82 NATURAL HISTORY. 



paces, I perceived, to my horror, that his fore-paws and the skin and flesh of his front legs had been 

 gnawed away, and that he could scarcely move from the spot. To shorten the sufferings of the poor 

 beast, I seized my opportunity and knocked him on the head with a stone, and catching him by the 

 tail, drove my hunting-knife deep into his side. But I had to repeat the operation more than once 

 before I could put an end to his existence. I am at a loss to account for his mangled condition. 

 It certainly could not have been from age, for his teeth were good. Could it be possible that, from 

 want of food, he had become too weak for further exertions, and that, as a last resource, he had 

 attacked his own body 1 Or, was he an example of that extraordinary species of cruelty said to be 

 practised by the Lion upon the Hyaena, when the latter has the insolence to interfere with the 

 monarch's prey?" . . . " It is asserted by more than one experienced hunter, that when the 

 Hyaena proves troublesome, the Lion has been known to bite off all its feet, and, thus mutilated, 

 leave the poor animal to its fate." 



It may well be imagined the horrible nuisance such animals are to all South African travellers. 

 They steal everything they can get at. They devoured two handsome flags of Mr. Andersson's which he 

 had hoped to plant on the shores of Lake 'Ngami. But, perhaps, the greatest trouble is caused by 

 their infernal cachinnations ; no noise in the forest produces so much discomfort, for though not so 

 loud as the Lion's roar, it is totally devoid of grandeur, and is only hideously grotesque and vile in 

 the ears of all but Hyaenas, who, we suppose, are charmed by it. The traveller we have just 

 mentioned was, during an illness, laughed to scorn in the most amazing fashion by Hyaenas and 

 Jackals, and their derision was too much for his equanimity at a time when he sorely needed sympathy 

 and help. Flesh and water had become very scarce, and in his trouble he says, " One evening I 

 desperately resolved to go to the water myself in the hope of succeeding better [than the attendants]. 

 Accordingly I ordered my servants to prepare a ' skaran,' and to carry me there, taking the chance 

 of being run over or gored by Elephants or Rhinoceroses, for in my disabled state it was impos- 

 sible, should any animal charge, to get out of its way. Seeing my helpless condition, the men 

 remonstrated, but I was resolved to go, and fortune favoured me. I had patiently waited till nigh 

 morning without seeing anything but Hyaenas and Jackals. I believe these creatures knew I 

 would not hurt them, for they approached within a very few paces, staring and laughing at me 

 in the most impudent manner. I threw gravel pebbles at them, but this only served to increase their 

 mockery. I could stand it no longer, but hurled my camp-chair at their heads, when they quickly 

 betook themselves to flight." 



Livingstone had the same trouble with the fearful din. " An astonishing number of Hyaenas 

 collected round, and kept up a loud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make a very 

 good imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the Hyaenas were laughing at, as they usually give 

 animals credit for a share of intelligence. They said that they were laughing because we could not 

 take the whole, and that they would have plenty to eat as well as we." Any one who has never heard 

 the Hyaena laugh, and is anxious for that pleasure, has only to visit the Zoological Gardens at feeding 

 time. Some give utterance to such horrible cachinnations when stirred up by the keeper, that one 

 would think they are enough to wake the dead and madden the living. 



Most hunters think it quite infra dig. to hunt so contemptible and cowardly a beast as the 

 Hyaena. Regular expeditions are, however, organised against it by the Cape colonists, who set fire to 

 the brushwood, to drive out the animals, which are then attacked by Dogs. A method of killing, 

 considered more suitable to the beast, is that of the trap. Mr. Andersson succeeded in killing several 

 by means of a cleverly arranged spring-gun. 



THE BROWN HY^NA * 



The Brown Hyaena, or " Strand- Wolf " of the Cape colonists, is tolerably common in South Africa, 

 though far less so than the spotted species. It is a smaller animal than the latter, its usual height 

 at the shoulder being about two feet four inches, its length, including the tail, four feet ten inches, 

 the tail itself being about a foot in length. 



Its general colour is reddish-grey, brindled with brown and black stripes or spots. The 



* Hyccna brunnei CT fucca. 



