HYENAS. 45 



prey left by tigers and leopards after their 

 appetites have been satiated. They are great 

 enemies of dogs, and kill numbers of them. 



A gentleman at Chittrah who kept a pack 

 of hounds, lost a dog every night for several 

 nights successively ; the dog-keepers reported 

 that they were carried off by hyenas the truth of 

 which could not be ascertained, but it appears 

 likely. The dogs were accustomed to be tied 

 down separately every night; and after it was 

 ordered that they should be all loosened, none 

 disappeared. 



The natives of India affirm that tigers, panthers, 

 and leopards have a great aversion to hyenas, on 

 account of their destroying their young, which I 

 believe they have an opportunity of doing, as the 

 parents leave them during the greatest part of the 

 day. The inhabitants, therefore, feel no apprehen- 

 sion in taking away the young whenever they 

 find them, knowing the dam is seldom near. 

 Whether it is true, as the natives say, that they 

 have a great aversion to hyenas, or that it is one 

 of their many fabulous stories, I shall leave to 

 the judgment of my reader, having never had an 

 opportunity of ascertaining it. Hyenas are slow 



