324 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



was called by my wife to some object that had just quitted our 

 tent. 



I took my rifle from beneath the mat upon which I lay, and, 

 after waiting for a few minutes sitting up in bed, I observed a 

 large form standing in the doorway preparatory to entering. 



Presently it walked cautiously, until partially within, and 

 immediately fell dead, with a bullet between the eyes. This 

 proved to be a very large hyaena, an old and experienced depre- 

 dator, as it bore countless scars of encounters with other strong 

 biters of its own race. 



Cuvier describes this animal thus: "The hytcnas have three 

 false molars above, and four below, all conical, blunt, and singu- 

 larly large ; their upper carnivorous tooth has a small tubercle 

 within and in front, but the lower one has none, presenting only 

 two stout cutting points. This powerful armature enables them 

 to crush the bones of the largest prey. Their tongue is rough, 

 exhibiting a circular collection of retroflected spines ; all their feet 

 have each but four toes, as in the surikate ; and under the anus 

 is a deep and glandular pouch, which led the ancients to believe 

 that these animals were hermaphrodite. . . . Three species are 

 known the striped hyaena (//. Vulgaris, Canis hyaena, L.), 

 found from India to Abyssinia and Senegal ; the spotted hyaena 

 (C. crocuta, L.), from South Africa; and the woolly hyaena (//. 

 villora, Smith), also from South Africa." 



I know nothing about the last-named species. Cuvier omits to 

 mention the prodigious muscle which works the lower jaw, with- 

 out which the crushing power of the teeth would be impossible. 

 An examination of the skull of this animal will exhibit the re- 

 markable size of the aperture through which this muscle passes ; 

 it is this which gives the broad and repulsive appearance to the 

 head of the hyaena. 



In portions of Abyssinia these creatures are so numerous, that 

 immediately after sundown they visit the outskirts of the towns, 

 in search of any offal or dead animals that may have accumulated 

 during the day. Although the spotted hyaena appears to be the 

 same as that of India, the cry is totally different. It was the 

 usual occurrence in camp, when we were travelling through the 

 Nile tributaries of Abyssinia, that immediately we had retired 

 within the tent to sleep, after having dined outside, we heard the 

 cracking of bones, all of which had been thrown by the Arab 

 servants only a few feet from our deserted table. The hyaenas 

 must have been watching us while at dinner, although themselves 

 unseen, as they came to glean the crumbs almost immediately upon 



