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ng piece of wood, he seized it with his teeth, tore the plank up, and drew out every nail with the utmost ease; which action will give a good idea of the muscular strength of this creature.
It is impossible to say why there should be such conflicting accounts of the hyæna, given by those whose veracity is undoubted. No one dreads them on the Gold Coast, but they seem to be the terror of all the inhabitants at, and to the north of the Cape, also in Abyssinia, where Bruce called them "the plagues of their lives," and we can scarcely forbear a smile, when we read that one of them stood by his bed-side, with a purloined bunch of candles in his mouth; having found his way to him even through the streets of Gondar.
THE CAT TRIBE.--LIONS.
I must be allowed to give a somewhat more lengthened description than I have bestowed on other animals, to the Felidæ, or Cat-tribe, because the same characters serve for all; size and colour being almost the only difference among those of which I shall treat. Grace and strength are their universal attributes, the latter lying chiefly in the fore parts of their frames; such as their paws, legs, shoulders, neck and jaws; the former in their arched and rounded form, and the extreme suppleness of their joints. Their muzzle is short and round, some of their teeth are of enormous size and strength, their sight is very acute both by night and day; their eyes are set obliquely in the head, and always glare in the dark; and sometimes by day when they are in a rage. It is only in the smaller tribes that the pupil is vertically linear, when the full light causes it to contract. The ears are large, and the sense of hearing much developed. Their smell is not equally perfect, and the roughness of their tongue shews, that their taste cannot be very delicate. This roughness is caused by the horny papillæ, or small projections, with points directed backwards, which cover the tongue, and enable it to lick the flesh from the bones of their food. They have long