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slightly tufted. The eyes are of a bright red; the ears almost naked, small and rounded; the nose is long and slender. The legs are short. The hair is hard and coarse, and of a pale reddish gray, each hair being mottled with brown or mouse color.

This animal is domestic in Egypt, like our cat; and, like that, is serviceable in destroying rats and mice; but its inclination for prey and its instinct are much stronger and more extensive than the cat's; for it hunts alike, birds, quadrupeds, serpents, lizards, and insects. It attacks every living creature in general, and feeds entirely on animal flesh its courage is equal to the sharpness of its appetite; it is neither frightened at the anger of the dog, nor the malice of the cat, nor even dreads the bite of the serpent. It pursues them with eagerness, and seizes on them, however venomous they may be. As soon as it begins to feel the impressions of their venom, it immediately goes in search of antidotes, and particularly a root that the Indians call by its name, and which, they say, is one of the most powerful remedies in nature against the bite of the viper. It sucks the eggs of the crocodile, as well as those of fowls and birds; it also kills and feeds on young crocodiles, when they are scarcely come out of their shell; and, as fable commonly accompanies truth, it has been currently reported, that, by virtue of this antipathy, the ichneumon enters the body of the crocodile, when it is asleep, and never quits it till he has devoured its entrails. It was formerly deified by the Egyptians, for its serviceable qualities.

It lives commonly by the sides of rivers, inundations, and other waters, and is reported to swim and dive occasionally, like an otter, and to remain for a considerable time beneath the liquid element. It quits its habitation to seek its prey near habitable places. It sometimes carries its head erect, fore-shortens its body, and raises itself upon its hind legs; at other times, it creeps and lengthens itself like a serpent: it often sits upon its hind feet, and often springs upon its prey: its eyes are lively and full of fire. Its aspect is beautiful, the body very active, the legs short, the tail thick and very long, and the hair rough and bristly. Both male and female have a remarkable orifice, independent of the natural passages. It is a kind of pocket, into which an odoriferous liquor filters. They pretend that it opens this bag, or pocket, to refresh itself when too hot. Its nose is very sharp, and its mouth narrow, which prevents it from seizing and biting any thing very large; but this defect is amply supplied by its agility, courage, and by its power. It very easy strangles a cat, although much larger and stronger than itself; it often fights with dogs, and, of whatever size they are, it commonly gets the better of them. It may easily be domesticated, and is then more tame, obedient, and affectionate than a cat.

THE STRIPED HYENA.1

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So striking, and even so singular, are the characteristics of the hyæna, that it is hardly possible to be deceived by them. It is, perhaps, the only quadruped which has but four toes to either the fore or hind feet: like the badger, it has an aperture under the tail, which does not penetrate into the interior parts of the body; its ears are long, straight, and nearly bare; its head is more square and shorter than that of the wolf; its legs, the hind ones especially, are longer; its eyes are placed like those of the dog; the hair and mane of a brownish gray, with transverse dark brown or blackish bands on the body, which stripes become oblique on the flanks and the legs. The coat is of two sorts; fur or wool, in small quantity, and long, stiff, and silky hair. Its height varies from nineteen to twenty-five inches, and its usual length, from the muzzle to the tail, is three feet three inches.

The striped hyæna is a native of Barbary, Egypt, Abyssinia, Nubia, Syria, Persia, and the East Indies. It generally resides in the caverns of mountains, in the clefts of rocks, or in dens, which it has formed for itself under the earth. It lives by depredation, like the wolf; but it is a stronger animal, and seemingly more daring. It sometimes attacks man, carries off cattle, follows the flocks, breaks open the sheepcotes by night, and ravages with a ferocity insatiable. By night also its eyes shine; and it is maintained that it sees better than in the day. If we may credit all the naturalists who have treated of this animal, its cry is very peculiar, beginning with something like the moaning of a human being, and ending in a sound which resembles the sobs or reachings of a man in a violent fit of vomiting;

1 Hyæna vulgaris. The genus Hyana has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines; ten upper and eight lower molars. Feet tetradactyle; nails not retractile; legs long; eyes projecting; cars large; a glandular pouch at the anus.

but, according to Kampfer, who was an ear-witness of the fact, it sounds like the lowing of a calf. When at a loss for other prey, it scrapes up the earth with its feet, and devours the carcasses both of animals and men, which, in the countries that it inhabits, are interred promiscuously in the fields.

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THIS animal is a native of Southern Africa, and abounds in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called the tiger wolf. It is somewhat inferior in size to the striped hyena, but, in its wild state, has the same manners and propensities. Its short muzzle is less abruptly truncated, and its ears, short and broad in form, are of a nearly quadrilateral figure. The general color of the hide is a dirty yellow, or yellowish brown, and the whole body is covered with spots of a blackish brown, excepting the under part of the belly and of the breast, the inner surface of the limbs and the head. The muzzle is black, and the tail covered with long bushy hair of a blackish brown. Like the striped hyena, the spotted species has jaws of enormous strength, with which it easily breaks to pieces the hardest bones.

It is a common but erroneous idea, that the hyæna is wholly savage and untamable. Both species have been tamed, and instances are recorded of individuals having manifested all the attachment of a dog. The striped hyæna has recently been domesticated in the Cape territory, and is considered one of the best hunters after game, and as faithful and diligent as any of the common domestic dogs. The truth is, that the hyæna has a very 1 H. capensis, DESM.

natural aversion to close confinement, and when exhibited, as he generally is, in a narrow cage, he is miserable, and consequently irritable. In a man, similarly situated, the expression of anger would be praised as a generous hatred of slavery.

The hyæna was undoubtedly once an inhabitant not only of the European continent, but also of the British islands. His bones have been found in various parts of England and Wales, and particularly in a cave at Kirby Moorside, in Yorkshire.

The depredations of the hyæna are not confined to the remains of the dead. There are periods when they become bold from extreme hunger, and will carry off very large animals, and even human beings, with the most daring ferocity. Major Denham says, "at this season of the year," (August,) "there are other reasons, besides the falls of rain, which induce people to remain in their habitations. When the great lake overflows the immense district which, in the dry season, affords cover and food, by its coarse grass and jungle, to the numerous savage animals with which Bornou abounds, they are driven from these wilds, and take refuge in the standing corn, and sometimes in the immediate neighborhood of the towns. Elephants had already been seen at Dowergoo, scarcely six miles from Kouka; and a female slave, while she was returning home, from weeding the corn, to Kowa, not more than ten miles distant, had been carried off by a lioness. The hyenas, which are every where in legions, grew now so extremely ravenous, that a good large village, where I sometimes procured a draught of sour milk on my duck-shooting excursions, had been attacked the night before my last visit, the town absolutely carried by storm, notwithstanding defences nearly six feet high of branches of the prickly tulloh, and two donkies, whose flesh these animals are particularly fond of, carried off, in spite of the efforts of the people. We constantly heard them close to the walls of our town at night; and on a gate being left partly open, they would enter and carry off any unfortunate animal that they could find in the streets."

With this strong desire for food, approaching to the boldness of the most desperate craving, the hyæna, although generally fearful of the presence of man, is an object of natural terror to the African traveller. Bruce relates, that one night in Maibsha, in Abyssinia, he heard a noise in his tent, and, getting up from his bed, saw two large blue eyes glaring upon him. It was a powerful hyena, who had been attracted to the tent by a quantity of candles, which he had seized upon, and was bearing off in his mouth. He had a desperate encounter with the beast, but succeeded in killing him. In the neighborhood of the ruins of those cities on the northern coast of Africa, which, in ancient times, were the abodes of wealth and splendor, and witnessed the power of the Ptolemies and Cæsars, the hyæna is a constant resident, and increases the sense of desolation by the gloominess of his habits. At Ptolemeta, where there are many remains of former architectural

magnificence, the fountains which were constructed for the accommodation of an enormous population are now useless, except to the wandering Arab, and to the jackal and hyæna, who stray amongst these ruins after sunset, to search for water at the deserted reservoirs. Seldom does the hyæna molest the traveller in these solitudes; but his howl, or the encounter of his fierce and sullen eye, is always alarming. Captain Beechey says, "although we had very frequently been disturbed by hyænas, we never found that familiarity with their howl, or their presence, could render their near approach an unimportant occurrence; and the hand would instinctively find its way to the pistol, before we were aware of the action, whenever either of these interruptions obtruded themselves closely upon us, either by night or by day." Such encounters are generally without any fatal results, if the man does not commence the attack. The hyæna sets up a howl, and doggedly walks away, with his peculiar limping motion, which gives him an appearance of lameness, but when he is attacked, his resistance is as fierce as it is obstinate.

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THE Outward form of the lion seems to speak the superiority of his internal qualities. His figure is striking, his look confident and bold, his gait proud, and his voice terrible. His stature is not overgrown, like that of the elephant, or the rhinoceros; nor is the shape clumsy, like that of the hippopotamus, or the ox. He is in every respect compact and well-proportioned, a perfect model of strength joined with agility.

Felis Leo, LIN. The genus Felis has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines; eight or six upper and six lower molars; five toes on the fore feet; hind feet tetradactyle; nails retractile; head short; four molars on each side of the upper jaw, the last tuberculous and very small; three in the lower jaw; ears pointed.

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