252 



HYENAS AND CHILDREN 



Long ago, travellers used to think that hyenas had a kind 

 of magic about them, by which they could force their 

 prey to stand in one place till they were ready to fall 

 upon it. It was enough for the hyena to walk round an 

 animal three times to make it as helpless as a bird in the 

 power of a snake. Of course it may not always have been 

 easy to get the creature to remain stock still while the 

 hyena was performing this ceremony — for nothing less 

 than three complete turns would induce the spell to work 

 — but that does not seem to have occurred to the old 

 writers. In the case of a man, he must be most careful, 

 if he ever met a hyena, not to allow him to pass on the 

 right side, for, if he did, he would be certain to fall sense- 

 less off his horse before he had ridden very far. 



All sorts of charms were considered necessary to 

 preserve men against the wiles of a hyena, and curiously 

 enough, the beast's own skin was held to contain a spell. 

 A hyena's skin hung up on a gate or fence would ensure 

 that the fruit trees within should be proof against either 

 hail or lightning. No darts could pierce the man who 

 went into battle with the skin of a hyena wrapped about 

 him, and any farmer, anxious to increase his crop, had 

 only to place his seed in a hyena bag, for his land to bring 

 forth a three-fold quantity. 



Travellers in these times do not put quite so much 

 faith in the power of the hyena, dead or alive ; but they 

 quite agree that, like most cowardly beasts, he is very 

 cunning. One of his favourite tricks is suddenly to pop 

 up his big, bristly body in the midst of the grass where 



