174- CAPE ANT-EATER. 
colour of the animal is grey., or like that of a 
Rabbit, but deeper; and tinged with reddish on 
the sides and belly : the legs are blackish ; the 
head is of a conic shape ; the nose long, and some- 
what abruptly blunt at the end like that of a hog : 
the tongue is very long, flat, and slender : the ears 
about six inches long; upright (in the dried spe- 
cimen), and extremely thin : they are also thinly 
scattered over Avith fine hairs: the hair on the 
head and upper parts is short, and lies close or 
smooth as if glued to the skin; it is longest and 
loosest on the sides and legs: the tail is thick at 
the base, and gradually tapers to a point. The 
fore feet have four toes; the hind ones, five; and 
the claws on all the feet are very strong. This 
species inhabits the neighbourhood of the Cape of 
Good Hope, where it lives under ground, and is 
called by the name of the Ground Hog. It feeds 
principally on ants. It is said to be often hunted 
out of its retreats by the Hottentots, who consider 
it as a good food. The description of this ani- 
mal is given by Mr. Allamand, from a dried skin 
sent from the Cape ; and he observes, that it is 
doubtful whether the ears in the living animal are 
erect or pendent : in a foetus described by Dr. Pal- 
las they were pendent. 
The animal mentioned by Kolbe, in his account 
of the Cape of Good Hope, seems extremely allied 
to this, except that it is expressly said to have pen- 
dent ears. It is said by Kpbe to be of the weight 
* Pallas Miscell. Zool. 64, 
