SYRIAN HYRAX. 
147 
lines mi a half. His upper lip is covered with 
a pencil of strong hairs for mustaclioes* the length 
of which are three inches and five eighths* and 
those of his eye-brows two inches and two eighths. 
He has no tail, and gives at first sight the idea of 
a rat* rather than of any other creature. His co- 
lour is a grey mixed with a reddish brown,, perfect- 
ly like the wild or warren rabbit. His belly is 
white,, from the point of the lower jaw to where 
his tail would begin* if that he had one. All over 
his body he has scattered hairs* strong and polish- 
ed like his mustachoes ; these are for the most 
part two inches and a quarter in length; His ears 
are round* not pointed. He makes no noise that 
ever I heard* but certainly chews the cud. To 
discover this was the principal reason of my keep- 
ing him alive : those with whom he is acquainted 
he follows with great assiduity. The arrival of 
any living creature* even of a bird* makes him 
seek for a hiding place ; and I shut him up in a 
cage with a small chicken* after omitting to feed 
him a whole day ; the next morning the chicken 
was unhurt* though the ashkoko came to me 
with great signs of having suffered with hunger. 
I likewise made a second experiment* by inclosing 
two smaller birds with him for the space of seve- 
ral weeks : neither were these hurt* though both 
of them fed* without impediment* of the meat that 
was thrown into his cage*, and the smallest ©f 
these* a titmouse* seemed to be advancing in a 
sort of familiarity with him* though I never saw 
it venture to perch upon him ; yet it would eat 
frequently* and at the same time* of the food 
upon which the ashkoko was feeding ; and m 
this consisted chiefly the familiarity I speak of* 
for the ashkoko himself never shewed any altera- 
tion of behaviour upon the presence of the bird* 
but treated it with a kind of absolute indifference* 
