272 HYJENA. 



spots upon their fur add to our dislike, and the offen- 

 sive odours of their carrion breath, with exhalations 

 from the glandular pouch beneath the tail, complete 

 the character. By nature they are the scavengers of 

 the desert, the forest, and of the sandy beach, feed- 

 ing on dead carcases of elephants or whales ; prone 

 to attack horses, asses, and domestic cattle ; devour- 

 ing dogs, seizing isolated camels, sometimes filling 

 their stomachs with farinaceous vegetables, but al- 

 ways solicitous to roam in burying places, and dig 

 out the dead.* All these qualities combined, were 

 the cause of the mysterious and awful opinions the 

 ancients promulgated respecting the hyaena. They 

 were taught to believe that the species was herma- 

 phrodite, and changed sex at stated periods, being 

 alternately the hyaena or the trochus. That to de- 

 ceive mankind they could imitate the human voice : 

 and in Abyssinia it is still averred, that a caste of 

 iron-smelters and smiths possess the mysterious 

 power of changing their persons into the aspect of 

 hyaenas, and perpetrate all the demon wonders that 

 were formerly ascribed in Europe to the Wehr 

 wolf! Hence the hyaena is the Dub, Dubbah, 

 Dabah, Zabah, &c. of the Semitic nations, all de- 

 noting a dark and sinister being. Possessed of the 

 most powerful teeth, it requires dogs of no ordinary 



* We think it is Mr. Bruce who mentions that one, or seve- 

 ral acting together, had dragged a dead camel in the course of 

 the night above a mile distance from the caravan; an instance 

 of single strength or combined intelligence almost exceeding 

 belief. 



