THE HY^NA 433 



Kesembling the panther by its spotted skin, it is more elevated 

 on its legs and less flattened on the fore part of its head. Its 

 brain is more ample, and its claws touch _^^^ 

 the ground while walking like those of J^^k^^^^^ 

 the dog, which it resembles still further ^mhIRB^ 



])y its mild and docile nature. In India Jiiv8H?^j^R^ 

 and Persia, where the Cheetahs are em- '^'^JjLz:' «^J^S... . 

 ]>loyed in the chase, they are carried '"" The ch "t h 

 cliained and hoodwinked to the field in 



low cars. When the hunters come within view of a herd of 

 antelopes, the Cheetah is liberated, and the game is pointed out 

 to him: he does not, however, immediately dash forward in 

 pursuit, but steals along cautiously till he has nearly approached 

 the herd unseen, when with a few rapid and vigorous bounds, 

 he darts on the timid game and strangles it almost instantane- 

 ously. Should he, however, fail in his first efforts and miss 

 his pre}^, he attempts no pursuit, but returns to the call of 

 his master, evidently disappointed, and generally almost breath- 

 loss. 



While the sanguinary felidae may justly be called the eagles, 

 the carrion-feeding Hysenas are the vultures, among the four- 

 footed animals. Averse to the light of day, like the owl and 

 the bat, they conceal themselves in dark caverns, ruins, or 

 lairrows, as long as the sun stands above the horizon, but at 

 night-fall they come forth from their gloomy retreats with a 

 lamentable howl or a satanic laugh, to seek their disgusting 

 food on the fields, in churchyards, or on the borders of the sea. 

 From the prodigious strength of their jaws and their teeth, 

 they are not only able to masticate tendons, but to crush car- 

 tilages and bones ; so that carcases almost entirely deprived 

 of flesh still provide them with a plentiful banquet. 



Though their nocturnal habits and savage aspect have ren- 

 dered them an object of hatred and disgust to man, they seem 

 destined to fill up an important station in the economy of 

 nature, by cleansing the earth of the remains of dead animals, 

 which might otherwise infect the atmosphere with pestilential 

 effluvia. 



Among other fabulous qualities, a courage has been attri- 

 buted to the hya3na which is completely alien to his base and 

 grovelling nature. Far from venturing to attack the panther, 



112 



