273 



courage to grapple with them in the chase, and if 

 their speed was great, they would seldom fail escap- 

 ing into cover : for woe to him who unarmed ven- 

 tures to arrest them in front. A near relative of 

 ours unthinkingly intercepted one in his flight 

 towards a jungle, hut the animal immediately 

 sprang at his horse, pulled it down hy the nose, 

 and before the rider could recover, passed on and 

 escaped. They burrow in jackal-earths, or occupy 

 caverns in certain seasons; but, in general, little 

 affected by the sun, they prowl upon the desert, 

 sometimes scratching the sand up for a slight shel- 

 ter. Their ferocity is not entirely untameable : we 

 have seen the spotted species actually pleased with 

 caresses. In the French collection at the Jardin des 

 Plantes, another of the same species was familiar 

 with her keeper, but capriciously hostile to other 

 persons. Sir J. Barrow, in his journey, says even, 

 that it had been tamed in the district of the Sneeuw 

 bergen, w r here it was considered more serviceable 

 for the chase than the dog, and fully equal to that 

 animal in courage and fidelity. We suspect the 

 assertion here made refers to the Lycaon venaticus, 

 and that the results were magnified by the traveller's 

 informant. 



So little was the form of these animals understood 

 when the older Zoologists published their writings, 

 that the most fanciful figures were invented and 

 engraved in their works, all intended to pourtray 

 tne descriptions of the ancients, although Busbe- 

 quius and Ka3mpfer had fully recognised it in 



