From the strongly marked group, to the illustration of various species of which the foregoing pages have been dedicated1, 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 disposition2, bears nevertheless a stronger affinity3 to the dogs, with which it was associated by Linn?us. From each of these groups it is, however, readily distinguished4 by several obvious and essential characters, of sufficient importance to sanction its separation as a genus, now universally adopted among naturalists5.
Like both the cats and the dogs, the Hy?nas are[72] completely digitigrade; that is to say, they walk only on the extremities6 of their toes: but these toes are only four in number on each of their feet, and are armed with short, thick, strong, and truncated7 claws, which are not in the least retractile, and are evidently formed for digging in the earth, a practice to which they are impelled9 by a horrid10 and hateful propensity11, 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 considerably12 more elevated in front than behind, owing partly to their constant custom of keeping the posterior legs bent13 in a crouching14 and half recumbent posture15. Beneath the tail, which is short and dependent, they are furnished with a pouch16, in the interior of which is secreted17 a peculiar18 matter of a very strong and disagreeable smell. Their head is large and broad, flattened19 in front, and terminating in a short, thick, and obtuse20 muzzle21. Like most carnivorous animals, they are armed in each jaw22 with six cutting teeth, and two canine23, the latter of which are of considerable size and strength. The outermost24 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 remarkable25 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 derives26 from the sharp and elevated papill? with which it is covered.
Of the genus thus characterized there exist two well[73] marked and unquestionably distinct species, the Striped Hy?na, or Hy?na vulgaris of modern zoologists27, which there can be no doubt is also the Hy?na of the ancients; and the Hy?na crocuta, or Spotted28 Hy?na, the Tiger Wolf of the colonists29 of the Cape30 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 Hy?na villosa: this is also a native of the vicinity of the Cape, and is denominated by the settlers the Strand31 Wolf, or Strand Jut32. 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, penetrating33 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 territorial34 limits which separate the one from the other have not yet been distinctly ascertained35.
The striped Hy?na 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 oblique36, 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 destitute37 of hairs, especially on the[74] inside. The hair of the body is long, particularly on the back of the neck and on the spine38, 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 Hy?nas are entirely39 nocturnal: while in the daytime their cowardice40 is so excessive that they fly from the face of man, and suffer themselves, when taken, to be ill treated with impunity41 and even without attempting to avenge42 themselves, they prowl abroad in the stillness of the night with all the temerity43 of brutal44 daring. They will frequently make prey45 of the lesser46 animals, and will occasionally venture to attack dogs and even horses; but it is seldom that they muster47 up sufficient courage to contend with living man, unless stimulated48 by strong provocation49, or impelled by the most violent cravings of hunger. Congregated50 in numerous bands they beset51 the encampment of the traveller, or infest52 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 wailing53, which is in some measure intermediate between a grunt54 and a howl. Parading the streets and penetrating into the houses in search of prey, they eagerly devour55 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.[75] Nothing, however filthy56, comes amiss to their voracious57 appetites, which are indeed unbounded. They even break into the cemeteries58 of the dead, and tearing open the graves by means of their powerful claws, disinter the buried corpses59, on which they glut60 that horrid propensity for feeding on carrion61, which is at once the most striking and the most disgusting of their peculiarities62. Their fondness for this polluted species of food tends of course not a little to increase the natural antipathy63 with which they are regarded by the natives of the countries in which they abound64, and renders them objects of peculiar detestation and abhorrence65. The great size and strength of their teeth and the immense power of their jaws66 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 depredations67 has arrived. Their gait is awkward and usually slow and constrained68; when scared, however, from their prey, or when pursued by the hunter, they fly with tolerable swiftness, but still with an appearance of lameness69 in their motions, resulting from the constant bending of their posterior legs.
Notwithstanding the brutal voracity70 of his habits and the savage71 fierceness of his disposition, there is scarcely any animal that submits with greater facility to the control of man. In captivity72, especially when taken young, a circumstance on which much depends in the domestication73 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[76] is by nature quite as ferocious74 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 attachment75 to his master, for general sagacity, and even, it is said, for his qualifications for the chase. That the Striped Hy?na might be rendered equally useful is highly probable from the docility76 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 caravans77, frequently become surly and even dangerous. The individual whose portrait we give is, on the contrary, remarkably78 tame; he is a native of the East Indies, and is confined in the same den8 with one of the American Bears, as we shall have occasion to notice more particularly when speaking of the latter animal.
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1 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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2 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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3 affinity | |
n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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4 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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5 naturalists | |
n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 );(文学艺术的)自然主义者 | |
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6 extremities | |
n.端点( extremity的名词复数 );尽头;手和足;极窘迫的境地 | |
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7 truncated | |
adj.切去顶端的,缩短了的,被删节的v.截面的( truncate的过去式和过去分词 );截头的;缩短了的;截去顶端或末端 | |
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8 den | |
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室 | |
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9 impelled | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10 horrid | |
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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11 propensity | |
n.倾向;习性 | |
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12 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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13 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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14 crouching | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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15 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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16 pouch | |
n.小袋,小包,囊状袋;vt.装...入袋中,用袋运输;vi.用袋送信件 | |
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17 secreted | |
v.(尤指动物或植物器官)分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 );隐匿,隐藏 | |
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18 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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19 flattened | |
[医](水)平扁的,弄平的 | |
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20 obtuse | |
adj.钝的;愚钝的 | |
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21 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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22 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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23 canine | |
adj.犬的,犬科的 | |
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24 outermost | |
adj.最外面的,远离中心的 | |
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25 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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26 derives | |
v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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27 zoologists | |
动物学家( zoologist的名词复数 ) | |
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28 spotted | |
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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29 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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30 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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31 strand | |
vt.使(船)搁浅,使(某人)困于(某地) | |
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32 jut | |
v.突出;n.突出,突出物 | |
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33 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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34 territorial | |
adj.领土的,领地的 | |
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35 ascertained | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36 oblique | |
adj.斜的,倾斜的,无诚意的,不坦率的 | |
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37 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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38 spine | |
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
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39 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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40 cowardice | |
n.胆小,怯懦 | |
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41 impunity | |
n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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42 avenge | |
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
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43 temerity | |
n.鲁莽,冒失 | |
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44 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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45 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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46 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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47 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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48 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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49 provocation | |
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因 | |
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50 congregated | |
(使)集合,聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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52 infest | |
v.大批出没于;侵扰;寄生于 | |
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53 wailing | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱 | |
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54 grunt | |
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝 | |
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55 devour | |
v.吞没;贪婪地注视或谛听,贪读;使着迷 | |
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56 filthy | |
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的 | |
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57 voracious | |
adj.狼吞虎咽的,贪婪的 | |
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58 cemeteries | |
n.(非教堂的)墓地,公墓( cemetery的名词复数 ) | |
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59 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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60 glut | |
n.存货过多,供过于求;v.狼吞虎咽 | |
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61 carrion | |
n.腐肉 | |
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62 peculiarities | |
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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63 antipathy | |
n.憎恶;反感,引起反感的人或事物 | |
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64 abound | |
vi.大量存在;(in,with)充满,富于 | |
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65 abhorrence | |
n.憎恶;可憎恶的事 | |
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66 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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67 depredations | |
n.劫掠,毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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68 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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69 lameness | |
n. 跛, 瘸, 残废 | |
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70 voracity | |
n.贪食,贪婪 | |
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71 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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72 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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73 domestication | |
n.驯养,驯化 | |
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74 ferocious | |
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
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75 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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76 docility | |
n.容易教,易驾驶,驯服 | |
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77 caravans | |
(可供居住的)拖车(通常由机动车拖行)( caravan的名词复数 ); 篷车; (穿过沙漠地带的)旅行队(如商队) | |
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78 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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