elk ; likewise on blackcock and carpercali. He 
is possessed of great strength, especially in the muscles of the 
neck and jaws; is said always to seize his prey by the throat, 
and when it happens to be a large animal, as the elk, he is often 
dragged for a considerable distance.” 
“ Closely resembling in many respects the wolf, the jackal is 
widely spread over India, Asia, and Africa. These animals 
hunt in packs, and there are few sounds more startling to the 
unaccustomed ear than a chorus of their cries. ‘ We hardly 
know,’ says Captain Beechy, ‘ a sound which partakes less of 
harmony than that which is at present in question ; and indeed 
the sudden burst of the answering long protracted scream, suc- 
ceeding immediately to the opening note, is scarcely less impres- 
sive than the roll of the thunder clap immediately after a flash 
of lightning. The effect of this music is very much increased 
when the first note is heard in the distance, a circumstance 
which often occurs ; and the answering yell bursts out from 
several points at once, within a few yards or feet of the place 
where the auditors are sleeping.’ 
“ Poultry and the smaller animals, together with dead bodies, 
are the ordinary food of jackals, but, when rendered bold by 
hunger, they will occasionally attack the larger quadrupeds, and 
even man.” 
“The wolf and jackal tribes are by no means without their 
use in the economy of nature, though from their predatory habits 
they are justly regarded as pests in the countries they infest: 
that they will disturb the dead and rifle the graves is true, but 
they also clear away offal, and, with vultures, are the scavengers 
of hot countries : they follow on the track of herds, and put a 
speedy end to the weak, the wounded, and the dying ; they are 
the most useful, though most disgusting, of camp followers; and 
after a battle, when thousands of corpses of men and horses are 
collected within a limited space, they are of essential service : 
‘ I stood in a swampy field of battle ; 
With bones and skulls I made a rattle. 
To frighten the wolf and carrion crow, 
And the homeless dog — but they would not go ; 
So off I flew — for how could I bear 
To see them gorge their dainty fare V 
Coleridge. 
