224 MAN-EATING HY AENAS. 
The Hyena is too vexatious a neighbour not to be persecuted, and frequently falls a 
victim to the treacherous spring-gun, in spite of the benefits which he confers on man- 
kind by his unfailing energy in devouring every scrap of eatable food. 
To set a gun for the purpose of Hyena shooting is an easy matter, and is managed as 
follows. The loaded musket is fixed horizontally to a couple of posts, about the height of 
a Hyvena’s head. A string is then fastened to the trigger, one end of which is passed 
behind the trigger guard, or through a ring placed for the purpose, and the other is firmly 
tied to a piece of meat, which is hung on the muzzle of the gun. When a passing Hyeena, 
prowling about in search of prey, is attracted by the meat, he seizes it between his teeth, 
and thus draws the trigger of the gun, lodging the bullet in his head. Tenacious of life as 
is the Hyena, he falls dead on the spot. 
In order to attract the notice of the Hyzenas, a piece of putrid flesh is dragged along 
the ground so as to leave an odoriferous trail leading to the treacherous weapon. 
Taught by experience, the Hyzenas have become so suspicious of an object which they 
do not understand, and to which they are not accustomed, that the very sight of a piece of 
string alarms them, and guards them from selfimmolation in many a trap. So the farmers, 
who chiefly set these explosive traps, match the creature’s cunning by their own superior 
intellect, and substitute the stems of creeping plants for the hempen cord or leathern strings. 
These objects are regarded without suspicion, and by their assistance the outwitted Hyena 
is laid low. 
In chasing living animals the Hyzena employs the same caution that characterises his 
ordinary proceedings. When they seize their prey the Hynas carefully avoid those 
spots where the affrighted animal might reach them with its hoofs, teeth, or horns. 
They never seem to spring on the animal’s neck, but hang on to its flanks, dragging it 
to the ground by the mingled weight of their body and the pain of the wound. Many 
veteran oxen and horses are deeply scarred in the flanks by the teeth of the Hyena, 
which has made its attack, but has been seared away or shaken off. 
The eyes of the Hyznas are singularly repulsive in their expression, being round, dull, 
and almost meaningless. 
There are man-eaters among the Hyzenas, and these hominivorous animals are greatly 
dreaded, on account of the exceeding stealthiness and eraft with which they achieve their 
object. 
They very seldom endeavour to destroy the adult men and women, but limit their attacks 
to the young and defenceless children. On dark nights the Hyzena is greatly to be feared, 
for he can be guided to his prey by the light of the nocturnal fires which do not daunt an 
animal that is possessed by this fearful spirit of destructiveness, and at the same time can 
make his cautious approaches unseen. As the family are lying at night, buried in sleep, 
the Hyzna prowls round the inclosure, and on finding a weak spot the animal pushes 
aside the wattle bands of which the fence is made, and quietly creeps through the breach. 
Between the human inhabitants and the fence, the cattle are picketed by night, and 
would fall an easy prey to the Hyena if he chose to attack them. But he slips cautiously 
amid the sleeping beasts, and makes his way to the spot where lies a young child, 
wrapped in deep slumber. Employing the same silent caution, the Hyena quietly with- 
draws the sleeping child from the protecting cloak of its mother, and makes its escape 
with its prey before it can be intercepted. 
With such marvellous caution does this animal act, that it has often been known to 
remove an infant from the house without even giving the alarm. 
It has already been mentioned that the Hyena is in no wise fastidious in its diet, and 
that it will habitually consume the most indigestible of substances. Yet there seems to 
be something capricious about the function of assimilating food, which, even in the 
Hyena, is subject to remarkable fluctuations. To one of these animals, after a fast of 
thirty-six hours, a dead rat was given, which, as might be expected, it immediately swal- 
lowed. In fifteen minutes, the creature rejected the skin and bones of the rat, though 
the same animal would have eaten with impunity the heavy bones or tough hide of a 
veteran ox, or even would have made a satisfactory meal on a few yards of leathern strap. 
The following aneedotes of the Cape Hyzna and its habits are taken from the MS. 
of Captain Drayson, R.A., to which reference has already been made. 
