194 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XV 
lake occaipies. The face of this rampart-like wall was 
overgrown with grass, but there were many ledges and 
rocky platforms jutting from it, forming admirable 
playgrounds for a curious animal often termed the rock- 
rabbit. It runs about the rocks with facility, popping 
in and out like Punch or Judy, or sitting ou its hind¬ 
quarters like a marmot. One was shot and brought to 
me; I immediately recognised it as the Hyrax or coney : 
its common name among the settlers is pronounced 
and usually written ‘‘ dassie.’’ The hyrax is especially 
interesting because it is a puzzle to zoologists. In 
appearance it is like a rabbit, but when it is more 
carefully examined four fingers will be found on the 
front limbs and three toes on the hind. The nails on 
the toes are more like hoofs than claws, and the soles 
are fleshy ; these fleshy parts extend beyond the hoofs 
in front and are abundantly supplied with sweat glands. 
This peculiar condition of the feet enables it to cling to 
the rocks much in the same way as the gecko’s feet 
enable it to run across a ceiling. 
Zoologists find it best, although the hyrax possesses 
many features which are found among ungulate animals, 
to let it form a sub-order, Hyracoidea, of the great 
Order Ungidata, which contains the elephant, rhino¬ 
ceros, oxen, giraffe, and antelopes. The teeth of the 
hyrax differ from those of the rabbit; its molar or 
grinding-teeth display a pattern on their crowns very 
like that seen on the corresponding teeth of the 
rhinoceros. The classifiers cannot quite agree on the 
generic name of this animal ; some would call it Hyrax 
and some Procavia. 
The coney is widely distributed in Africa and is 
found in some parts of Arabia and Palestine. The 
occurrence of this animal in Palestine is interesting 
o 
because the first mention of it occurs in the Pentateuch : 
“ Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that 
chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; 
as the camel, and the hare, and the coney : for they 
