THE SPOTTED HY^NA HOW MUTILATED? 369 



Europeans. An English traveler, Moyle, crossed the desert 

 in safety, and arrived at Ghanze in 1852, on a trading and 

 hunting expedition. From this place he was guided by 

 Bushmen to Great Namaqua-land, whence he retraced his 

 steps home. The year after this he again crossed the desert, 

 though under unfavorable circumstances, having, with the 

 exception of two horses, lost all his beasts of burden, as also 

 his servants, some of whom died from want. 



Almost the first animal I saw at this place was a gigantic 

 *' tiger-wolf," or spotted hyaena, which, to my surprise, in- 

 stead of seeking safety in flight, remained stationary, grin- 

 ning in the most ghastly manner. Having approached with- 

 in twenty paces, I perceived, to my horror, that his fore 

 paws, and the skin and flesh of his front legs, had been gnaw- 

 ed away, and that he could scarcely move from the spot. 

 To shorten the sufferings of the poor beast, I seized my op- 

 portunity and kno.cked 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 

 how 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 at- 

 tacked his own body 1 or was he an example of that extra- 

 ordinary species of cruelty said to be practiced by the lion on 

 the hyeena when the latter has the insolence to interfere with 

 the monarch's prey ?* 



Fortune once again favored us ; for, in the course of the 

 few days we remained at Ghanze, several rhinoceroses were 

 shot, affording an abundance of provisions. These animals 

 were very numerous, but rather shy. One night I counted 



* It is asserted by more than one experienced hunter, that when 

 the hycena proves troublesome, the lion has been known to bite off all 

 its feet, and, thus mutilated, leave the poor animal to its fate ! 



Q 2 



