THE HYENAS. 113 



seven boys, the eldest not eleven, and seized on one of them, the 

 three eldest, by beating him with sticks armed at the end with 

 iron, obliged him to part with his prey, but not till he had bit off 

 part of the child's cheek, which he devoured in their presence. 

 He then seized another of the children, but his companions pur- 

 sued him to a marsh, where he sunk up to the belly, and they 

 belaboured hini so that he let go the child, who, though under his 

 paw, received but one wound in his arm and a scratch in his face. 

 At length, a man coming up to their assisbance, the animal thought 

 proper to retreat. These children were rewarded by the king, 

 and ordered to be provided foi*. At last, having devoured more 

 than fifty woulen and children, he was on the 20th of this month, 

 discovered in the woods of Pommieres by Monsieur Antoine de 

 Beauterme, a gentleman of a distant province, remarkable for his 

 skill and boldness in hunting and the goodness of his dogs, who 

 had come of himself to the assistance of the terrified country, 

 and shot by him in the eye at the distance of about fifty paces. 

 But though the creature fell on receiving the wound, he soon 

 recovered himself, and was making up to M. de Beauterme with 

 great fury when he was shot dead by the Duke of Orlean's game- 

 keepef, named Beinhard. Sevei'al inhabitants of the Gevaudan, 

 who had been attacked by him, having all declared him to be the 

 same animal which had caused such terror and consternation in 

 that country, M. de Beauterme set out with the body for Yer- 

 sailleg, in otder to present it to the king. This animal was 

 32 inches high, 5 feet 7^ inches long, 3 feet thick, and weighed 

 130 lbs. The surgeons Who dissected him say that he was more 

 of the hygena than the wolf kind. He had forty teeth, whereas 

 wolves have but twenty-Sis:. The muscles of his neck were very 

 strong ; his sides so formed that he could bend his head to his 

 tail ; his eyes sparkled so with fire that it was hardly possible to 

 bear his look ; his tail was very large, broad, thick, and bristled 

 with black hair; and his feet armed with claws extremely strong 

 and singular. When killed he sent forth a very disagreeable 

 stench. In his body several sheep's bones were found. The king 

 ordered him to be embalmed and stuffed with straw, and to 

 remain in the custody of young Monsieur de Beauterme." 



