THE CAPE HYENA. 179 



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 coup]e of posts, about the height of a 

 Hyena'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 Hyena, 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 Hyenas, 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 Hyenas 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 self-immolation 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 Hyena employs the same caution that characterizes his 

 ordinary proceedings. When they seize their prey the Hyenas carefully avoid those spots 

 where the affrighted animal might reach them with its hoofs, teeth, or horns. They never 

 seem to spring on the animals' 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 scared away or shaken off. 



The eyes of the Hyenas are singularly repulsive in their expression, being round, dull, 

 and almost meaningless. 



There are man-eaters among the Hyenas, and these hominivorous animals are greatly 

 dreaded, on account of the exceeding stealthiness and craft with which they achieve their 

 object. 



They very seldom endeavor to destroy the adult men and women, but limit their attacks 

 to the young and defenceless children. On dark nights the Hyena 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 Hyena 

 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 withdraws 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 some- 

 thing 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 swallowed. 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 anecdotes of the Cape Hyena and its habits are taken from the MS. of 

 Captain Drayson, R.A., to which reference has already been made. 



