484 THE FELID^ OF THE OLD WORLD 



or putting even the lion to flight, as Kampfer pretended to have 

 seen, he is in reality a most pusillanimous creature, and cau- 

 tiously avoids a contest with animals much weaker than himself. 

 Although his jaws are strong, he has not the sharp retractile 

 claws of the felidae, nor their formidable spring, his hind legs 

 being comparatively feeble, and thus he can hardly become 

 dangerous to the herds, though Bruce assures us that the 

 hyaenas destroyed many of his mules and asses. 



In Barbary, the Arabs pursue the hyaenas on horseback, and 

 run them down with their greyhounds, never thinking of wast- 

 ing their powder on so abject a game. They are held in such 

 contempt, that huntsmen will fearlessly penetrate into the 

 caverns where they are known to sojourn, first carefully stopping 

 the opening with their burnus, to keep out the light of day. 

 They then advance towards the snarling brute, address it in 

 menacing language, seize and gag it, without its venturing 

 upon the least resistance, and cudgel the animal out of the 

 den. The rough and ugly hide of the hyaena is but of little 

 value, and in many tents its sight is not even tolerated, as so 

 unworthy a spoil could only bring misfortune to its owner. 



The intractability of the hyaena is as fabulous as his courage 

 or his cruelty. On the contrary, he is very easily tamed, and 

 may be rendered as docile as the dog himself. 



The striped hyaena is a native of Asiatic Turkey, Syria, and 

 North Africa, as far as the Senegal, while the spotted hyaena 



ranges over South Africa, from the 

 Cape to Abyssinia. Both species at- 

 tain the size of the wolf, and have 

 similar habits. As the shark follows 

 the ship, or the crow the caravan, they 

 striped Hyaena ^^^ ^^^^ *^ hovcr about the march of 



armies, as if taught by instinct that 

 they have to expect the richest feast from the insanity of 

 man. 



The moonlight falling on the dark cypresses and snow-; 

 white tombs of the Oriental churchyards not seldom shines 

 upon hungry hyaenas, busily employed in tearing the newly- 

 buried corpses from their graves. 



A remarkable peculiarity of the spotted hyaena is that when 

 he first begins to run he appears lame, so that one might almost 



