62 JACKALL. 



formation of that animal. The body, however, is covered 

 with a long, coarse, ash-coloured hair, marked with black 

 stripes from the neck downwards; and the neck is fur- 

 nished with an upright mane. 



This animal is the most untractable of any among the 

 savage race ; it seems insensible to kindness, and is early 

 incapable of being in any degree reclaimed. It growls 

 almost incessantly, and sometimes howls in a note resem- 

 bling the voice of a human creature in distress ; hence the 

 ancients invented the fable of its counterfeiting those 

 accents, to lure the unwary traveller into its power. 

 Various other legends are preserved concerning this crea- 

 ture, all founded on the terrors which its aspect and man- 

 ners inspire. 



In proportion to its magnitude, the hyena is certainly 

 the fiercest of quadrupeds ; nor does its courage fall short 

 of its ferocity. It will defend itself against the lion, is a 

 match for the panther, and frequently vanquishes the 

 ounce. It preys on every thing that has life, and fre- 

 quently violates the repositories of the dead : when it 

 can no longer find means to satisfy its carnivorous appe- 

 tites, it makes a meal on the roots of plants, or the tender 

 shoots of the palm-trees. 



This species is not very widely diffused : it is found in 

 Asiatic Turkey, Syria, Persia, and Barbary; and is every 

 where a solitary animal, frequenting caverns and clefts 

 of rocks, from which it occasionally issues to seek for 

 prey, and retires thither again. A spotted variety is 

 common about the Cape of Good Hope, which, accord- 

 ing to Sparrman, nightly enters Cape-town, and preys on 

 offals, without doing any kind of injury. It has been 

 known, however, even in the day-time, to snatch up an 

 infant in the street, and hasten with its prey to its retreat 

 in the mountains. 



THE JACKALL. 



This animal has obtained the appellation of the lion's 

 provider, merely because when it pursues its game, the 



