302 NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE HYMN A. 



So striking, and even so singular are the charac- 

 teristics of the hyaena, that it is hardly possible to be 

 deceived by them. It is, perhaps, the only quadruped 

 which has but four toes to either the fore or hind feet. 

 Like the badger it has an aperture under the tail, 

 which does not penetrate into the interior parts of the 

 body. Its ears are long, straight, and bare : its head 

 is more square and shorter than that of the wolf: its 

 legs, the hind ones especially, are longer : its eyes are 

 placed like those of the dog: the hair of its bod) 1 -, and 

 its mane, are of a dark grey, with a small intermixture 

 of yellow and black, disposed all along in waves: and 

 though its size is equal to that of the wolf, yet it has 

 a contracted appearance. 



This solitary creature resides in the caverns of 

 mountains, in the clefts of rocks, or in dens, which It 

 has formed for itself under the earth. Though taken 

 very young, it is very incapable of being tamed. It 

 lives by Depredation, like the wolf; but it is a strong- 



