214 Mammalia of the Fish River Bush, South Africa. 



feet and tail, which is long, tolerably thick, and plentifully sup- 

 plied with muscular power. When wounded it utters a pe- 

 culiarly shrill, melancholy cry. It betakes itself during the 

 day to holes of its own construction in the sandy ground, 

 running amongst the roots of the small thickets. When in a 

 sleeping posture, or reposing, the long hind legs are stretched 

 out forwards, and between them it buries its head, enfolded 

 at the sides by its fore feet, the tail either extended or sweep- 

 ing round one side of the body. The tail has a knob-like ter- 

 mination covered with black hair, the remainder being of the 

 usual fawn colour of the body, &c. It has a similar posture 

 with its limbs when reposing on its side. They are destruc- 

 tive to garden vegetables, and eat of the young mealies as 

 they sprout forth. Its strong rodent incisors are very similar 

 to those of the porcupine, and the fangs extend a long way 

 into each upper and lower maxillary bone. The fur is bright 

 and fulvous, and the hairy tail tinged black at its extremity. 

 There is no external appearance of the testes, a peculiarity 

 shared in by the elephant, seal, and cetacea, according to 

 Professor Jones, who, however, does not allude to the spring 

 hare in the paragraph in his Comparative Anatomy. These 

 organs are both included in the abdominal cavity, but into the 

 inguinal canal may be observed inserted the detractor liga- 

 ment, the agent of the descent of the testes in the young of 

 other animals. Each organ is suspended by its free ex- 

 tremity against, but free of, the anterior walls of the abdo- 

 men. The vasa deferentia pass from each testis to the cor- 

 responding side of the base of the bladder, and the vesiculge 

 seminales exist as entirely separate glands, whose ducts 

 enter the vasa deferentia. 



Basking themselves on the sunny side of the krantzes in 

 the evenings and mornings, may generally be seen several of 

 the Klipdas, Cony, Rock Itabbit, or Cape Hyrax (H. capen- 

 sis), sitting together on the stones, and when alarmed by the 

 approach of a stranger, rapidly to dive like lizards into the 

 cavities out of sight. They are of various sizes, from that of 

 a rat up to a full-grown rabbit ; their fur is very fine, and the 

 skin soft. 



They are classed as pachydermata, but are plantigrade, 

 and the feet are formed similar to those of a monkey, having 



