238 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. xxvi 
sharply threw up his hand in a military salute, and 
my dog, who was standing by me at the time, 
doubtless mistaking this action of the native for a 
preliminary to striking me, flew at him and seized 
him by the jaw, tearing him very badly. There 
was nothing else to do but have poor old Jumbo 
destroyed ! I hadn’t the heart to shoot him myself, 
so commissioned one of my men to perform this act 
for me, but his death upset me, and, even now, the 
memory of this wild pet of mine is green in my 
mind. 
The natives, without exception, say that lions 
will never come near wild dogs, and there may be 
some truth in this, for a pack of them would prove 
a formidable foe to any beast of the forest. They 
are very swift and almost tireless, and their fangs 
are peculiarly adapted for tearing their prey to 
pieces. I once saw a couple of wild dogs pursue a 
hartebeeste, and they kept pace with this fleet beast 
with the greatest of ease, every now and then 
springing at and plucking a mouthful of living flesh 
from its flanks. I shot the hartebeeste, and, scared 
by the report of my rifle the wild dogs promptly 
bolted. 
