338 



&rsfturg cf Natural Hi 



and come down to eat human flesh in the 

 dark in safety." " One night in Maitsha, 

 being very intent on observation, I heard 

 something pass behind me towards the bed, 

 but upon looking round could perceive no- 

 thing. Having finished what I was then 

 about, I went out of my tent, intending di- 

 rectly to return, which I immediately did, 

 when I perceived large blue eyes glaring at 

 me in the dark. I called upon my servant 

 with a light, and there was the Hyaena 

 standing nigh the head of the bed, with two 

 or three large bunches of candles in his 

 mouth. To have fired at him I was in 

 danger of breaking my quadrant or other 

 furniture, and he seemed, by keeping the 

 candles steadily in his mouth, to wisli for 

 no other prey at that time. As his mouth 

 was full, and he had no claws to tear with, 

 I was not afraid of him, but with a pike 

 struck him as near the heart as I could 

 judge. It was not till then he showed any 

 sign of fierceness ; but, upon feeling his 

 wound, he let drop the candles, and endea- 

 voured to run up the shaft of the spear to 

 arrive at me. so that, in self-defence, I was 

 obliged to draw a pistol from my girdle and 

 shoot him, and nearly at the same time my 

 servant cleft his skull with a battle-axe. In 

 a word, the Hyaena was the plague of our 

 lives, the terror of our night-walks, the de- 

 struction of our mules and asses, which above 

 all others are his favourite food." 



The SPOTTED HYAENA bears a consider- 

 able resemblance to the former species, but 

 is marked with numerous round blackish- 

 brown spots instead of stripes, and the mane 

 is much less. Its habits are similar to the 

 Striped Hyaena, and it commits equal rav 



amongst the cattle of the districts in which 

 it resides. This species inhabits many parts 

 of Africa, but is numerous round the Cape 

 of Good Hope, where it is much dreaded. 

 It rarely, however, moves abroad during the 

 day, but passes that period in a state of re- 

 pose, either in holes in the ground, or in 

 retired situations densely covered with bush. 

 Till lately, it seems. Hyaenas were in the 

 habit of paying nightly visits to the streets 

 of Cape Town, and were regarded as very 

 useful in carrying away the animal refuse ; 

 but partly from better regulations now exist- 

 ing in the town, and partly from the num- 

 ber of these animals having greatly decreased, 

 this no longer occurs. In the interior of 

 Southern Africa the ravages of this beast 



are still frightful, and it is no uncommon 

 thing to find that they have entered the hut 

 of a native in the night, and devoured or 

 dreadfully mangled some of the younger 

 branches of the family. And yet, notwith- 

 standing this ferocity, the Spotted Hyaena is 

 sometimes domiciliated in the houses of the 

 peasantry, among whom, we are told, " he 

 is preferred to the dog himself for attach- 

 ment to his master, for general sagacity, and 

 even, it is said, for his qualifications for the 

 chase." 



Another species (Ilyccna villosa) is men- 

 tioned by Cuvier, as differing from the pre- 

 ceding by having stripes on the legs, the rest 

 of the body being of a dark grayish-brown. 

 It inhabits the south of Africa, and is known 

 there under the name of the sea-shore wolf, 



HYAENA-DOG. A name given to the 

 Wild Dog of the settlers at the Cape. It is 

 smaller and more slender than either the 

 Hyaena or the Wolf. In its general osteo- 

 logical structure it agrees with the dogs, and 

 it has no mane ; but the head resembles the 

 Hyaena's, and it has only four toes to each 

 foot. Its colour is a reddish-brown, with 

 patches of black and white intermixed : nose 

 and muzzle black, with a strong black line 

 passing from them up the centre of the fore- 

 head to between the ears. It is fierce, swift, 

 and active ; is very destructive to animals 

 which are less fleet and powerful than 

 itself ; and commits great havoc on sheep. 

 It is the Hycena venatica of Dr. Burchell's 

 Travels, and the Lycaon vettuticus of Mr. 

 Gray. 



HYALEA. A genus of Molluscous ani- 

 mals belonging to the class Pteropoda, and 

 distinguished by their wing-shaped organs 

 of locomotion. They are found in the At- 

 lantic and Mediterranean, and the shell is 



known in this country by the trivial name 

 of Venus' Chariot. It is globose, glassy, and 

 transparent, with a triangular opening at 

 the upper part where the dorsal portion ad- 

 vances beyond the ventral, which is vaulted ; 

 dorsal more flat ; lower extremity triden- 

 date. The head of the animal is very in- 

 distinct, and it has no eyes. 



HYDATINA, or HYDATIDS. A term 

 denoting several species of parasitic animal- 

 cules, or cyst-like productions, found in the 

 bodies of men and animals, and which are 

 possessed of extraordinary powers of repro- 

 duction. 



HYDRA. The name given to a genus of 

 minute polypi found in stagnant pools of 



