18 
THE SPOTTED HYENA. 
THE SPOTTED HYENA, 
out hern Africa is the native country of this animal, and 
it is found in large numbers in the districts contiguous to 
the Cape of Good Hope/ where it is called the tiger-wolf. 
It has the same propensities as the Striped Hyena, hut is smaller 
in size. The color of its skin is a dirty yellow, the whole body 
is covered with blackish brown spots, excepting t ; muer part of 
the belly and breast, the inner side of the limbs, and the head. 
The muzzle is black, and the tail is covered with long bushy ban , 
of a blackish brown. The jaws, like those of the striped genus, 
are of enormous strength, with which he breaks to pieces the 
hardest hones. It is generally supposed that this animal is un- 
tamable, hut instances are on record of both species having been 
I five inches, and its usual length, from the muzzle to the tail, is a 
l little over three feet. It generally resides in the caverns of moun- 
) tains, in the clefts of rocks, or in dens which it has formed for 
j itself under the earth. Like the wolf, it lives by depredation, 
j hut is stronger and more daring than that animal. It will attack 
1 man, carries off cattle, breaks into sbeepcots at night, and ravages 
j with an insatiable ferocity. When at a loss for prey, and stimu- 
! lated by the pangs of hunger, it will scrape up the earth with its 
j feet, and devours the remains of both animals and men, which, 
i in the country it inhabits, are interred promiscuously in the open 
< fields. 
