304 NATURAL HISTORY OF AFRICA. 



(/f. Capensis, Desm., Canis crocuta, Linn.) is peculiar to that 

 continent, and abounds in its southern extremity. The 

 striped species (H. vulgaris, Desm., C. hycena, Linn.) is 

 more characteristic of the northern districts. It is frequent 

 in Egypt, Abyssinia, and Nubia, and extends into Syria 

 and Persia. It is a «Usgusting and troublesome animal 

 wherever it occurs. It haunts the suburbs, and even pene- 

 trates into the streets of some eastern cities after sunset, 

 preying on offal and stealing the remains of dead carcasses, 

 which it prefers to living prey. One of them robbed Bruce 

 the traveller of some pounds of tallow candles, by entering 

 his tent under cloud of night. 



The animals called civets are found both in Asia and 

 Africa. 



We now enter upon the consideration of the fehne tribes, 

 the most ferocious and bloodthirsty of the brute creation. 

 Though the tiger is unknown to Africa, the lion, the king 

 of beasts, here reigns with undisputed sway, and is not only 

 more numerous, but also more magnificent in his propor- 

 tions, than in any other country. Celebrated from the most 

 remote antiquity for his courage and magnanimity, tliis 

 truly majestic creature has long been held as symbolical of 

 boldness ; and his countenance and general bearing cer- 

 tainly imbody our liveliest conceptions of warlike grandeur, 

 combined with a certain dignity of aspect not unbefitting 

 his assumption of regal sway. The painter, the poet, the 

 sculptor, and the rhetorician have alike tried in vain to 

 depict the terrors of this grisly king. 



The southern parts of Africa present a variety of the 

 lion, of which the mane is nearly black. The Barbary Uons 

 are brown, with a very thick mane covering the neck and 

 shoulders of the male. Those of Senegal are of a more 

 yellow hue, with thinner manes. It is unnecessary to enter 

 into any minute descriptive details of this famiharly-known 

 animal. 



The ancients sculptured a lion without a mane, which 

 some modern writers regard as an extinct, others as a ficti- 

 tious species. It occurs on the hieroglyphic al monuments 

 of Upper Egypt ; and a curious confirmation of its exist- 

 ence has been received from Nubia, where, it is alleged, a 

 very large and maneless lion has been recently discovered. 



