SPOTTED HYJENA. 
259 
The face and upper part of the head are black ; 
and along the neck extends an upright black 
mane. The ground colour of the body is reddish 
brown. 
These animals are natives of many parts of Afri- 
ca ; but are peculiarly numerous at the Cape* 
where they are described as being cruel, mischiev- . 
ous, and formidable. They have been frequently 
known to enter the huts of the Hottentots in search 
of prey, from whence they sometimes carry off 
even the children. One of them, coming into a 
negro's house, on the coast of Guinea, laid hold 
of a girl,^ threw her, in spite of her resistance, on 
his .back, holding fast by one of the legs ; and 
was making off with her, when the men, whom 
her screams had roused from sleep, came to her 
relief. The beast dropped her, and made his 
escape ; but she was considerably lacerated in 
different parts of her body by his teeth. 
Numbers of them attend, almost every dark 
night, about the shambles at the Cape, to carry 
away the filth and offal left there by the inhabi- 
tants, who suffer these their scavengers to come 
and return unmolested. The dogs too, with 
which at other times they are in continual enmity, 
do not now molest them ; and on these occasions, 
it has been remarked, they are seldom known to 
do any material mischief. Thunberg informs us, 
that they are so excessively bold and ravenous, as 
sometimes even to eat the saddle from under the 
’ traveller's head, and gnaw the shoes on his feet, 
while he is sleeping in the open air. 
They utter the most horrid yells in the night, 
while prowling about for prey ; and their pro- 
pensity to these - cries is so implanted in them by 
nature, that one which was brought up tame at 
the Cape, was often heard in the night to emit 
this dreadful noise. During the day, they remain , 
