34 
MR.  W.  OGILBY'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  CYNICTIS,  &C. 
glimpse  of  in  this  Colony.  The  one  we  saw,  and  gave  chase  to  between  the  two  Fish 
Kivers,  made  its  escape  from  us,  however,  by  running  into  a  hole  under  ground,  and 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  less  than  a  cat,  though  longer  in  proportion.  The  colour  of  it 
was  a  bright  red."  It  is  true  that  this  passage  records  no  observation  by  which  we  can, 
with  certainty,  refer  the  animal  to  which  it  alludes  to  the  Cynictis  Steedmannii,  bat  the 
size,  colour  and  habitat  are  so  perfectly  similar  in  both  cases,  as  to  render  their  identity 
extremely  probable.  In  the  following  extract,  however,  from  Barrow's  Travels,  vol.  i. 
p.  185,  the  characters  are  fully  reported.  "  Upon  those  parched  plains"  (those  of  Cam- 
debo  on  the  eastern  confines  of  the  Colony,)  "  are  also  found  several  species  of  a  small 
quadruped  which  burrows  in  the  ground,  and  which  is  known  to  the  colonists  under  the 
general  name  of  Meer-kat.  They  are  mostly  of  the  genus  of  animals  to  which  zoologists 
have  given  the  name  of  Viverra.  An  eagle,  making  a  stoop  at  one  of  these,  close  to  where 
we  were  passing,  missed  his  prey ;  and  both  fell  a  sacrifice,  one  to  the  gun,  the  other  to 
the  dogs.  Both  the  bird  and  quadruped  appeared  to  be  undescribed  species  The 
Viverra  was  whoWy  of  a  bright  chestnut  colour  ;  the  tail  shaded  with  black  hairs,  bushy, 
straight,  and  white  at  the  extremity ;  ears  short  and  round ;  on  the  fore  feet  five,  and 
on  the  hind  four  toes ;  the  body  and  tail  each  one  foot  long." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  animal  to  which  this  description  refers, — a  description 
more  minute  and  accurate  than  we  generally  find  in  the  works  of  travellers.  It  agrees 
in  every  point  with  the  species  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  present  memoir,  except, 
perhaps,  in  the  reported  dimensions  of  the  tail  and  body :  but  this  difference  most  pro- 
bably arises  from  the  age  or  sex  of  the  specimens,  or  from  the  measures  of  Mr.  Barrow 
being  taken  in  a  straight  line,  whilst  mine  followed  the  different  curvatures  of  the  head, 
neck,  and  body.  The  name  Meer-kat,  by  which  it  appears  that  this  animal  is  known 
to  the  colonists,  signifies  a  monkey,  and  is  of  very  general  acceptation  in  South  Africa, 
being  applied  indifferently  to  the  present  species,  the  Cape  Herpestes,  Ground  Squirrels, 
and  various  other  small  burrowing  animals. 
Both  the  passages  here  quoted  confirm  the  burrowing  habits  of  the  Cynictis  Steed- 
mannii, which  I  had  already  inferred  from  the  form  of  the  claws. 
PLATE  III. 
Cynictis  Steedmannii. 
Fig.  1 .  Cranium  seen  laterally. 
2.  Cranium  seen  from  above. 
3.  One  half  of  the  upper  jaw  seen  from  below. 
4.  One  half  of  the  lower  jaw  seen  from  above. 
