CHAPTER V.

CAT FAMILY--HYÆNA FAMILY--CRYPTOPROCTA FAMILY--AARD-WOLF FAMILY.

THE COMMON JUNGLE CAT--THE COMMON LYNX--Historical Sketch--Geographical Distribution--Distinctive Characters--Habits--Uses--THE PARDINE LYNX--THE CANADIAN LYNX--THE RED LYNX--THE CARACAL--THE CHEETAH--Distinctive Characters--Geographical Distribution--Employment in Hunting--THE HYÆNA FAMILY--External Characters--Skull and Teeth--THE SPOTTED HYÆNA--Geographical Distribution--Habits--Laughing Propensities--THE BROWN HYÆNA--THE STRIPED HYÆNA--THE CRYPTOPROCTA FAMILY--Characteristics of the CRYPTOPROCTA--Its Occurrence and Habits--THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY--Characters and Habits of the AARD-WOLF.

THE COMMON JUNGLE CAT.[52]

This, as Mr. Jerdon observes, “is the Common Wild Cat all over India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and from the level of the sea to 7,000 or 8,000 feet of elevation. It frequents alike jungles and the open country, and is very partial to long grass and reeds, sugar-cane fields, corn-fields, &c. It does much damage to game of all kinds, Hares, Partridges, &c., and quite recently I shot a Peafowl at the edge of a sugar-cane field, when one of these Cats sprang out, seized the Peafowl, and, after a short struggle (for the bird was not dead), carried it off before my astonished eyes, and, in spite of my running up made good his escape with his booty. It must have been stalking these very birds, so immediately did its spring follow my shot.” Besides being so common in India, the Chaus is found all over Africa, especially in the north.

It is of a yellowish-grey colour, inclining to reddish in some parts, and white below. The muzzle and the limbs have dark stripes, and the tail is more or less ringed with black, but the greater part of the body is unspotted. It is interesting to notice that the annulation of the tail is most distinct in the young. We have elsewhere remarked that the young of all the one-coloured Cats (Lion, Puma, &c.), are more or less indistinctly spotted or striped. The ears are slightly tufted, so that this species, like the Spotted Wild Cat, approaches the Lynxes. The length, of the head and body together is twenty-six inches; of the tail, nine or ten; the height at the shoulder fourteen or fifteen. A black variety is to be met with in some parts of India.

THE COMMON LYNX.[53]

In the Lynx we come again to an animal of historical interest, for this creature was well known to the ancients. It is mentioned by Pliny as having first appeared in the Amphitheatre at Rome in the time of Pompey, having been brought to the great city from Gaul, where, at that time, it was probably very abundant. No doubt it would cause grand sport in the arena, for it is an extremely savage beast, and capable of holding its own against animals many times its own size. The Lynx was also one of the animals sacred to Bacchus, and is sometimes represented, instead of the Leopard, as drawing the car of this deity.

But the Lynx of the ancients has, as Buffon remarks, quite the character of a fabulous animal. It was supposed “that its sight was so piercing as to penetrate opaque bodies, that its water had the marvellous property of becoming a solid body, a precious stone, called _lapis lyncurius_!” This last legend, as Brehm suggests, probably arose from the fact that the amber brought from Liguria was called _lapis ligurius_, and that the Greek merchants, knowing nothing about such a place as Liguria, corrupted _ligurius_ into _lyncurius_, and, of course, connected it with _Lyncus_. A survival of the superstition about the Lynx being able to see through walls still exists in our common expression, “Lynx-eyed.”

The Common Lynx is found chiefly in Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Northern Asia, and in the mountainous districts of Central Europe. In other parts of the Continent it is nearly or quite extinct.

The animal attains a much greater size than any of the ordinary Wild Cats, being as much as forty or fifty inches long, from the tip of its snout to the root of its tail. It is also readily distinguished from the Cats proper by the shortness of its tail, which does not exceed six to nine inches, or about one-fifth the length of the body, and by the length of its legs, which gives it a decidedly un-Cat-like look, and brings its height at the shoulder up to twenty-five inches. Another distinguishing feature is to be found in the long pointed ears, each with a tuft of long stiff hair on its tip; and still another is the length of the fur on the cheeks, whereby a pair of capital whiskers of almost Dundreary length is produced. These, it must be understood, are quite distinct from the true “whiskers,” or tactile vibrissæ, with which the upper lip of the Lynx, like that of all _Felidæ_, is provided. The tufted ears and bearded cheeks, together with the fierce brightness of the eye, give the Lynx an altogether peculiar and somewhat weird expression.

When we have added that the pads of the feet are overgrown with hair, we have mentioned all the obvious differences between a Lynx and a true Cat. In everything else, its teeth, its bones, its sheathed claws, its manner of killing its prey, its habit of swearing and spitting when angry, it is a Cat all over. Still, the differences between it and the ordinary Cats are considerable, and some naturalists prefer to look upon the Lynxes as a distinct genus (_Lyncus_); but, on the whole, especially when we consider how the chasm is bridged over by the Jungle Cat, it is more convenient to keep the two together, and consider the Lynxes as simply a section of the great genus _Felis_.

The skin of the Common Lynx is of a reddish-grey colour, more or less spotted with red or dark grey; but the variations in marking are very great in different individuals, and in the same individual at different ages. The fur, also, is longer in winter than in summer.

The Lynx is undoubtedly the most dangerous and destructive beast of prey now left in Europe; at any rate, a single Lynx will do more damage than an individual of any other wild species. The Russian Wolves may be, on the whole, worse enemies, but they hunt in packs, and are only dangerous in numbers, a single Wolf being a sorry coward, while a Lynx is a truly redoubtable antagonist, as the following excellent account of his habits will show:--

“While he succeeds in finding food in the forests and gorges of the high mountains, he does not attempt to shift his quarters, but lives alone with his mate, and betrays his presence by horrible howlings, audible at a great distance. He only quits his chosen solitude at the last extremity, and mounts on a branch, where he crouches at full length among the foliage, which half hides without incommoding him. With eye and ear on the watch, he remains whole days motionless, with eyes half closed, and in a state of apparent sleep, which is only the more dangerous, for then he is most completely cognisant of all that is passing around him. The Lynx lives by stratagem. Like all Cats, he has not a particularly fine sense of smell, and his pace is not sufficiently rapid to allow him to pursue his prey. His patience, and the skill with which he creeps noiselessly, bring him close up to his victim. More patient than the Fox, he is less cunning; less hardy than the Wolf, he leaps better and can resist famine longer. He is not so strong as the Bear, but keeps a better look-out, and has sharper sight. His strength resides chiefly in his feet, jaws, and neck. He prefers to make his hunting as easy as possible, and only chooses his victim when food abounds. Every animal he can reach with one of his bounds, which rarely miss their aim, is lost and devoured; if he misses, he allows the animal to escape, and returns to crouch in his post of observation, without showing his disappointment. He is not voracious, but he loves warm blood, and this passion makes him imprudent.... If he comes upon a flock of Goats or Sheep, he approaches, dragging his belly along the ground, like a Snake, then raises himself with a bound, falls on the back of his victim, breaks its neck or cuts its carotid with his teeth, and kills it instantaneously. Then he licks the blood which flows from the wound, rips open the belly, devours the entrails, gnaws off a part of the head, neck, and shoulder, and leaves the rest.”[54] So bloodthirsty is his nature, that a single individual has been known to destroy forty Sheep in a few weeks. Fortunately for the inhabitants, this plague is now nearly extinct in Central Europe. It is extremely rare in the Alps, though it was tolerably common within the last fifty years; and in the forests of Thuringia, only two have been found during the present century.

The Lynx, when caught young, is said to be quite tameable, but the domesticated animal is liable to die of over-fatness. Its flesh is eaten in Siberia, and even in Switzerland, but as usual with its tribe, the skin is the part on which the greatest value is set. It has a very beautiful hide, and in Siberia, where the greatest value is obtained, each one costs from twenty to fifty francs on the spot. “The skin of the fore-feet is sold separately; they are cut off, and fetch from ten to fifteen francs a pair. A Lynx skin is worth three of the Sable, six of the Wolf, twelve of the Fox, and a hundred of the Squirrel.”

There are some differences as to size, &c., between the Lynxes found in Scandinavia and those inhabiting Central Europe. These are sometimes separated as distinct species, the former being then called _Felis borealis_, the other _F. cervaria_; the latter is the larger of the two.

THE PARDINE LYNX.[55]

This animal takes the place of the common kind in Southern Europe, being especially abundant in Spain, where its range just overlaps that of its relative.

It is somewhat smaller than the Common Lynx--not more than thirty-two inches long. Its skin is of a beautiful rufous tint, regularly spotted with black, the spots extending over the tail, and the red colour merging into white on the under surface.

THE CANADIAN LYNX.[56]

This species (see figure, p. 73) replaces the European variety in North America, where it is especially abundant in the Rocky Mountains and in Canada.

It is about the same size as the Common Lynx. Its fur is shorter but thicker. The hairs on the back are darker, the points being ringed with grey and brown; those of the flanks are grey at the root, reddish-white at the extremity. It has the reputation of being a very lazy beast, and far less ferocious and more cowardly than its cousins of the Old World.

THE RED LYNX.[57]

The Red Lynx is found in the United States, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It differs but little in structure or habit from the species we have already described.

Its skin, as well as that of the Canadian kind, is a very important article of commerce.

THE CARACAL.[58]

This is the handsomest of the Lynxes (see figure on previous page), both on account of its elegant shape, and of its fine colour, which is a uniform reddish-brown or light chestnut, unspotted or very sparsely spotted in the adult, but showing distinct spots in the young. It is found in India, Persia, Arabia, and Tibet, and also throughout Africa. Its length varies from twenty-six to thirty inches, the tail measures nine or ten, and the height sixteen or eighteen inches. The ears are fully three inches long, black externally, white within, with a long dark ear-tuft.

Unlike the other Lynxes, the Caracal is made use of as a hunting animal, being occasionally trained to stalk the Peafowl, Hares, Kites, Crows, Cranes, &c. It is, however, a most savage animal in captivity. The specimen in the London Zoological Gardens seems to be in a permanent state of ill-temper. If the American Lynx, which is unfortunate enough to live in the same cage with him, dares to come “betwixt the wind and his nobility,” or even if he, in the course of his peregrinations, should by chance get sufficiently near his companion to be annoyed with the sight of so vulgar a beast, he immediately arches his back, lays back his ears, uncovers his great canines, and swears in the most fearful manner, until the other unlucky animal is quite cowed, and looks as meek as its feline nature will allow it, evidently deprecating the anger of my lord, and although not conscious of having done wrong, quite ready to promise faithfully never to do it again.

THE CHEETAH.[59]

The Hunting Leopard, or Cheetah, is the last member of the Cat family, and is distinguished from the foregoing forms of the group by its long legs, the peculiar form of the flesh tooth of the upper jaw, and by the fact that its claws are less perfectly retractile than those of other cats, owing to the excessive length of the elastic ligaments. So much struck have some observers been with the variation of the Cheetah from the ordinary feline type, that it has been named _Cynælurus_, or Dog-Cat, a very inappropriate name, as the animal is a Cat all over, as any one will see who will take the trouble to look at the specimens in the Zoological Gardens. No Dog has that round face, long tail, and supercilious, almost arrogant, expression.

The Cheetah is about four feet and half long from tip of snout to root of tail. The latter appendage is two feet and a half in length, and the height of the animal at the shoulder two feet and a half to two and three-quarters. The hide is of a bright reddish fawn-colour, and covered with numerous black spots, which are single, and not arrayed in rosettes, as in the Leopard, Jaguar, Ocelot, &c. The appearance of the face is very characteristic, owing to a black stripe which passes down the cheek in a sort of sigmoid curve, from the corner of the eye to the angle of the mouth. The tail has black spots and a black tip. The body is slender and small in the loins like a Greyhound’s.

There are three varieties of this animal. One, the maneless Cheetah, is confined to Africa; another, the maned Cheetah, is found all over South-west Asia, and is distinguished from the first-named variety by its longer hair, and by the presence of a distinct though short mane, which, however, is more like the cheek-tufts (we must not call them whiskers, though they exactly resemble them, as that name is appropriated to the long vibrissæ) of the Tiger or Lynx than the mane of the Lion. The third variety is the woolly Cheetah, which differs so much from the other two, as to be usually separated as a distinct species (_Felis lanea_). Its hair is woolly, and the spots and face-mark light brown instead of black. The hind legs are unusually short. It is a native of South Africa.

Mr. Jerdon says, that “this animal was the original _Panther_ and _Leopardus_ of the ancients, who considered (with the Arabs of the present day in North Africa) that it was a breed between the Lion and the Pard.” Possibly it was this animal to which Jeremiah alluded, when he said, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the _Leopard_ his spots?” For, although rare, it is still found in Palestine. Canon Tristram says, “A few still haunt the neighbourhood of Tabor and the hills of Galilee. In Gilead it is more common, and a sheikh there presented me with three skins of the Cheetah, shot by his people.”

It frequents open plains, and hunts by day, in correspondence with which habits it has a circular and not an elliptical pupil to the eye.

The Cheetah is a half-domesticated animal; we say half-domesticated, because, although it is used regularly in hunting, yet it is never properly tamed, and always has to be, as it were, _gulled_ into doing its work. The following account of the manner in which it is used in Indian sport is given by Mr. Jerdon[60]:--

“‘On a hunting party,’ says Buchanan Hamilton, ‘the Cheetah is carried on a cart, hooded, and when the game is raised the hood is taken off. The Cheetah then leaps down, sometimes on the opposite side to its prey, and pursues the Antelope. If the latter is near the cart, the Cheetah springs forward with a surpassing velocity, perhaps exceeding that which any other quadruped possesses. This great velocity is not unlike the sudden spring by which the Tiger seizes its prey, but it is often continued for three or four hundred yards. If within this distance the Cheetah does not seize its prey, he stops, but apparently more from anger or disappointment than from fatigue, for his attitude is fierce, and he has been known immediately afterwards to pursue with equal rapidity another Antelope that happened to be passing. If the game is at too great a distance when the Cheetah’s eyes are uncovered, he generally gallops after it, until it approaches so near that he can seize it by a rapid spring. This gallop is as quick as the course of well-mounted horsemen. Sometimes, but rarely, the Cheetah endeavours to approach the game by stealth, and goes round a hill or rock until he can come upon it by surprise. This account of the manner of hunting I collected from the conversation of Sir Arthur Wellesley, who, while commanding officer at Seringapatam, kept five Cheetahs that formerly belonged to Tippoo Sultan.’ Mr. Vigne writes thus:--‘The hunting with Cheetahs has often been described, but it requires strong epithets to give an idea of the creature’s speed. When slipped from the cart, he first walks towards the Antelope with his tail straightened, and slightly raised, the hackle on his shoulder erect, his head depressed, and his eyes intently fixed upon the poor animal, who does not yet perceive him. As the Antelope moves, he does the same, first trotting, then cantering after him; and when the prey starts off, the Cheetah makes a rush, to which (at least I thought so) the speed of a racehorse was, for the moment, much inferior. The Cheetahs that bound or spring upon their prey are not much esteemed, as they are too cunning. The good ones fairly run it down. When we consider that no English Greyhound ever yet, I believe, fairly ran into a doe Antelope, which is faster than the buck, some idea may be formed of the strides and velocity of an animal who usually closes with her immediately, but fortunately cannot draw a second breath, and, consequently, unless he strike the Antelope down at once, is obliged instantly to stop and give up the chase. He then walks about for three or four minutes in a towering passion, after which he again submits to be helped on the cart. He always singles out the biggest buck from the herd, and holds him by the throat until he is disabled, keeping one paw over the horns to prevent injury to himself. The doe he seizes in the same manner, but is careless of the position in which he may hold her.’ The natives assert that (in the wild state) if the ground is not very favourable for his approaching them without being seen, he makes a circuit to the place where he thinks they will pass over, and if there is not grass enough to cover him, he scrapes up the earth all round, and lies flat until they approach so near that by a few bounds he can seize on his prey. Mr. W. Elliott says, ‘They are taught always to single out the buck, which is generally the last in the herd. The meer-shikars are unwilling to slip till they get the herd to run across them, when they drive on the cart and unhood the Cheetah.’

“I have only to add to this, on my own testimony, that I have often seen it, when unhooded, at some distance from the Antelope, crouch along the ground and choose any inequality of surface to enable it to get within proper distance of the Antelope. As to Vigne’s idea of its rush being made during one breath, I consider it a native one, and unfounded, and I may say the same of its holding one paw over the horns of the buck. The Cheetah, after felling the Antelope, seizes it by the throat, and when the keeper comes up he cuts its throat and collects some of the blood in the wooden ladle from which it is always fed. This is offered to the Cheetah, who drops his hold, and laps it up eagerly, during which the hood is cleverly slipped on again. My tame Cheetah, when hungry or left alone (for it appeared unhappy when away from the Dogs with no one near it), had a plaintive cry, which Blyth appropriately calls a ‘bleat-like mew.’ Shikaries always assert that if taken as cubs they are useless for training, till they have been taught by their parents how to pull down their prey. This opinion is corroborated, in part at least, by my experiences with the tame one mentioned above.”

Although capable of domestication, the Cheetah is, when roused, anything but a pleasant animal to come across. Two colonists from the Cape of Good Hope happened to meet one while they were out shooting Gazelles, and, unfortunately for themselves, pursued it. “The roughness of the road retarded the animal’s flight, and a ball reached it. It immediately turned upon the hunter who had wounded it, and, leaping upon him, pulled him from his Horse, and a hand-to-hand conflict began between the two adversaries. The other hunter dismounted and hastened to succour his comrade, at the risk of hitting him as well as the animal from which he wished to deliver him. His shot was badly aimed. The noise of the discharge changed the aspect of the combat, for the Cheetah abandoned the man whom he had thrown down, to fling himself with redoubled fury on the new assailant, who had not even time to draw his hunting-knife. The animal seized him by the head, and, without letting go, rolled with him to the bottom of a ravine. It was of no avail that the first man, left alive, but horribly mutilated, dragged himself to the new battle-field; the wounds of his companion were mortal, and he only had the melancholy satisfaction of giving the _coup de grâce_ to the animal, who was already exhausted by loss of blood.”

It is curious, considering the constant domestication of this animal in India, that it does not breed at all readily in confinement. In fact, Mr. Bartlett, who probably knows more about the matter than any one, says that it has never to his knowledge bred in England; but Dr. Günther affirms that it has bred in the Gardens in Frankfort.

The young animal is covered with soft brown hair, without spots, a curious fact, quite reversing the usual order of things, for, as we have seen, the young of the Lion, Puma, and other one-coloured Cats, are distinctly spotted. The black mark on the cheek appears first, and then the body spots. Mr. Jerdon gives an interesting account of a Cheetah kitten belonging to him:--

“I brought up the young one above alluded to along with some Greyhound pups, and they soon became excellent friends. Even when nearly full-grown it would play with the Dogs (who did not over relish its bounding at them), and was always sportive and frolicsome. It got much attached to me, at once recognising its name (Billy), and it would follow me on horseback like a Dog, every now and then sitting down for a few seconds, and then racing on after me. It was very fond of being noticed, and used to purr just like a Cat. It used to climb on any high object--the stump of a tree, a stack of hay--and from this elevated perch look all round for some moving object. As it grew up, it took first to attacking some Sheep which I had in the compound, but I cured it of this by a few sound horsewhippings; then it would attack Donkeys, and get well kicked by them; and when not half-grown it flew one day at a full-grown tame Nylghau, and mauled its legs very severely before it could be called off. I had some Chikaras (_Gazella Bennettii_) caught, and let loose before it to train it. The young Cheetah almost always caught them easily, but it wanted address to pull them down, and did not hold them. Occasionally, if the Antelope got too far away, it would give up the chase, but if I then slipped a Greyhound, it would at once follow the Dog and join the chase. It was gradually getting to understand its work better, and had pulled down a well-grown Antelope Fawn, when I parted with it, as I was going on field service.”

Brehm had a Cheetah called “Jack,” which was so tame that his master led him about like a Dog, and even took him into a drawing-room full of ladies, by whom, after they had recovered from their fright at seeing a real wild beast enter the room, he allowed himself to be patted and caressed. The same author states that a Cheetah once lived at large in an English seaport, and was the greatest possible favourite with the sailors and other inhabitants.

THE HYÆNA FAMILY.[61]

This group contains the single genus _Hyæna_, one species of which, the Striped Hyæna (_H. striata_), inhabits North-east Asia and Northern Africa; the others (_H. crocuta_ and _H. brunnea_) inhabiting South Africa.

Externally, the Hyænas have something the appearance of extremely ugly and unattractive-looking Dogs. They are somewhat larger than a Shepherd’s Dog, and are covered with coarse bristly hair, short over the greater part of the body, but produced into a sort of mane along the ridge of the neck. The mode of progression is entirely digitigrade, the legs having much the same proportion as in an average Dog, except for the fact that the hind legs are shorter than the fore legs, so that the body slopes from the withers to the haunches. The claws resemble those of the Dog in that they cannot be retracted in sheaths of skin: here, therefore, we have a great and marked difference from all the Cat tribe.

The tail is bushy, the snout long, but blunt, giving the beast a snub-nosed appearance and a horridly vulgar expression, quite different to that of most of his relatives. The long-nosedness is partly, however, only a matter of external appearance, for the skull, although nothing like as short as a Cat’s, is yet very far from being as long as that of a Dog or a Civet, and it is still more Cat-like in the immense width of the cheek-arches, and the great development of bony ridges for the attachment of muscles. The great longitudinal ridge on the top of the skull is indeed far larger than in even the Lion or Tiger, and forms a great shelving crest, like that of an old-fashioned helmet. As we have already mentioned, this ridge is for the attachment of the great cheek muscles which close the jaw-muscles which, in the Hyæna, are of such power, that the animal’s favourite way of attacking Dogs is to bite their legs off, and one of its choicest titbits is the marrow of bones, which can only be obtained by cracking the bone across, as we should crack a nut. Any one who has examined a Horse’s or an Antelope’s thigh-bone will have some notion of the power of jaws capable of smashing such a tough morsel.

But something more is required than strong muscles for work such as this; and the Hyæna is furnished with a set of tools which, when worked by such mighty power, are simply irresistible. The large grinding-teeth, instead of the scissor-blade form they have in the Cats, have great conical crowns, the base of the cone being belted by a strong ridge which defends the subjacent gum (see figure on preceding page). One has only to look at these teeth to see their perfect adaptation to their purpose. Sir Richard Owen remarks, “An eminent civil engineer, to whom I showed the jaw of a Hyæna, observed that the strong conical tooth, with its basal ridge, was a perfect model of a hammer for breaking stones for roads.”

The canines of the Hyæna are proportionally much smaller than in the _Felidæ_, and the outermost incisor--that nearest the canine--is much larger than in the Cats, so that it approaches towards the canine in size. This, as we shall see, is even more the case in the Dog.

Then, the number of the teeth is different; the Hyæna is a less specialised animal than the Cats, that is, departs less from the average structure of a Mammal, and, in correspondence with this, we find that its jaws are longer and its teeth more numerous; it has, in fact, one more premolar, or false grinder, on each side of each jaw, bringing the total number of teeth to thirty-four, instead of thirty. (See p. 13.)[62]

In speaking of the Cat family, we mentioned that the characters of the floor of the skull, and particularly of the swollen, bulb-like _bulla tympani_, were of great importance in determining the position of an animal in the series. Now this _bulla_ in the Hyæna is large and rounded, as in Cats, but differs in the fact that it is not divided by a bony partition into two compartments. The external opening of the cavity, too, is quite flush with its outer wall, and the clamp of bone (see figures on pp. 11 and 79) is quite close to its hinder wall.

In these characters, as well as in certain matters of internal structure, such as the presence of a small _cæcum_, or “blind-gut,” the Hyænas approach to the Cats and Civets, being connected with the latter group by the curious Aard-Wolf. In other respects they approach the Dog family, their nearest ally in that group being the Cape Hunting Dog.[63]

THE SPOTTED HYÆNA.[64]

This species exists over the whole of Africa south of the Sahara, a portion of the continent which differs in a remarkable manner in its animal productions from the northern part; so much so that in a division of the world into regions for the purposes of studying the geographical distribution of animals, the north of Africa is united with Europe, while its ultra-Saharal portion is formed into a distinct region. Over this _Ethiopian region_, then, the Spotted Hyæna ranges, extending from Abyssinia and the Soudan in the north, where it meets with its striped brother, to Cape Colony, where it exists along with the curious Aard-Wolf. It is known as the “Wolf,” or “Tiger-Wolf,” by the Cape colonists, who, it seems, have a fancy for giving animals wrong names. We have seen already that the Leopard is with them a “Tiger.”

The skin is of a yellowish-brown ground tint, irregularly blotched with circular black spots. On the back of the neck and on the withers it has a quantity of long stiff hairs, forming a kind of reversed mane. The fur is coarse and bristly, its character adding greatly to the animal’s singularly unattractive appearance. The height at the shoulder is about two feet six or eight inches, the extreme length five feet ten inches, of which length the tail takes up some sixteen inches.

Like some other beasts of a similarly mean nature, the Spotted Hyæna prefers not to do his own killing, but likes better to live as a sort of humble messmate on those better provided than himself with the courage requisite to good hunters. When he does cater for himself, instead of subsisting on the leavings of his betters, he always makes his attack in a cowardly way, and trusts rather to stratagem than to any of the higher qualities of a sportsman. Dr. Livingstone says:--“In the evening of our second day at Serotli, a Hyæna appearing suddenly among the grass, succeeded in raising a panic among our cattle. This false mode of attack is the plan which this cowardly animal always adopts. His courage resembles closely that of a Turkey-cock. He will bite if an animal is running away; but if the animal stand still, so does he.”

Other authors tell a similar tale, showing, too, that under cover of darkness the Hyæna can be moderately plucky; can, at any rate, muster sufficient courage to attack the herds in an encampment. “More than once, during dark and drizzling nights, they made their way into the sheep-kraal, where they committed sad havoc. We had several chases after them, but they managed invariably to elude us.”[65] Again, “The Sheep having been placed in a pit to prevent them from straying, were visited during the night by a party of Hyænas, which slaughtered some and drove the residue to the summit of a high hill, where they were found the following morning.”[66]

The Hyæna has his misfortunes, like other beasts; Sheep are not to be had every day, often food is scarce, and he has to go with an empty stomach for days together. He may suffer, too, in other ways, besides hunger. Thus Mr. Andersson relates:--“Almost the first animal I saw at this place was a gigantic ‘Tiger-Wolf,’ or Spotted Hyæna, which, to my surprise, instead of seeking safety in flight, remained stationary, grinning in the most ghastly manner. Having approached within twenty paces, I perceived, to my horror, that his fore-paws and the skin and flesh of his front legs had been gnawed away, and that he could scarcely move from the spot. To shorten the sufferings of the poor beast, I seized my opportunity and knocked him on the head with a stone, and catching him by the tail, drove my hunting-knife deep into his side. But I had to repeat the operation more than once before I could put an end to his existence. I am at a loss to account for his mangled condition. It certainly could not have been from age, for his teeth were good. Could it be possible that, from want of food, he had become too weak for further exertions, and that, as a last resource, he had attacked his own body? Or, was he an example of that extraordinary species of cruelty said to be practised by the Lion upon the Hyæna, when the latter has the insolence to interfere with the monarch’s prey?” ... “It is asserted by more than one experienced hunter, that when the Hyæna proves troublesome, the Lion has been known to bite off all its feet, and, thus mutilated, leave the poor animal to its fate.”

It may well be imagined the horrible nuisance such animals are to all South African travellers. They steal everything they can get at. They devoured two handsome flags of Mr. Andersson’s which he had hoped to plant on the shores of Lake ’Ngami. But, perhaps, the greatest trouble is caused by their infernal cachinnations; no noise in the forest produces so much discomfort, for though not so loud as the Lion’s roar, it is totally devoid of grandeur, and is only hideously grotesque and vile in the ears of all but Hyænas, who, we suppose, are charmed by it. The traveller we have just mentioned was, during an illness, laughed to scorn in the most amazing fashion by Hyænas and Jackals, and their derision was too much for his equanimity at a time when he sorely needed sympathy and help. Flesh and water had become very scarce, and in his trouble he says, “One evening I desperately resolved to go to the water myself in the hope of succeeding better [than the attendants]. Accordingly I ordered my servants to prepare a ‘skäran,’ and to carry me there, taking the chance of being run over or gored by Elephants or Rhinoceroses, for in my disabled state it was impossible, should any animal charge, to get out of its way. Seeing my helpless condition, the men remonstrated, but I was resolved to go, and fortune favoured me. I had patiently waited till nigh morning without seeing anything but Hyænas and Jackals. I believe these creatures knew I would not hurt them, for they approached within a very few paces, staring and laughing at me in the most impudent manner. I threw gravel pebbles at them, but this only served to increase their mockery. I could stand it no longer, but hurled my camp-chair at their heads, when they quickly betook themselves to flight.”

Livingstone had the same trouble with the fearful din. “An astonishing number of Hyænas collected round, and kept up a loud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make a very good imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the Hyænas were laughing at, as they usually give animals credit for a share of intelligence. They said that they were laughing because we could not take the whole, and that they would have plenty to eat as well as we.” Any one who has never heard the Hyæna laugh, and is anxious for that pleasure, has only to visit the Zoological Gardens at feeding time. Some give utterance to such horrible cachinnations when stirred up by the keeper, that one would think they are enough to wake the dead and madden the living.

Most hunters think it quite _infra dig._ to hunt so contemptible and cowardly a beast as the Hyæna. Regular expeditions are, however, organised against it by the Cape colonists, who set fire to the brushwood, to drive out the animals, which are then attacked by Dogs. A method of killing, considered more suitable to the beast, is that of the trap. Mr. Andersson succeeded in killing several by means of a cleverly arranged spring-gun.

THE BROWN HYÆNA.[67]

The Brown Hyæna, or “Strand-Wolf” of the Cape colonists, is tolerably common in South Africa, though far less so than the spotted species. It is a smaller animal than the latter, its usual height at the shoulder being about two feet four inches, its length, including the tail, four feet ten inches, the tail itself being about a foot in length.

Its general colour is reddish-grey, brindled with brown and black stripes or spots. The extremities are yellowish, with deep black transverse bands. The tail is black, with red hairs towards the tip.

As to habits, there is really nothing to add to what has already been said with regard to the Spotted Hyæna, except that it is especially common at the sea-side, and feeds a good deal on dead bodies thrown upon the shore. It only dares to attack flocks when very hungry.

THE STRIPED HYÆNA.[68]

The Striped Hyæna takes the place of the spotted kind over the northern part of Africa. It also extends into Asia, where it ranges over Asia Minor and Persia, and through India to the foot of the Himalayas. Amongst other places, it is “common in every part of Palestine, and indifferent as to the character of the country. We obtained the young occasionally in spring, and procured on Mount Carmel the largest pair of adults I ever saw. The old rock-hewn tombs afford to the Hyæna convenient covert. It attacks the graves even in the vicinity of towns.”[69]

In ground-colour it resembles the spotted kind, but instead of being marked with spots, its hide is covered with complete black transverse bands like the hoops of a barrel, which extend downwards on to the legs. It is as nearly as possible of the same size as the brown variety.

As to its habits and characteristics, there is little to add to what has already been said of its South African brother; it follows the Lion for scraps, roams about the Arab cemeteries to dig up and devour the dead, prowls round the towns and villages in Egypt and elsewhere to pick up offal, and is always the same ugly, ill-conditioned, repulsive, and yet useful beast. For the Arabs and Egyptians are never greatly inclined to sanitary reform, and without Hyænas, Jackals, and Vultures, would be in a sad case indeed.

As to the animal’s cowardliness, every writer bears witness. Jules Gérard says:--“The Arabs say, ‘as cowardly as a Hyæna,’ and the Arabs are right.” So much do the sons of the desert despise their scavenger, that when Gérard killed one with his sabre, they implored him never again to use the defiled weapon, saying that it would certainly betray him after having been sheathed in such a dastardly carcass. It is stated that the Dog is the only animal the Hyæna dares attack, and even this game they like some help in killing. “When they feel inclined to eat a Dog, they hang about some douar, in the neighbourhood of which there happens to be a good cover. The female stations herself behind some brushwood, and the male goes towards the Dogs, who attack him, and follow him as far as the position of his consort. The female comes out at the fitting moment to attack, throttle, and devour on the spot the Dog who ventures farthest in pursuit of her husband.”

Although the Hyæna is generally considered unworthy of being hunted, yet the Arabs occasionally condescend to come to the rescue of their Dogs, by beating their destroyers to death. They have also a curious “yarn” about a new and singular way of killing a Hyæna--a similar process to the traditional method of bird-catching. “The Arab who finds a Hyæna in his hole, takes a handful of Cow’s dung, and presents it to him, saying, ‘Come, and I will render you beautiful with henna.’ The Hyæna holds out his paw; the Arab seizes it, drags him out, then gags him, and causes him to be stoned by the women and children of the douar, as a cowardly and unclean beast.” One would have imagined that a Hyæna of ordinary mental capacity would be far too old to be caught with this sort of chaff!

THE CRYPTOPROCTA FAMILY.[70]

This family contains a single animal only, so that the description of the family and of the species will be identical. It has no English name, and must, therefore, be known by its scientific appellation, which is, unfortunately, none of the most musical.

THE CRYPTOPROCTA.[71]

This little animal is extremely interesting, from the fact that it forms a perfect transition between the Cat family on the one hand, and the Civet family on the other. Like the Cats it has truly retractile claws; unlike them it is _plantigrade_, or, rather, _semi-plantigrade_, for it does not walk on the tips of its toes, like a Cat or Dog, neither does it keep the whole sole of the foot flat to the ground like a Bear, but the soles of both fore and hind feet are devoid of hairs, except for a short space near the ankle and heel, and it is the large hairless space which is applied to the ground in walking.

The characters of the skull are almost exactly half way between those of the two families we have mentioned. The bulb of the ear has its opening quite flush with its outer wall, but is far less swollen than in the Cats. The teeth differ from those of Cats in one important particular, namely, in the fact of there being one more premolar in each jaw.

The Cryptoprocta is about thirteen inches and a half long from snout to root of tail, the latter appendage being nearly as long as the body. The general colour is light brownish-red, this tint being produced by the individual hairs being ringed with yellow and brown alternately. The body is slender and elegantly formed. The head is also well shaped, with a pointed snout, and large rounded ears. There are five toes on each foot, and, as we have already mentioned, the claws are provided with true retractile ligaments.

This curious and interesting little animal is very rare; only one or two specimens having reached Europe. Even at the present time hardly anything is known of its internal organs. It was first brought to England forty or fifty years ago. “Mr. Telfair, President of the Mauritius Natural History Society, who presented the animal to the Zoological Society of London, received it from the interior and southern part of Madagascar, and stated that it was the most savage creature of its size he ever met with. Its motions and power and activity were those of a Tiger, and it had the same appetite for blood and destruction of animal life. Its muscular force was very great, and the muscles of its limbs were remarkably full and thick. It lived with Mr. Telfair for some months.”

THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY.[72]

This family contains but a single genus and species, viz.:--

THE AARD-WOLF.[73]

This is a remarkable animal inhabiting the southern parts of Africa, where its range is almost co-extensive with that of the brown variety of the Hyæna. It is an extremely interesting animal, as it forms a connecting link between the Civet family and the Hyænas; although more nearly allied to the latter than to the former, it is found to be impossible to assign it to one of these groups in reference to the other, and it is, in consequence, placed in a family by itself.

This rare animal was first mentioned and described by Andrew Sparman in 1772-6, but his account of it attracted little notice until it was re-discovered by the traveller Delalande, who brought specimens to France, where the beast was described and christened after him, _Proteles Lalandii_, or _Delalandii_.

The relationships of the Aard-Wolf are well shown by its external appearance. It has the sloping back of a Hyæna, owing to the fore legs being longer than the hind legs; but its head is quite Civet-like, the snout being long and pointed, and altogether unlike a Hyæna’s. Its size is that of a full-grown Fox, but it stands higher upon its legs; its ears are considerably larger and more naked, and its tail shorter and not so bushy. At first sight it might be easily mistaken for a young Striped Hyæna, so closely does it resemble that animal in the colours and peculiar markings of its fur, and in the mane of long stiff hair which runs along the neck and back; indeed, it is only to be distinguished by its more pointed head, and by the additional fifth toe of the fore-feet. It is also quite Hyæna-like in colour, being of a dull yellowish-grey tint, and marked with dark brown stripes and a black muzzle.

The skull has all the essential characters of that of a Viverrine, the form to which it approaches most nearly being the Ichneumon. The teeth are also Civet-like, but in the characters of its internal organs it approaches more nearly to the Hyænas.

“In its habits and manners the Aard-Wolf resembles the Fox. Like that animal it is nocturnal, and constructs a subterraneous burrow, at the bottom of which it lies concealed during the day-time, and only ventures abroad on the approach of night to search for food, and satisfy the other calls of nature. It is fond of the society of its own species; at least many individuals have been found residing together in the same burrow; and, as they are of a timid and wary character, they have generally three or four entrances to this hole; so that, if attacked on one side, they may secure a retreat in an opposite direction. Notwithstanding the disproportionate length of their fore legs, they are said to run very fast, and so strong is their propensity to burrow, that one of M. Delalande’s specimens, perceiving itself about to be run down or captured, immediately ceased its flight, and began to scratch up the ground, as if with the intention of making a new earth.” Its food consists very largely of carrion, but it also devours Ants. Owing to the former “high” kind of diet, the animal is generally possessed of an extremely bad smell.

With regard to its fighting propensities, which it probably possesses in common with all its relations--partly from the necessities of the struggle for existence, and partly from pure quarrelsomeness--we may mention Professor Flower’s observation, that there is a “rounded patch in front of each wrist joint,” or “knee,” as the wrist of digitigrade quadrupeds is usually called, just as if the animals were in the constant habit of kneeling. Professor Flower adds in a note:--“Mr. Bartlett informs me that this is the habit both of the _Proteles_ and the Hyænas, especially when fighting. He attributes it, at least in the case of the Hyænas, to an instinctive dread lest their feet should be seized and crushed by the powerful jaws of their adversary.”