CHAPTER XIII 



HYENAS, MONKEYS, AND PIGS 



Of the Hyena family several species exist at present, 

 both in India and Africa. Unmistakable signs, such as, 

 for instance, a great many remains of the hyenas and 

 bones they crushed, show that in earlier ages this carni- 

 vorous animal, which at present is confined to the tropics 

 of the Old World, also inhabited southern and central 

 Europe, where it went as far north as England. In East 

 Africa there are two species: the striped and the spotted 

 hyena. Of these two, the striped is a good deal smaller 

 and less frequently met with than the spotted variety. It 

 is more common in Abyssinia and Somaliland, where in 

 many localities they are little or not at all disturbed by 

 the natives, as they act as scavengers, and in that way 

 are of some service to the population. They, therefore, 

 become quite daring and often visit camps, where they 

 grow so bold as to come close up to the tents to snatch 

 away anything that they can find in the way of meat 

 or bones. In fact it is told in one of the narratives of a 

 shooting expedition in Somaliland, that the sportsmen 

 sometimes amused themselves by throwing morsels of 

 meat and bones from their evening meal just to hear 

 them crunched up by the striped hyena but a few yards 

 away from the table. This hyena hardly ever attacks 



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