At the fair of St. Germain, in the year 1773, I saw a male hyæna; the
one just described was very ferocious, and as I mentioned untameable,
but this was perfectly gentle, for though his keeper made him angry for
the purpose of erecting his mane, yet he seemed to forget it in a few
moments, and suffer himself to be played with without any appearance of
dislike. He exactly accorded with the description I have given, except
his tail being entirely white.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 109. _Lynx._]
[Illustration: FIG. 110. _Hyæna._]
In the island of Meroë there is a large kind of hyænas, so strong that
they can run off with a man to the distance of more than a league
without stopping. These are also of a darker colour, and erect their
long hairs on the hind parts and not the front. Mr. Bruce informs
me that he has observed, that when the hyænas are forced to take to
flight, they are at first exceedingly lame of the left hind leg, and
which continues for more than an hundred paces, so much so indeed as to
give them the appearance of falling, and that it is the same also with
those of Syria and Barbary.