199 



THE ZENLEE, OR PIED THOUS. 



Thous mesomelds. 



PLATE XII. 



Canis mesomelas of authors. — Yenlee of the Hottentots.— 

 Bontevos of the Dutch Colonists. — Chacal du Cap. 



All the canines found in a wild state to the south- 

 ward of the line, in both hemispheres, approximate 

 the foxes in some of their characters or aspect. Tlie 

 pied Thous is an example in point, for being some- 

 what less in bulk than either of the former, and 

 more vividly reddish about the sides and limbs, it 

 has been classed with foxes, although the tail is not 

 vulpine, and we are assured that the eyes are diur- 

 nal. The individual we have seen alive had neither 

 the movements nor head of a fox, and the ocular 

 disks were always circular, while observed. Of 

 three drawings with dimensions taken from diffe- 

 rent individuals, one was twenty-five inches from 

 nose to tail, the next twenty-six, the third twenty- 

 seven. The tails varying with the length of body, 

 from eight inches and a half to ten and a half. The 

 different locations of dog, jackal, and fox, assigned 

 to the species by naturalists, indicates the interme- 

 diate position it should occupy ; and the livery or 



