I02 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



in the burrows of the antbear, which also serve as 

 nurseries for the young. Five to ten, or even twelve 

 puppies are said to be born in a litter, though, 

 perhaps, these larger numbers are the offspring of 

 more than one female. They have frequently been 

 taken (the calibre of the burrows is large enough to 

 admit a man), and young animals are sometimes 

 brought alive to England. 



Burchell's specimen was kept chained up in his 

 stable yard for more than a year; though remaining 

 savage towards its attendant it became friendly with 

 a domestic dog, thus abandoning the animosity 

 which normally exists between the bush-pirate and 

 the guardian of the hearth.^ "It ran with great 

 lig^htness backwards and forwards, comino- boldlv 

 towards the spectators," says Colonel Hamilton 

 Smith; it also uttered a whimpering noise, from 

 which the Colonel suggests that the species has 

 received the native name of Mebbia. The 

 domestic dog, by the way, was only just able to 

 reach its brindled companion, being also on chain ; had 

 the hyaena dog threatened violence, one step back- 

 wards would have placed the other out of danger. 

 The young individual which was living in the Tower 

 in 1828 was not only amiable with a young lion and 



1 A specimen formerly preserved in the Zoological Society's old museum 

 at Briiton Street lias been supposed to be the animal l>rought home by 

 Burchell. Since, however, it is said to have "died in the menagerie"' (the 

 Zoological (hardens were not opened till 182(!), it is probably the specimen 

 living in the Tower in 1828; being quite young, it might reasonably 

 have lived till 1831, when William IV. presented the Tower collection to 

 the Zoological Uardens. 



