820 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Mr. Bruce's account of the Syrian hjrax. 



They do not stand upright upon their feet, but 

 seem to steal along, as in fear, their belly being 

 nearly close to the ground, advancing a few steps 

 at a time, and then pausing. Their deportment 

 is very mild, feeble, and timid; and they may be 

 easily tamed, though, when roughly handled at 

 the first, they bite very severely. 



" This animal," says Mr. Bruce, " is found 

 plentifully on Mount Libanus. 1 have seen him 

 also among the rocks at the Pharan Promonto- 

 rium, or Cape Mahomet, which divides the 

 Elanitic from the Gulf of Suez. In all places 

 they seem to be the same; if there be any differ- 

 ence, it is in favour of the size and fatness, which 

 those in the Mountain of the Sun seem to enjoy 

 above the otbers. What his food is I cannot 

 determine with any degree of certainty. When 

 in my possession, he ate bread and meat, and 

 seemed to be rather ,a moderate than voracious 

 feeder. I suppose he subsists on grain, fruit, and 

 roots. He seemed to be timid, and backward, in 

 his own nature, to feed upon living food, or to 

 catch it by hunting. 



" The total length of this animal as he sits, 

 from the point of his nose to the extremity of 

 his body, is seventeen inches and a quarter. 

 The length of his snout from the extremity of 

 the nose to the occiput, is three inches and three 

 eighths. His upper jaw is longer than his under; 

 his nose stretches half an inch bevond his chin. 



