Chapter III: Part 3

In size the Caracal is somewhat larger than the Fox. The whole of the upper surface of his body is of a deep and uniform brown, the hairs being for the most part slightly tipped with gray; the under and inner parts are nearly white; and the chin and lower lip, and two spots, one on the inner side of and above the eye, and the other beneath its outer angle, completely so. The neck and throat are of a lighter and brighter brown than the rest of the fur. The ears, which are long and upright, taper gradually to a fine tip, which is surmounted by a pencil of long black hairs; they are black externally and whitish within. It is to the striking character afforded by these organs that the animal is indebted for his modern name of Caracal, corrupted from his Turkish appellation, which, equally with that by which he is known in Persia, signifies “black ear.” His whiskers are short, and take their origin from a series of black lines which occupy the sides of the muzzle; at some distance behind them, in front of the neck on each side, is a short and thick tuft of lighter coloured hairs. The tail, which is eight or nine inches in length, is of the same uniform colour with the body from its base to its tip.

The specimen in the Tower, from which our engraving was made and our description taken, is a native of Bengal, a locality from which these animals have been so rarely brought to Europe, that it has been a question among naturalists whether the Caracal of India and that of Africa really belonged to the same species. There is, however, no difference of any importance observable between the present animal and those which have been brought from the latter continent. It is extremely sulky, keeping constantly retired in one of the backward corners of its cage, and swearing, as we express it in the common cat, almost incessantly when conscious of being noticed. The Lynxes indeed appear, at least when in captivity, to exercise this peculiar faculty of voice to a much greater extent than any other species of the group. They are remarkably irascible and mistrustful, and are seldom completely tamed.

THE CHETAH, OR HUNTING LEOPARD.

_FELIS JUBATA._ SCHREB.

Uniting to the system of dentition, the general habit and many of the most striking peculiarities of the cats, some of the distinguishing features and much of the intelligence, the teachableness, and the fidelity of the dog, the Hunting Leopard forms a sort of connecting link between two groups of animals, otherwise completely separated, and exhibiting scarcely any other character in common than the carnivorous propensities by which both are, in a greater or less degree, actuated and inspired. Intermediate in size and shape between the leopard and the hound, he is slenderer in his body, more elevated on his legs, and less flattened on the fore part of his head than the former, while he is deficient in the peculiarly graceful and lengthened form, both of head and body, which characterize the latter. His tail is entirely that of a cat; and his limbs, although more elongated than in any other species of that group, seem better fitted for strong muscular exertion than for active and long-continued speed. From these indications it may be gathered that he approaches much more nearly to the feline than to the canine group: we shall therefore follow the example of zoologists in general, by referring him for the present and provisionally to the genus Felis, and proceed to point out more particularly the characters by which he is connected with, as well as those by which he is distinguished from, the rest of that formidable and extensive tribe.

In the number and form of his teeth, in the asperity of his tongue, in the conformation of his organs of sense, and in the number of his claws, he accurately corresponds with the legitimate species of the genus Felis. The principal character in which he differs from them consists in the slight degree of retractility of these latter organs. Instead of being withdrawn within sheaths appropriated for the purpose, as in the whole of the cats properly so called, the claws of the Hunting Leopard are capable of only a very limited retraction within the skin, and are consequently exposed to the action of the ground on which they tread, their points and edges being thus rendered liable to be blunted by the constant pressure to which they are subjected, almost to the same extent as in the dogs. The slightest consideration of the uses to which the claws are applied by the whole of the feline tribe, in whom they are, in fact, in consequence of their extreme power and sharpness, organs of offence if possible more deadly and more destructive than the teeth, will teach us that the modification which has just been described in so important a part of their organization, must of necessity be accompanied by a corresponding change in manners and habits; and that convenience alone, and the want of analogous structure in any other animal, could justify us in continuing to class the Chetah among the cats, from whom he differs in so essential a particular.

In outward form, however, notwithstanding his more slender make, the difference between them is by no means great. His head, although more elevated and prominent in front, exhibits the same broad lateral expansion, caused by the thick mass of muscle which acts so powerfully upon the short and dilated jaws of the cats, and imparts to them that tremendous force and effect for which they are so remarkable. His legs, notwithstanding their increased length and slender proportions, retain all the elastic springiness, by means of which the Leopard or the Tiger are enabled to bound with so much vigour and velocity upon their unsuspecting prey. His air and manners, too, are unquestionably those of the cats; and his mode of colouring, which we shall next proceed to describe, although exhibiting very peculiar and marked distinctions, offers so close an analogy to that of the Jaguar and the Leopard, that, were we to regard this character alone, it would be impossible to arrange him in a different group from that which comprehends those beautifully spotted, but ferocious, beasts. His fur, however, it must be remarked, has little of the sleekness which characterizes those animals, but exhibits, on the contrary, a peculiar crispness which is not to be found in any other of the tribe.

His ground-colour is a bright yellowish fawn above, and nearly pure white beneath, covered above and on the sides by innumerable closely approximating spots, from half an inch to an inch in diameter, which are intensely black, and do not, as in the Leopard and others of the spotted cats, form roses with a lighter centre, but are full and complete. These spots, which are wanting on the chest and under part of the body, are larger on the back than on the head, sides, and limbs, where they are more closely set: they are also spread along the tail, forming on the greater part of its extent interrupted rings, which, however, become continuous as they approach its extremity, the three or four last rings surrounding it completely. The tip of the tail is white, as is also the whole of its under surface, with the exception of the rings just mentioned; it is equally covered with long hair throughout its entire length, which is more than half that of the body. The outside of the ears, which are short and rounded, is marked by a broad black spot at the base, the tip, as also the inside, being whitish. The upper part of his head is of a deeper tinge; and he has a strongly marked flexuous black line, of about half an inch in breadth, extending from the inner angle of the eye to the angle of the mouth. The extremity of the nose is black, like that of the dog. The mane, from which he derives his scientific name, is not very remarkable: it consists of a series of longer, crisper, and more upright hairs, which extend along the back of the neck and the anterior portion of the spine.

Such are the outward and physical characteristics of this beautiful animal; in his moral and intellectual qualities he differs still more widely from that compound of unteachableness, malice, and mistrust, which is the necessary result of the low degree of intelligence possessed by the remainder of the group of animals with which he is at present associated. Of his habits in a state of nature we have no certain information; but in his tamed and domesticated condition he has been rendered, in some countries at least, auxiliary to man, by the successful cultivation of his mental faculties, which have been trained into a degree of subservience to the commands of his master, that can only be surpassed by the superior sagacity of the hound. Chardin, Bernier, Tavernier, and others of the older travellers had related that in several parts of Asia it was customary to make use of a large spotted cat in the pursuit of game, and that this animal was called Youze in Persia, and Chetah in India; but the statements of these writers were so imperfect, and the descriptions given by them so incomplete, that it was next to impossible to recognise the particular species intended. We now, however, know with certainty that the animal thus employed is the Felis jubata of naturalists, which inhabits the greater part both of Asia and of Africa. It is common in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia; and is well known both in Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope; but the ingenuity of the savage natives of the latter countries has not, so far as we know, been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase in the manner so successfully practised by the more refined and civilized inhabitants of Persia and of Hindostan. In Senegal it is valued only on account of its skin, which forms an important article in the commerce of that colony; while at the Cape, where it is known to the Dutch settlers by the misapplied name of Luipard (Leopard), it seems to be entirely neglected even in a commercial point of view. In the neighbourhood of the latter colony, it should be added, the animal appears from the testimony of travellers to be of rare occurrence; and Professor Lichtenstein, in particular, mentions an instance in which the skin of one was worn by the chief of a horde of Caffres as a badge of peculiar dignity and distinction.

But even in the East, where the qualities of the Chetah appear to be best appreciated, and his faculties to be turned to most account, it would seem that he is not employed in hunting by all classes of the people indiscriminately; but, on the contrary, that he is reserved for the especial amusement and gratification of the nobles and princes of the land, rather than used for purposes of real and general advantage. In this respect, and indeed in many others, as will be seen by the following brief account of the mode in which the chase with the Hunting Leopard is conducted, it bears a close resemblance to the ancient sport of hawking, so prevalent throughout Europe in the days of feudal tyranny, but scarcely practised at the present day except by the more splendid slaves of Asiatic despotism. The animal or animals, for occasionally several of them are employed at the same time, are carried to the field in low chariots, on which they are kept chained and hooded, in order to deprive them of the power and temptation to anticipate the word of command by leaping forth before the appointed time. When they are thus brought within view of a herd of antelopes, which generally consists of five or six females and a male, they are unchained and their hoods are removed, their keepers directing their attention to the prey, which, as they do not hunt by smell, it is necessary that they should have constantly in sight. When this is done, the wily animal does not at once start forwards towards the object of his pursuit, but, seemingly aware that he would have no chance of overtaking an antelope in the fleetness of the race, in which the latter is beyond measure his superior, winds cautiously along the ground, concealing himself as much as possible from sight, and, when he has in this covert manner nearly reached the unsuspecting herd, breaks forth upon them unawares, and after five or six tremendous bounds, which he executes with almost incredible velocity, darts at once upon his terrified victim, strangles him in an instant, and takes his fill of blood. In the meanwhile the keeper quietly approaches the scene of slaughter, caresses the successful animal, and throws to him pieces of meat to amuse him and keep him quiet while he blinds him with the hood and replaces him upon the chariot, to which he is again attached by his chain. But if, as is not unfrequently the case, the herd should have taken the alarm, and the Chetah should prove unsuccessful in his attack, he never attempts to pursue them, but returns to his master with a mortified and dejected air, to be again let slip at a fresh quarry whenever a fit opportunity occurs.

The Chetah has been until of late years very imperfectly known in Europe. Linnæus was entirely unacquainted with it, and Buffon described it from the fur alone under the name of Guêpard, the appellation by which its skin was distinguished in the commerce with Senegal, but evidently without suspecting its identity with the Asiatic animal, the trained habits of which, misled probably by the authority of Tavernier, he erroneously attributed to his imaginary Ounce. Subsequent French zoologists had rectified this error, and it was generally believed that the tamed Leopard of Bernier, the Youze, the Guêpard, and Tavernier’s Ounce, were one and the same animal; but it was not until a year or two ago that the possession of a living specimen, brought from Senegal, in the Menagerie of the Jardin du Roi, enabled M. F. Cuvier to ascertain its characters with precision. The comparison of this African specimen with the skins sent from India, and with the notes and drawings made in that country by M. Duvaucel, to whom we are indebted for a vast deal of interesting information relative to the zoology of the East of Asia, at once put an end to all doubts of the identity of the two animals.

Several individuals have been brought alive to this country at various times; but, notwithstanding the opportunities thus afforded, it does not appear that English naturalists have paid any particular attention to the study of their character and habits. In all probability the earliest that arrived in Europe was one which was brought from India by Lord Pigot, and which was figured by Pennant under the name of the Hunting Leopard. Three others, found at the capture of Seringapatam among the rest of the state paraphernalia of the fallen Sultan, came into the possession of General, afterwards Lord, Harris, who, on his return to England, presented them to his late Majesty, by whose command they were placed in the Tower. They did not, however, long survive the effects of the passage and of the change of climate, which latter has proved equally fatal to the few specimens which have since been brought to this country for public exhibition. They appear, indeed, to be exceedingly delicate in their temperament, and to require considerable attention on the part of their keeper. The pair now in the Tower, if two individuals of the same sex, both of them being males, can be called a pair, were purchased by Mr. Cops a few months since from the captain of a vessel trading to Senegal, to whom they were brought by some of the natives when only a few weeks old and no larger than an ordinary cat. They were the constant inmates of his cabin, and soon became strongly attached to their master, never, as they grew up, exhibiting the slightest symptom of that savage ferocity to which all the larger cats are occasionally more or less prone, even under the most favourable circumstances. Much of this peculiar meekness of temper, which they still maintain, is doubtless owing to the very early age at which they were made captive, as well as to the mild and little stimulating nature of the food to which they have ever since been accustomed. This consists chiefly of boiled meat and meal; and during the winter season, in consequence of the delicacy of their habit, they are supplied with hot mashes, gruel, &c. Their mode of feeding is very like that of the dog.

In size and stature these beautiful animals considerably exceed any that 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.

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.

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.

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.

But it is to the moral and intellectual faculties of the Dog that we must look for those remarkable peculiarities which distinguish him in so eminent a degree not only from his immediate neighbours, but also from every other quadruped. Unfortunately we have not the means of comparing him in a pure state of nature with the other animals of his tribe; for although it has been repeatedly attempted to determine his primitive stock, there can be no doubt that upon this point we are still as much as ever in the dark. There exist, however, in various parts of the world, considerable numbers of Dogs, the descendants unquestionably of races formerly domesticated, which, to all appearance, differ but little in their habits and manners from the Wolf and the Jackal, to one or other of which they frequently approach in form, and from each of which it has been confidently asserted that the domestic species was primarily derived. But the doubts to which this striking similarity might otherwise give rise are instantly removed by the readiness with which these wild Dogs submit to the control of man, and become familiarized with that state of servitude to which nature appears to have destined them from the first. Other animals may indeed be tamed; they may become playful, familiar, and even affectionate; but none of them have hitherto been taught, even by long-continued training, to exhibit qualities of mind in any degree comparable to the absolute subserviency, the undeviating attachment, the submissive docility, and the acute intelligence, which these invaluable animals almost spontaneously manifest, when placed in circumstances favourable to their developement.

So much has been written by authors of every description, from the earliest ages down to the present time, upon every point connected with their history and habits, and the space which we could devote to their illustration in the present volume is so small, that we choose rather not to enter at all upon the subject than to treat of it in the very abrupt and imperfect manner to which we should necessarily be restricted. It only remains therefore to add a few observations relative to the extremely beautiful leash of hounds which are figured at the head of the present article, before passing to the consideration of the remaining species of the group which are at present contained in the Menagerie.

These are two males and one female, belonging to the most elegant as well as the most intelligent variety of the species, that to which Linnæus, on account of the high degree to which the latter quality was carried in them, gave _par excellence_ the epithet of _sagax_. They were presented by Major, now Colonel Denham, on his return from the most successful expedition that has perhaps ever been made into the evil-omened regions of Central Africa, from whence they were brought by that gallant traveller, who also gave Mr. Cops the following account of their qualifications for the chase. He had repeatedly, he said, made use of them in hunting the Gazelle, in their pursuit of which he had observed that they displayed more cunning and sagacity than any dogs with which he was acquainted, frequently quitting the line of scent for the purpose of cutting off a double, and recovering it again with the greatest facility. They would follow a scent after an hour and a half or even two hours had elapsed; and the breed was therefore commonly employed in Africa for the purpose of tracing a flying enemy to his retreat. They are in fact, both for symmetry and action, perfect models; and there are few sportsmen who will not regret that there appears no chance of crossing our own pointers with this interesting breed. A mixed race, combining the qualifications of both, would unquestionably be one of the most valuable acquisitions to our sporting stock; but, unhappily, this union seems to be altogether hopeless; for although they have now been more than three years in England, and are in excellent health and condition, they appear, like many other animals restrained of their liberty and kept constantly together, to have no disposition to perpetuate their race. The males are remarkably good tempered; the female on the contrary is surly and ill natured.

THE WOLF.

_CANIS LUPUS._ LINN.

This sullen and forbidding-looking animal, the most ravenous and ferocious that infests the more temperate regions of the earth, of many parts of which he is the terror and the scourge, is distinguished from the humble, generous, and faithful friend of man, the domestic dog, by no very remarkable or striking character; and yet there is something in his physiognomy, gait, and habit, which is at once so peculiar and so repulsive, that it would be almost impossible to confound a Wolf, however tame, with the most savage and the most wolflike of dogs. For the separation of the two species, Linnæus, as we have seen in the preceding article, had recourse to the tail; and having determined that that of the dog was uniformly curved upwards, he attributed to that of the Wolf a completely opposite direction, that is to say, a curvature inwards; assigning, at the same time, a straight or a deflected position to those of all the other animals of the group. The deflected, or down-pointing, direction is, however, equally common in the Wolf with the incurved; and this petty distinction, which has little to do with structure, and still less with habits, is hardly deserving of serious attention. More obvious and more essential differences will be found in the cast of his countenance, which derives a peculiar expression from the obliquity of his eyes; in the breadth of his head, suddenly contracting into a slender and pointed muzzle; in the size and power of his teeth, which are comparatively greater than those of any dog of equal stature; in the stiffness and want of pliability of his limbs; in his uniformly straight and pointed ears; and in a black stripe which almost constantly, and in nearly every variety of the species, occupies the front of the fore leg of the adult. His fur, which differs considerably in texture and colour, from the influence of climate and of seasons, is commonly of a grayish yellow, the shades of which are variously intermingled; as he advances in age it becomes lighter, and in high northern latitudes frequently turns completely white, a change which also takes place in many other animals inhabiting the polar regions.

Entirely dependent upon rapine for his subsistence, the nose of the Wolf is fully equal to that of the sharpest-scented hound. The size and speed of the elk and of the stag are insufficient to protect them from his violence; he pursues them with equal swiftness and cunning, and, when he has succeeded in running them down, finds little difficulty in rendering them his prey. To effect this purpose with the greater certainty he frequently unites himself with a numerous train of his fellows, who are however bound together by no other tie than the common object of their pursuit; and when this is once attained immediately separate and proceed each to his own retreat, whence they again emerge to reunite in the common cause whenever the necessary stimulus is supplied. In inhabited countries he seldom ventures to show himself openly or in packs, but sleeps away the greater part of the day in the shelter of the forest, and only prowls abroad by night when impelled by the cravings of his appetite. The sheep-cote and the farm-yard become then the scenes of his ravages; and such is his ingenuity, and so great the rapidity of his motions, that he will frequently carry off his prey almost before the eyes of the shepherd, although the warning voice of the watchful dog had given timely notice of the approach of the marauder. His ferocity is sometimes carried to such a pitch that he becomes dangerous to man; and when hard pressed by famine, to which in spite of all his skill in the chase and his sagacity in the pursuit of meaner rapine he is by no means a stranger, he will fall at unawares upon the solitary and unprotected traveller, or, prowling about the habitation of the villager, carry off from it his unsuspecting and defenceless children.

Happily for England this formidable beast has long been extirpated from its woods; but the comparative extent of his domain has been thereby but little reduced. It may be roughly stated as comprehending the whole northern hemisphere, of which only very small portions are exempted from his ravages. He is easily tamed when young, and may even (according to M. F. Cuvier, who has published a history of a domesticated individual bordering in many particulars very closely on the marvellous, but of the truth of which the well known character of that scientific naturalist is a sufficient guarantee) be rendered susceptible of the highest degree of attachment to his master, whom he will remember after prolonged and repeated absence, and caress with all the familiar fondness of a dog. Such traits as this are, however, to say the least, very uncommon; and he is, even in captivity, generally speaking, ill tempered and morose. The old male, the father of the litter now in the Tower, was extremely savage; the female, on the contrary, is very tame, and, which is more remarkable, continued so even during the period of suckling her young, which were five in number. Neither before, at, nor after this period did her temper undergo any change: she suffered her keepers to handle her cubs, of which she was excessively fond, and even to remove them from the den, without evincing the smallest symptom either of anger or alarm.

THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.

_CANIS NUBILUS._ SAY.

To distinguish between the numerous races of Wolves which are scattered more or less abundantly over nearly the entire surface of the earth; to determine that such and such variations are the result of original formation, and that such and such others are merely the product of accidental circumstances; in other words, to establish clear and tangible grounds of specific distinction between animals so varied in external appearance, but corresponding so perfectly in every essential particular, while the shades of character by which they differ, although in many cases strikingly marked, are for the most part so unimportant, or so little permanent, as scarcely to be deserving of notice,--is unquestionably one of the most difficult problems, to the solution of which the zoologist has to apply himself.

In internal and anatomical structure, on which modern naturalists are agreed that the greatest reliance ought to be placed in the distinction of closely approximating species, there is in the various races of Wolves no deviation from the common type of sufficient importance to warrant their separation from each other; neither does their outward form, excepting only in size and in the comparative measurement of parts, differ in any remarkable degree. In colour it is true that the most striking variations are observable, their hair exhibiting almost every intermediate shade between the opposite extremes of black and white. But it must be obvious that on this character, taken by itself, it would be absurd to insist as a ground of specific distinction, when we reflect on the influence which climate and other external accidents must necessarily exercise on animals so extensively dispersed, and so variously circumstanced.