C A N I S. 
7 H 
and its tail, a hag filled with a fetid ointment. It is pro¬ 
bable, that, if taken very young, they might be reclaim¬ 
ed by good ufage ; but, in exhibitions, they are commonly 
kept in a perpetual (fate of ill-humour by the provocations 
of their mailers. 
The Spotted Hyjena, (cants hyaena crocuta,) is fupe- 
rior in fize to the former; has a large and flat head, with 
home long hairs above each eye, and very long whifkers on 
each fide of its nofe : it has a fhort black mane ; the hair 
on its body is fliort and fmooth : its ears are (hort and a 
little pointed, black on the outlide, and afh-coloured with- 
rh : its face, and the upper part of its head, are black: 
its body and limbs are of a reddifh brown, marked with 
diftinCt round black fpots; and its hind legs with tranf- 
verfe black bars: its tail is (liort, black, and full of hair. 
It inhabits Guinea, /Ethiopia, and the Cape, and lives in 
holes of the earth, or clefts of the rocks : it preys by 
night, bowls horribly, breaks into the folds, kills flieep, 
devours as much as it can, and'carries away one for a fu¬ 
ture repalf ; it will alfo attack mankind, fcrape open 
graves, and devour the dead. It has very great llrength. 
A (lory is told of one that feiz,ed a female negro, flung 
her over its back, held her by one leg in its teeth, and 
ran away with her till (lie was fortunately refcued. But 
Mr. Bruce tells us of one that would lay hold of a man, 
lift him tip with the greateft eafe, and run a league or tw o 
with him, without once putting him on the ground. Mr. 
Bruce, too, was the firft who remarked of the hyama, that, 
•when forced to flee, they appear lame of the left hind leg, 
which continues remarkably (o for about ioo paces, and 
that the animal feems as if he would tumble down on its 
left fide. Kolben, and Dr. Sparrman, in their accounts of 
the Cape of Good Hope, calfthis animal the tiger-wolf; 
and fay, that formerly they were fo bold as to attack the 
Hottentots in their huts, and fometimes carry off their 
children, while they lay carelefsly by, or were afleep. 
The Abyssinian Hy/ena, (cams hyaena JEthiopicus,) 
inhabits Abyflhiia, and the north-eall of Africa. Whe¬ 
ther this animal, as defcribed and figured by Mr. Bruce, 
be a diftindt fpecies, we cannot pretend to determine. In 
magnitude, ferocity, and manners, it refembles the prece¬ 
ding animal ; but its body, which h of a yellowilh brown 
colour, is marked with curved llripes of black, inflead of 
being lpottcd; the muzzle is black ; the legs are (triped 
acrofs with black ; and its bulky tail is of a reddilh brown 
cdlour. Mr. Pennant has made the hyaena a diftindt genus 
from the dog. 
CAN IS AUREUS, the JACKAL. 
This animal inhabits the warm and temperate regions of 
Alia, and is found in moll parts ot Africa. It is the Ssj; 
of Ariflotle and /Elian, the Svx.o<; and xgvcnos of Op- 
pian, and the tkoes of Pliny. It lies fecluded, during the 
day, in the forefts and mountains; and feeks for prey, in 
the night, in packs of 200 or more. It is much given to 
theft, w alking Howdy and cautioufly wtth the head louch- 
ing, but runs off with great fwiftnefs when deteifled. It 
prey's on filial 1 quadrupeds and birds, and eats of various 
kinds of food, Inch as roots and ripe fruits. They copu¬ 
late like dogs, in the fpring; and the female brings from 
five to eight cubs, after going about a month with young. 
It hunts during the night, making a loud and clamorous 
uoife; for, when one begins to open, every other within 
hearing joins in the difmal cry, which refembles the howl¬ 
ing of dogs intermixed u it h a kind of barking. By this 
barking and noile the other beads of the foreft are let in 
motion, and join in the chafe of (lags or other animals; 
in the mean time, lions and tigers lie in wait for the fly¬ 
ing game, and, (eizing it by lurprife, devour the prey 
which was roufed and followed by the pack of jackals; 
while tlicfe are forced to wait around till the tyrant of the 
forell, having fatisfied his appetite, leaves the remains of 
his feaft to them, who, from this circumdance, have been 
named'the lion's provider. Its head is fomewhat Ihorter 
then that of a fox, with a blunter nofe ; black lips; fome¬ 
what loofe, (hort, eredl, pointed, ears, which are white, 
and hairy w ithin ; the whole animal lias a general refem- 
blance to the fox, but the body is rather thinner, and 
comprefled, and the legs are longer; the tail is thickeft of 
hair in the middle, and tapers both ways; each foot has 
four toes, which are covered with hair, even to the claws, 
and a fifth toe, or dew-claw, placed high, on the inlide of 
each fore foot; the colour of the upper part of the body 
is a dirty yellow, or tawny, which is mixed with black on 
the back; the lower parts are yellowilh white ; the tail is 
of the fame colour with the back, and is tipt with black; 
the legs are of an unmixed tawny brown, having fome¬ 
times a black fpot on the knees. It is twenty-nine inches 
long from the nofe to the origin of the tail; and eighteen 
or nineteen inches high at the (boulders. 'When taken 
young, they grow quickly tame, and attach thcmfelves to 
mankind ; they wag their tails, love to be flroked, diftin-- 
guilh their mailers from others, will come when called by 
the name that has been given them, drink water lapping, 
and make water fideways with their leg up; and, when 
they fee dogs, inflead of flying, they court their friendlhip 
and play with them. They will eat bread eagerly, not- 
withflanding that they are carnivorous in a wild ftate. 
When the game of the foreft rails, they purfue the flocks 
and the poultry, but in a lefs degree than the wolf or 
fox. They ravage the ftreets of villages, and gardens 
near towns, and will even deftroy children if left unpro¬ 
tected : they enter (tables and out houfes, and devour (kins, 
or any thing made of leather: they are remarkably bold 
and fagacious : they will familiarly enter a tent, and fieal 
whatever they can find from the fleepipg traveller. In 
default of living prey, they will feed on the molt infeCted 
carrion: they difinter the dead, and greedily devour the 
molt putrid carcafes: tor which reafon, in countries in- 
felted by thefe animals, the graves are ufilially made very 
deep, and covered with (tones, or fortified with (harp 
flakes. They attend caravans, and follow armies, in hopes 
that death, or a battle, will provide them a banquet. The 
females breed only once a-year, and go with young only 
four weeks. This laft circumftance feems to make flrongly 
againfl Mr. Pennant’s fuppofition of their being the parent 
flock of the domeftic dog. Anatomifts, however, have 
remarked, that the caecum of the jackal agrees with that 
of the dog, and differs from that of the wolf and fox. 
John Hunter took fome pains to afeertain the claffification 
of this animal; he obtained a female, whilft a cub, from 
an Eaff-Indiaman at Bombay. He had her warded by a 
dog, and during the voyage (he brought lix puppies, one 
of which afterwards had puppies by another dog; and 
now' loft their wild and ferocious nature. He afterwards 
difleded the original dam, and found no difference in the 
internal ftruCture from the common dog. 
Canis mesomelas, or Cape Jackal. This variety 
has very much the appearance of a fox, and is about twen- 
ly-feven inches long from nofe to rump ; the tail being a 
foot long. The ears are ereCI, of a yellowilh brown co¬ 
lour, mixed with a few black hairs ; the head is yellowilh 
brown, mixed with black and white, and growing darker 
towards the back part; the Tides are pale brown, varied 
with dnfky hairs; the upper part of the body, and back 
of the legs, are yellowilh brown ; the throat, bread, and 
belly, are white; the tail is bufliy, and yellowifti brown, 
with a longitudinal black ftripe on its upper part, having 
two black rings towards the end, and is tipt.with white; 
on the neck, (boulders, and back, is a large black parch, 
broad at the fhotilders, and growing narrower towards the 
tail; when the hairs are fmooth, this patch feems marked 
with white bars on the neck, and with concentric curved 
lines on the (houlders; bur, when th/e hairs are ruffled, 
the(e regular marks change to a general hoarinefs. 
Canis adive; the Barbary Jackal. By the count 
de Buff’on, on the authority of Mr. Bruce, this animal is 
faid to be common in Barbary, and named thaleb, which, 
Mr. Pennant obferves, is the Arabic name for the fox. 
The colour of this variety is a pale brown, having a black 
3 line 
