62 ANIMALS OF THE 



being Greek, and derived from hus, which signi- 

 fies a sow. 



But no words can give an adequate idea of this 

 animal's figure, deformity, and fierceness : more 

 savage and untameable than any other quadru- 

 ped, it seems to be for ever in a state of rage or 

 rapacity, for ever growling, except when receiving 

 its food. Its eyes then glisten, the bristles of its 

 back all stand upright, its head hangs low, and 

 yet its teeth appear; all which gives it a most 

 frightful aspect, which a dreadful howl tends to 

 heighten. This, which I have often heard, is very 

 peculiar : its beginning resembles the voice of a 

 man moaning, and its latter part as if he were 

 making a violent effort to vomit. As it is loud 

 and frequent, it might, perhaps, have been some- 

 times mistaken for that of a human voice in dis- 

 tress, and have given rise to the accounts of the 

 ancients, who tell us, that the hyaena makes its 

 moan to attract unwary travellers, and then to 

 destroy them : however this be, it seems the most 

 untractable, and, for its size, the most terrible of 

 all other quadrupeds ; nor does its courage fall 

 short of its ferocity ; it defends itself against the 

 lion, is a match for the panther, attacks the ounce, 

 and seldom fails to conquer. 



It is an obscene and solitary animal, to be 

 found chiefly in the most desolate and unculti- 

 vated parts of the torrid zone, of which it is a 

 native.* It resides in the caverns of mountains, 

 in the clefts of rocks, or in dens that it has form- 



* Buffon. 



