156 Anecdotal Natural History. 



reference is made to the same animal. ' The conies 

 are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in 

 the rocks.' The 'coney' is also named in the book 

 of Leviticus as one of the animals which might not 

 be eaten by the Jews. 



Now, the coney which is here mentioned is not 

 the rabbit, as most readers of the Scriptures suppose. 



Rabbits are not frequenters of rocks. They live 

 in holes which they excavate with their fore-feet, so 

 that they need a tolerably loose soil, and would be 

 entirely at a loss among hard rocks. The animal in 

 question is a little creature, so like a rabbit in general 

 appearance that it might well be mistaken for that 

 animal. 



Its teeth are apparently those of a rodent, and its 

 feet look very much like those of the rabbit. It is 

 clothed with brown fur, very much like that of the 

 wild rabbit, and is wonderfully active, darting about 

 with such rapidity that the eye can scarcely follow 

 its movements. 



But, when examined by the eye of the zoologist, the 

 rodent-like teeth are evidently those of a miniature hip- 

 popotamus, and the paw-like feet are seen to be com- 

 posed of hoof-clad toes like those of the rhinoceros. 

 The rhinoceros has three toes on each foot, while the 

 hippopotamus has four. The Hyrax has four toes 

 on the fore-feet, and three on the hind-feet. In fact, 

 this little creature, so apparently dissimilar to the 

 hippopotamus and rhinoceros, forms a connecting 

 link between them. 



The species of Hyrax which inhabits Africa is 

 popularly called the Rock-rabbit by the English 

 colonists, and Klip-das by the Dutch. Its scientific 

 name is Hyrax Capensis, that of the animal men- 

 tioned in Scripture being Hyrax Syriacus. It is 

 called ' Ashkoko ' by the natives. 



