THE MUNGOOSE 
gives the animal its grey appearance. The nose 
and face up to the eyes are black; the limbs are dark, 
"growing blacker towards the toes, which are nearly 
black. The tail is long and tapering, the hairs of 
which are long at the root, but gradually grow 
shorter towards the tip, which i is provided with a 
brush of long black hairs, giving rise to the name 
of Black-tailed Mungoose, by which it is known to 
many colonists. The black tuft on the end of the 
tail, and the large size of the animal, serve to dis- 
tinguish it from all others of its kind in South 
Africa. ‘There is another mungoose of equal size, 
but its tail tip is white, and it cannot therefore be 
confused with this species. 
The average length of the Large Giey Mungoose 
from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail is 
about two feet, and the tail eighteen inches. 
Tue SiLenpeR Muncoose 
(Mungos caaut) 
Syn.: Herpestes gracilis 
The Slender Mungoose varies a good deal in 
colour, which fact caused it in the past to be 
divided into two or three sub-species. It is found in 
the eastern parts of the Cape Province, Pondoland, 
Natal, and northwards to Abyssinia and Cape 
Verde. It evidently does not occur to any great 
extent in the eastern part of the Cape Province, 
as it is quite unknown at Port Elizabeth, and we 
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