SPOTTED HY^NA. 303 
could judge. It was not till then he shewed any 
sign of fierceness; but^ upon feeling his wound, 
he let drop the candles, and endeavoured to run 
up the shaft of the spear to arrive at me, so that, 
in self-defence^ I was obliged to draw a pistol 
from my girdle and shoot him, and nearly at the 
same time my servant cleft his skull with a battle- 
ax. In a word, the Hysena was the plague of our 
lives, the terror of our night-walks, the destruc- 
tion of our mules and asses, which above all others 
are his favourite food." 
Mr. Bruce seems inclined to believe the Abys- 
sinian Hyagna distinct from the common species, 
having a snout somewhat less thick or hog-like, 
and more approaching to the form of a dog's 
nose. From his figure, however, there can be 
little doubt of its being a mere variety. The 
largest Hyaena ever seen by Mr. Bruce measured 
five feet nine inches from the nose to the base of 
the tail : its colour was a yellowish-brown, marked 
Avith distant blackish bands, most numerous on 
the legs. 
SPOTTED HY.ENA. 
Canis Crocuta. C. cauda recta, corpore nigro maculato, pedibus 
tetradactylis. Lin. Syst. Nat, Gmel. p. 72. 
Reddish-brown Hyaena spotted with black, with strait tail and 
four-toed feet. 
Spotted Hyaena, Tennant Quadr, 1. p. i^jT,, 
This animal much resembles the common or 
striped Hygena in its general appearance, but is 
