CARNARIA. CARNIVORA. 67 



erectile mane on the neck and back. They are 

 natives of Africa, but one species extends into the 

 south of Asia. They possess prodigious strength in 

 the muscles of the neck and jaws, so that it is almost 

 impossible to wrest anything from their gripe. Deep 

 and gloomy caverns, or the ruins of deserted towns, 

 are their selected abodes, whence they issue by night 

 to prowl around the villages for dead animals, or 

 betake themselves to the tombs and graves to feast 

 on the decomposed corpses of men. "In a field of 

 battle in South Africa no one ever buries the dead ; 

 the birds and beasts of prey relieve the living of that 

 trouble. Even the bones, except a few of the less 

 manageable parts, find a sepulchre in the voracious 

 maw of the Hyena." f 



Asia and the north of Africa are allotted to the 

 Striped Hyena, (H. Vulgaris^) while the Spotted, (H. 

 Crocuta,) and the Long-haired, (H. Fillosa,) inhabit 

 the southern portion of the latter continent. The 

 first named is the one of which so many ridiculous 

 stories have been related, such as that of its untame- 

 able ferocity, propagated most industriously by igno- 

 rant showmen, while the poor animal habitually un- 

 derwent the most tormenting treatment, in order to 

 show the wondering public " how fierce and 7mn- 

 tameable he was ! " This species is perhaps the Wolf 

 of the scriptures. The Spotted Hyena is common 

 at the Cape, where, under the name of the Tiger- 

 wolf, it has been domesticated, and even trained to 

 the chase ; and found to possess the perseverance, 

 * Pringle. 



