have been seen in this country of late years. They are truly, as may be
judged from their portraits, an elegant and graceful pair, having, when
led out into the yard in their couples, very much of the air and manners
of a brace of greyhounds. When noticed or fondled they purr like a cat;
and this is their usual mode of expressing pleasure. If, on the other
hand, they are uneasy, whether that uneasiness arises from cold, from
a craving after food, from a jealous apprehension of being neglected,
or from any other cause, their note consists of a short, uniform, and
repeated mew. They are extremely fond of play, and their manner of
playing very much resembles that of the cat; with this difference,
however, that it never, as in the latter animal, degenerates into
malicious cunning or wanton mischief. Their character, indeed, seems to
be entirely free from that sly and suspicious feeling of mistrust which
is so strikingly visible in the manners and actions of all the cats, and
which renders them so little susceptible of real or lasting attachment.
The Chetahs, on the contrary, speedily become fond of those who are kind
to them, and exhibit their fondness in an open, frank, and confiding
manner. There can, in fact, be little doubt that they might with the
greatest facility be reduced to a state of perfect domestication, and
rendered nearly as familiar and as faithful as the dog himself.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE STRIPED HYÆNA.
_HYÆNA VULGARIS._ DESM.
From the strongly marked group, to the illustration of various species
of which the foregoing pages have been dedicated, we pass by a natural
and easy transition to an animal, which, although closely resembling
them in its zoological characters, and in the cowardly ferocity of
its disposition, bears nevertheless a stronger affinity to the dogs,
with which it was associated by Linnæus. From each of these groups it
is, however, readily distinguished by several obvious and essential
characters, of sufficient importance to sanction its separation as a
genus, now universally adopted among naturalists.
Like both the cats and the dogs, the Hyænas are completely digitigrade;
that is to say, they walk only on the extremities of their toes: but
these toes are only four in number on each of their feet, and are
armed with short, thick, strong, and truncated claws, which are not
in the least retractile, and are evidently formed for digging in the
earth, a practice to which they are impelled by a horrid and hateful
propensity, which we shall have further occasion to notice in describing
their habits and mode of life. Their body, in shape much resembling
that of the wolf, to which they also approach very nearly in size, is
considerably more elevated in front than behind, owing partly to their
constant custom of keeping the posterior legs bent in a crouching and
half recumbent posture. Beneath the tail, which is short and dependent,
they are furnished with a pouch, in the interior of which is secreted
a peculiar matter of a very strong and disagreeable smell. Their head
is large and broad, flattened in front, and terminating in a short,
thick, and obtuse muzzle. Like most carnivorous animals, they are armed
in each jaw with six cutting teeth, and two canine, the latter of which
are of considerable size and strength. The outermost pair of incisors in
the upper jaw are much larger and stronger than the rest, and closely
resemble the canine in form. The number of the molar or cheek teeth
is five on each side in the upper jaw, and four in the lower; and all
of them are remarkable for their extreme thickness and strength in
comparison with those of the dogs and cats. Their tongue is similar to
that of the latter animals in the roughness which it derives from the
sharp and elevated papillæ with which it is covered.
Of the genus thus characterized there exist two well marked and
unquestionably distinct species, the Striped Hyæna, or Hyæna vulgaris
of modern zoologists, which there can be no doubt is also the Hyæna of
the ancients; and the Hyæna crocuta, or Spotted Hyæna, the Tiger Wolf
of the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope. To these may probably be
added a third species, which there is good ground for believing to be
distinct, and which has lately been described by Dr. Andrew Smith, the
superintendant of the South African Museum, under the name of Hyæna
villosa: this is also a native of the vicinity of the Cape, and is
denominated by the settlers the Strand Wolf, or Strand Jut. With the
two latter we have, however, on the present occasion, no concern; the
only animal of this genus in the Tower belonging to the striped race,
which inhabits the greater part of Asia and of Africa, penetrating in
the former as far as India, and extending over all the northern part of
the latter continent. It does not appear that the striped and spotted
races are ever found to occupy the same ground; but the territorial
limits which separate the one from the other have not yet been distinctly
ascertained.
The striped Hyæna has for its ground colour a uniform brownish gray,
which is somewhat darker above than beneath. On the sides of the body it
is marked by several irregular distant transverse blackish stripes or
bands, which are more distinct on the lower part. Towards the shoulders
and haunches these stripes become oblique, and they are continued in
regular transverse lines on the outside of the legs. The front of the
neck is completely black, as are also the muzzle and the outsides of
the ears; the latter being broad, moderately long, and nearly destitute
of hairs, especially on the inside. The hair of the body is long,
particularly on the back of the neck and on the spine, where it forms
a full and thick mane, which may be said to be continued even upon the
tail, the latter organ being furnished with strong tufted hairs of
considerable length. The mane and the tail are both marked with blackish
spots or stripes variously and irregularly placed. Much variety is indeed
to be met with as well in the ground colour of the whole body as in the
disposition of the markings, which are extremely different in different
individuals.
The habits of the Hyænas are entirely nocturnal: while in the daytime
their cowardice is so excessive that they fly from the face of man,
and suffer themselves, when taken, to be ill treated with impunity and
even without attempting to avenge themselves, they prowl abroad in the
stillness of the night with all the temerity of brutal daring. They
will frequently make prey of the lesser animals, and will occasionally
venture to attack dogs and even horses; but it is seldom that they muster
up sufficient courage to contend with living man, unless stimulated by
strong provocation, or impelled by the most violent cravings of hunger.
Congregated in numerous bands they beset the encampment of the traveller,
or infest the neighbourhood of villages or even of towns, which they
enter with the fall of night and do not quit until the dawn of day;
disturbing the inhabitants with their peculiar moaning or wailing, which
is in some measure intermediate between a grunt and a howl. Parading the
streets and penetrating into the houses in search of prey, they eagerly
devour the offal of animals, the refuse of the daily meal, or whatever
else that is in any way eatable may happen to fall in their way.
Nothing, however filthy, comes amiss to their voracious appetites, which
are indeed unbounded. They even break into the cemeteries of the dead,
and tearing open the graves by means of their powerful claws, disinter
the buried corpses, on which they glut that horrid propensity for feeding
on carrion, which is at once the most striking and the most disgusting
of their peculiarities. Their fondness for this polluted species of food
tends of course not a little to increase the natural antipathy with
which they are regarded by the natives of the countries in which they
abound, and renders them objects of peculiar detestation and abhorrence.
The great size and strength of their teeth and the immense power of
their jaws enable them to crush the largest bones with comparative
facility, and account for the avidity with which they prey upon an almost
fleshless skeleton. In the daytime they retire into caves, from which
they issue only when the shades of evening warn them that the hour for
their depredations has arrived. Their gait is awkward and usually slow
and constrained; when scared, however, from their prey, or when pursued
by the hunter, they fly with tolerable swiftness, but still with an
appearance of lameness in their motions, resulting from the constant
bending of their posterior legs.
Notwithstanding the brutal voracity of his habits and the savage
fierceness of his disposition, there is scarcely any animal that
submits with greater facility to the control of man. In captivity,
especially when taken young, a circumstance on which much depends in
the domestication of all wild animals, he is capable of being rendered
exceedingly tame, and even serviceable. In some parts of Southern Africa
the spotted species, which is by nature quite as ferocious in his
temper as the striped inhabitant of the North, has been domiciliated
in the houses of the peasantry, among whom he is preferred to the dog
himself for attachment to his master, for general sagacity, and even, it
is said, for his qualifications for the chase. That the Striped Hyæna
might be rendered equally useful is highly probable from the docility
and attachment which he manifests towards his keepers, especially when
allowed a certain degree of liberty, which he shows no disposition to
abuse. If more closely restricted his savage nature sometimes returns
upon him; and it is for this reason that those which are carried about
the country from fair to fair, pent up in close caravans, frequently
become surly and even dangerous. The individual whose portrait we give
is, on the contrary, remarkably tame; he is a native of the East Indies,
and is confined in the same den with one of the American Bears, as we
shall have occasion to notice more particularly when speaking of the
latter animal.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE HYÆNA-DOG.
_CANIS PICTUS._ DESM.
It is not without much hesitation that we have adopted for this animal
the generic name of Canis, and referred it, in conformity with the
example of most of the leading zoologists of the day, to the same group
with the Wolf, the Jackal, and the Fox; from all of which it differs in
such important particulars as fully entitle it, in our estimation, to the
rank of a distinct and separate genus. To this rank it has, indeed, been
already raised by Mr. Brookes, under the generic appellation of Lycaon;
but as we are not aware that it has been any where described under that
name, or that any detailed account has been given of the characters
on which that separation is founded, we cannot consider ourselves
authorized in a work of this nature to make any innovations upon science,
however much we may feel, as in the present instance, that they are
called for by the exigency of the case. That its position is at least
doubtful is proved by the fact that M. Temminck, one of the ablest of the
continental zoologists, first described it from the living animal under
the designation of a Hyæna, and, having subsequently changed his opinion,
is now disposed to regard it as a species of dog.
For the zoological characters of the latter genus the reader is referred
to the following article: at present we shall confine ourselves to the
description of the remarkable animal before us, pointing out, as we
proceed, the marks by which it differs from both the groups to which
it has hitherto been referred, and those by which it is assimilated to
either the one or the other. In the shape and elevation of its body
it is at first sight distinguished from them both, its legs being
considerably longer in relation to its size, and the trunk of its body,
as will be seen by the portrait prefixed, being very different in form
and proportions. It is entirely destitute of the mane of the Hyæna, and
its tail is very similar to that of certain dogs; but, on the other hand,
its head approximates very closely, or rather bears a most striking
resemblance, to the broad and flattened forehead, and the short and
truncated muzzle, which characterize the former genus. It is this latter
circumstance no doubt that has induced many naturalists, both popular and
scientific, to identify the Wild Dog, as he is called by the settlers at
the Cape, with a group of animals from which in every other particular
of outward structure, excepting one, it is remarkably and obviously
distinct. The only other point of agreement between them consists in
the number of its toes, which, like those of the Hyæna, are only four
to each foot. This peculiarity, combined with the form of the head,
unquestionably affords some ground for placing these animals in close
apposition; but is by no means so important, in the absence of other and
more essential characteristics, as to warrant their union into a single
group. Taken together, however, and in connexion with other features of
distinction, these characters may fairly be regarded as sufficiently
striking to sanction the separation of the animal now under consideration
from the dogs. With the latter it corresponds most completely in the
number and form of its teeth, and in the general structure of its
skeleton, which differs remarkably from that of the Hyæna.
In size and form it is smaller and more slender than either the Hyæna or
the Wolf. Its ground colour is of a reddish or yellowish brown, which is
variously mottled in large patches along the sides of the body and on the
legs, with black and white intermingled together. Its nose and muzzle are
completely black, and it has a strong black line passing from them up the
centre of the forehead to between the ears, which are very large, black
both within and without, and furnished with a broad and expanded tuft
of long whitish hairs arising from their anterior margin and filling up
a considerable part of their concavity. There is a lighter patch on the
muzzle beneath each of the eyes. The tail is of moderate length, covered
with long bushy hair, and divided in the middle by a ring of black, below
which or towards the extremity it is nearly white, as are also the fore
parts of the legs below the joint. These colours and markings are subject
to variation in different individuals; but in their general disposition
and appearance they constantly exhibit the greatest similarity.
The Hyæna-Dog, if this compound term may be allowed, is a native of
the South of Africa, and infests the frontier settlements at no great
distance from the Cape to a very extensive and troublesome degree. Mr.
Burchell, to whom we are indebted for the earliest specimen brought
to this country, as well as for first pointing out its distinctive
characters, informs us that it hunts in regular packs, preferring the
night, but frequently pursuing its prey even by day. It is not only
exceedingly fierce, but also remarkably swift and active, insomuch that
none but the fleeter animals can escape from its pursuit. Sheep, oxen,
and horses appear to be its favourite game: on the former it makes its
onset openly and without fear, but of the latter it seems to stand
in awe, and attacks them only by stealth, frequently surprising them
in their sleep, biting off the tails of the oxen, for which it has a
particular fancy, and inflicting such serious injuries upon the horses,
especially the young colts, as they rarely survive.
The individual brought home by Mr. Burchell was kept by that gentleman
chained up in his stable-yard for more than a year; at the expiration
of which its ferocity continued unabated; the man who fed it being so
fearful of it that he “dared never to venture his hand upon it.” It is
nevertheless highly probable that with a somewhat firmer and bolder
treatment it might have been in some degree tamed, if not domesticated;
for it is stated that it at length became familiar with a dog, which
was its constant companion. That which is at present in the Tower was
brought to England in company with the youngest of the Cape Lions. They
agreed together extremely well; but as the Lion increased in size his
play became too rough for his comparatively feeble companion, who was
borne to the earth in a moment by the superior weight and strength of
his antagonist. Mr. Cops therefore found it necessary to consign them to
separate dens. Other companions for the Hyæna-Dog have, however, very
recently been obtained, an interesting addition having been made to the
stock of the Menagerie by the acquisition of a couple of Spotted Hyænas;
a brief notice of which we subjoin, as well as their portraits by way
of tail-piece, they having arrived during the progress of the present
sheet through the press, and consequently too late for insertion in their
proper place.
In size the SPOTTED HYÆNA, the Hyæna Crocuta of naturalists, is somewhat
inferior to the striped. Its muzzle, although short, is not so abruptly
truncated; and its ears, which are short and broad, assume a nearly
quadrilateral figure. Its ground colour is yellowish brown; and the whole
body is covered with numerous spots of a deeper brown, tolerably uniform
in size, but sometimes not very distinctly marked, and occasionally
arranging themselves in longitudinal rows. Its hair is shorter than that
of the Striped Hyæna, and although longer on the neck and in the central
line of the back than elsewhere, does not form so distinct and well
furnished a mane as in the latter animal. The tail is blackish brown, and
covered with long bushy hair.
This species appears to be peculiar to Southern Africa. In its wild state
it is equally ferocious in its temper and disgusting in its habits with
the common species of the North; but it has been found, as we have before
mentioned, to be capable of domestication, and of rendering services
to man equal to those which he derives from the dog. The pair which
have just arrived in the Tower have been placed by Mr. Cops in one den
with the Striped Hyæna and with the Hyæna-Dog; and this juxta-position
affords an excellent opportunity for a comparison of their characters
and disposition. They agree together tolerably well; but the new-comers
are hardly as yet reconciled to their abode, and consequently appear
shy and reserved. The Hyæna-Dog is the most lively of the group; and
his playfulness appears occasionally to give no little annoyance to the
Striped Hyæna, who generally returns his solicitations with a surly
snarl, but does not seem disposed to resent them farther.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AFRICAN BLOODHOUND.
_CANIS DOMESTICUS._ LINN. VAR.
The generic characters of this well known group, comprehending not
only the various races of the Dog, the Wolf, and the Jackal, but also
the numerous species of Foxes, which differ from the rest only in the
form of the pupils of their eyes (which are round in the former, and
transversely linear in the latter) may be shortly enumerated as follows.
They are all furnished in the upper jaw with six sharp incisors and two
canine teeth in front, and with six molars on each side; the same number
of each description is also to be found in the lower, with the addition
of a seventh grinder. Their tongue is perfectly smooth, the papillæ
which cover it being soft and velvety to the touch, instead of rough
and pointed as in the Hyænas and Cats. They have five toes to each of
the fore feet, of which only the four outermost touch the ground, the
fifth being always more or less elevated. On the hind feet the number of
the toes is no more than four, for although the rudiment of a fifth is
distinctly visible in the skeleton, it is rarely observable in the living
animal. On these toes they constantly support themselves in walking, the
soles of their feet, or rather that part of the legs which corresponds
to the soles of plantigrade animals, never being applied to the surface
of the ground on which they tread. Their claws are blunt, strong, but
little curved, and not at all retractile; and their use is evidently
limited to turning up the earth. Their muzzle is more or less elongated
to afford space for the ample series of lateral teeth; and the strength
of their jaws, as well as the extent of opening between them, is by
this means much diminished. In most of these particulars they exhibit
a striking contrast with the more perfect of the carnivorous races,
and afford grounds for expecting an equally manifest falling off from
their ferocious and sanguinary propensities. The dogs are in fact by no
means equally carnivorous with the cats; and their teeth, especially the
grinders, are fitted as well for the demolition of vegetable as of animal
substances.
In a wild state, however, they subsist themselves principally by preying
upon the inferior animals, feeding with nearly equal relish upon the warm
and palpitating fibres of a fresh and almost living victim, and upon the
mangled carcass which taints the air with its unsavoury exhalations.
Their habitation is in the depths of the forest, where the larger
species form themselves dens in the close and thick underwood, while
the smaller burrow in the earth for shelter. Their lengthened muzzle
and the great extent to which all the cavities connected with the nose
are dilated, are admirably fitted for giving to the organ of smell the
fullest developement of which it is capable. It is the perfection of this
organ, combined with the general lightness and muscularity of their frame
and the firm agility of their elongated limbs, which renders many of the
species such excellent hunters, by enabling them to scent their prey at
an immense and sometimes almost incredible distance, and to run it down
in the chase with indefatigable swiftness and unrelaxing pertinacity.
The very terms of the specific character by which Linnæus attempted
to distinguish the domesticated from the other dogs, “the tail curved
upwards (towards the left),” may be regarded as affording in themselves
a sufficient proof of the difficulty of the task, when so great a
naturalist, after taking a complete review of all the particulars of
their organization, was compelled to rest contented with a distinction
drawn from so trifling and apparently insignificant a remark. It would
in fact appear to be absolutely impossible to offer in any form of words
whatever a character sufficiently comprehensive to combine the almost
infinite varieties of this Protean race, and at the same time to separate
them from those other races from which they are generally believed to be
specifically distinct. To this observation of Linnæus almost the sole
addition that has been made by later zoologists consists in a remark of
M. Desmarest, that whenever a spot of white is found upon any part of
the tail of a domestic dog, the tip of that very variable organ is also
constantly white; so that we are still driven to recur to the tail alone
for the only uniform physical characteristics that have been pointed out
to distinguish an animal, which every one recognises at first sight, and
which indeed it is impossible to mistake.