JACKALL. 
193 
habitants make their graves very deep. The howl- 
ings of a pack of them in the night-time must be 
very dreadful, if we may be allowed to judge from 
the one in Exeter Change, whose lengthened howl 
joined with a sort of bark exceeds the noise of all 
the other beasts. The length of the jackall is about 
thirty inches, not including the tail, which mea- 
sures nearly a foot : he stands from the ground ra- 
ther more than eighteen inches ; and he is rather 
higher behind than before. 
In Barbary the jackall is called thaleb, and is 
thus described by M. Sonnini : <c His hair is of a 
bright fawn colour, deeper on the upper than the 
under part of the body. He is particularly re- 
markable for his large tail, striped transversely with 
black and gray. His eyes are as lively as his mo- 
tions. In the height of day he approaches the 
habitations of men, establishing near them his sub- 
terraneous abode, which he carefully conceals under 
thick bushes ; thence creeps out without noise, sur- 
prises the poultry, carries off the eggs, and leaves no 
other traces of the havock he has made than the 
havock itself. 
“ Taking one day a contemplative walk in the 
garden,” continues Sonnini, ‘ £ I stopped near a 
hedge : a thaleb, who heard no noise, was coming 
towards me through the hedge, and, on his getting 
out, he found himself close at my feet. On seeing 
me, he was so struck with astonishment, that he 
did not even attempt to escape, but, fixing his eyes 
upon me, remained motionless for some seconds. 
o 
VOL. I. 
