thin piece of
woods, where they were--composed principally of straggling pine-trees
without underwood, and they could see to a distance of several hundred
yards around them.

As they stood looking out, a large animal, evidently in flight, came
dashing past the spot. He did not appear to be a fast runner, and they
had a good view of him. He was nearly as large as a jackass, and had
something of the appearance of one, but a pair of stout horns, twelve
inches in length, and very sharp-pointed, showed that he was a
cloven-hoofed animal. His hair was coarse and rough; dark brown on the
upper part of his body, reddish on the sides, and whitish underneath.
Along the back of the neck he was maned like a jackass, and the neck
itself was thick with rather a large head to it. The horns curved
backwards so as to lie close along the neck; the legs of the animal were
thick and stout, and he appeared to be altogether a stupid creature, and
ran with a clumsy ungainly gait.

Neither Karl nor Ossaroo had ever seen such an animal before, but they
guessed it to be the "thar," or "serow,"--one of the tribe of antelopes,
known as the _goat-like_ antelopes,--of which there are several species
in the East Indies.

They guessed aright. It was the serow, (_Capricornis bubalina_).

But the creature was not alone. Although we have said he was not
running very swiftly, he was going as fast as his thick legs would carry
him. And he had good reason too, for, close upon his heels, came a pack
of what Karl supposed to be red wolves, but which Ossaroo recognised as
the wild dogs of India. There were about a dozen of these, each nearly
as large as a wolf, with long necks and bodies, somewhat long muzzles,
and high, erect, round-tipped ears. Their general colour was red,
turning to reddish white underneath. The tops of their long bushy tails
were black, and there was a brown patch between the orbits of their
eyes, which added to the fierce wolf-like expression that characterised
them. It was from them that the howling and yelping had proceeded.
They were in full cry after the serow.

Fritz, on hearing the music, would have bounded forth and joined them;
but to keep him out of harm's way, Karl had tied him to a tree before
commencing work, and Fritz, _nolens volens_, was compelled to keep his
place.

The chase swept by, and both dogs and antelope were soon lost to the
sight, though their howling could still be heard through the trees.