156 Journal of Travel and Natural History 



which wild beasts harbour, and nightly enter the town, or live in 

 the ruins (of which there are great masses in difterent parts of the 

 town), and not rarely the leopard, the spotted hyena, the ratel, the 

 rhabdogal, and divers foxes, genets, and ichneumons, appear 

 in the high places " (p. 216). 



Perhaps, however, the most interesting point in relation to the 

 Abyssinian felid», is the possibility that the tiger is an inhabitant of 

 that country ; at least, so we are inclined to interpret the infor- 

 mation reported by Heuglin, under the head of the " Wobo." 

 "There is" says he "a variety of the leopard which must be 

 either a hybrid between the lion and the leopard, or a peculiar 

 species hitherto unknown, which, however, I had no opportunity 

 of seeing. It is described by the natives as the wildest, cunningest, 

 and strongest of all the carnivora, and, according to some reports, 

 is yellowish, with dark longitudinal stripes (mit dunkeln langs- 

 treifen). It appears to occur over the whole of Abyssinia, but 

 none of the Europeans living there know how to make a correct 

 description, and those of the natives giving an account of it do 

 not agree entirely with one another." (p. 236) Regarding this 

 reported animal, Dr Fitzinger in his paper above referred to says : 

 — " In Abyssinia one hears frequently spoken of two large, highly- 

 dangerous species of the cat tribe, which must be distinct from the 

 ' Felis Nimr ' (panther). The one of these must, from the reports 

 of the natives, be a tiger-like animal, and should be found particu- 

 larly in south-east Abyssinia, where it bears the name of ' Wobo.' 

 The other is apparently a blacker leopard, known as the Gesella 

 of the Abyssinians. Also, in the island between the rivers Dendet 

 and Rahad, in Eastern Senaar, is a dangerous leopard-like 

 beast of prey, that is known by the Arabs on the Dender, under 

 the name of ' Abu Sothan,' and according to the testimony of 

 Osman Beg, the late commandant of the troops of the line in 

 Senaar, and that of the independent reports of the great Arab 

 sheiks of that country is somewhat larger than the ' Nimr ' 

 (leopard), and has a white or whitish ground-colour, and is 

 striped black like the zebra." But those in the animal of whose 

 appearance Heuglin gives the reports should be completely 

 long striped, and not cross striped as in the tiger. According to 

 the information collected by Von Heuglin two largo, very dangerous 

 beasts of prey appear (under the names of the " Wobo," or the 

 tigerish appellation " Mendelid") in Abyssinia, which are wholly 

 distinct from each other, andof which the nativestell a heaj) of fiibles. 



