THE SPOTTED HYAENA 139 



as if to test the toothsomeness of the prospective meal. 

 The hunter concluded that he was considered too fresh 

 for immediate use, for presently several of the Hyaenas 

 took hold of him and carried him a considerable distance 

 to a cave, where he was dumped down in what the hunter's 

 olfactory senses told him was the troop's larder. It was a 

 ghastly situation. The vile odour of the reeking spot 

 nauseated him, and yet he dare scarcely breathe lest the 

 savage beasts should turn upon him and rend him. 



At last the Hyaenas took their departure all save one 

 animal that was left to guard the meat store. As the man 

 lay in the foul den he racked his brains how he might evade 

 the watchful animal that was stationed at the mouth of the 

 cave. At intervals the Hyaena came and smelt him, until at 

 the end of forty-eight hours the custodian of the larder set 

 off to join the troop in a foraging excursion, or may be to 

 lay information that the body was now deserving of serious 

 attention. Which surmise was correct the prisoner did not 

 stay to observe; he at once got on a trail that would lead 

 him to safety in an entirely opposite direction. 



Sir Samuel Baker describes how a Hyaena paid a visit to 

 his tent at midnight. Lady Baker awoke her husband to 

 inform him that one of the animals had been in the tent, 

 but had bolted when she made an involuntary movement. 

 The explorer's chief fear was that the beast would return 

 and eat their saddles, so he lay back in bed with his rifle 

 to his shoulder. In a few minutes the wary creature was 

 again at the door, thrown into strong relief by the brilliant 

 moonshine at its back. The explorer seized the opportunity, 

 the trigger clicked, and the animal fell dead. 



It is said that in some of the well hunted big-game regions 

 the Hyaena has increased rather than decreased in numbers 

 in recent years. The beast prefers to pick up its food ready 

 killed rather than hunt it for itself. Frequently wounded 

 animals escape into dense cover, only to die where the 

 sportsman cannot find them ; but the Hyaena follows up the 

 blood trail, to find a meal without any more trouble than is 

 entailed in the eating of it. In addition to this, many large 

 animals are shot, and when they have been skinned the 

 carcasses are useless to the hunter ; and thus every season 



