DIXAxN. 497 
received a letter from Currum Chund ; but no answer arrived to 
either of our letters sent to Massowah. Reports were in circulation 
that Captain Court had been firing on Massowah, as the natives des- 
cribed an iron kettle which burst over the town. 
" We heard that the dead bodies of three men had been found, 
washed down by the torrent, on this side of Taranta . 
" Our sportsmen, having seen a dead horse and an ass lying in the 
skirts of the town, were out for two hours in the evening in pursuit 
of the hyaenas, which they supposed would be attracted by the car- 
cases. They discovered a great number of these animals growling 
and fighting over their food, and making at times a hideous roaring : 
they must be possessed of great strength, as a single one was ob- 
served dragging along the entire carcase of the horse : in size they 
varied considerably, but Captain Rudland and Pearce both agreed 
that one of them, which they wounded, was quite as large as a small 
ass. Some dogs of the village were gnawing the carcase, but they 
retired, snarling, to a small distance, on the approach of the hyaenas, 
who in their turn did not seem to have any inclination to attack 
the dogs. Intermixed with the hyaenas, and feeding on the carcase 
very amicably at the same time yvhh them, were smaller animals, 
supposed to be jackalls. The morning was cold and foggy, but the 
weather cleared up about breakfast time, and continued tolerably 
fine for the remainder of the day. 
" Intelligence arrived that a kafila, on its way hither from Mas- 
sowah, had suffered severely by the sudden rise of the torrent at 
Elleilah, one man, ten camels, and a great part of the baggage were 
washed away. 
" August 8.— I walked out in the morning, and collected some 
