SPOTTED HYAENA. 303 



could judge. It was not till then he shewed any 

 sign of fierceness ; but, upon feeling his wound, 

 he let drop the candles, and endeavoured 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- 

 ax. In a word, the Hyaena was the plague of our 

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

 tion of our mules and asses, which above all others 

 are his favourite food." 



Mr. Bruce seems inclined to believe the Abys- 

 einian Hyaena distinct from the common species, 

 having a snout somewhat less thick or hog-like, 

 and more approaching to the form of a dog's 

 nose. From his figure, however, there can be 

 little doubt of its being a mere variety. The 

 largest Hyaena ever seen by Mr. Bruce measured 

 five feet nine inches from the nose to the base of 

 the tail : its colour was a yellowish-brown, marked 

 with distant blackish bands, most numerous on 

 the legs. 



SPOTTED HYJENA. 



Canis Crocuta. C. caitda recta, corpore nigro maculato, pedilus 



tetradactyUs. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 72. 

 Reddish-brown Hyaena spotted with black, with strait tail and 



four-toed feet. 

 Spotted Hyaena. Pennant Quadr. i.p. 272. 



THIS animal much resembles the common or 

 striped Hyaena in its general appearance, but is 



