THE BROWN HYAENA. 



In spite of the rapid progress made in matters 

 zoological of late years many popular errors 

 respecting animals still persist. The magnanimity 

 of the lion is pure nonsense. The tiger is not more 

 blood-thirsty than the leopard, the jaguar, or even 

 the weasel. " Harmless" antelopes and deer have 

 before now turned furiously on their keepers. 

 Gorillas said to have been killed while charging are 

 found to have the shot-holes in the back. The 

 small-brained Indian elephant is not so superlatively 

 intelligent as the average writer makes out; the 

 bumps on his forehead indicate air cells and not 

 intellect. "Silly " sheep show true wisdom in 

 following the footsteps of a tacitly elected leader; 

 pigs are not fonder of wallowing in the mire than 

 rhinoceroses, buffaloes, or even some antelopes. 

 The various species of hyaena, though largely 

 carrion feeders, are not exclusively so; they are to 

 some extent distinctly carnivorous, attacking cattle 

 and even man, as will be shown in this Essay. 

 Ferocious and ravenous, grim and cowardly, the 

 hyaenas offer a character study of very great interest ; 

 three species are recognised, of which the striped 

 hyaena is both Asiatic and African, while the spotted 

 hyaena is African only. The brown hyaena is South 

 African chiefly; though its northern limit is at 

 present unknown. 



