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Zendtfn,Fubl^ed cut the Mt I>irevh. July 7. 1^^6. fy I. WUes.

. A.N

UNIVERSAL SYSTEM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING T H^E "

NATURAL HISTORY of MM^j

THE OR ANG-OUTANGi

AND

WHOLE TRIBE OF S I M I Ai

ALL THE KNOWN

QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS, FISHES,

AND

AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALSi

INSECTS, POLYPEES, ZOOPHYTES, akd ANIMALCULE;

TREES, SHRUBS, PLANTS, and FLOWERS ;

FOSSILS, MINERALS, STONES, and PETREFACTIONS.

FORMING A MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF

The THREE KINGDOMS of NATURE,

Divided into distinct parts, the Charafters sEPARATEtY

DESCRIBED, and SYSTEMATICALLY ARRANGED.

VOLUME THE THIRD.

^ • LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, AND SOLD BY CHAMPANTK
ANDWHITROW, JEWRY-STREET, ALDGA TE ; AND AT THK
BRITISH DIRECTORY OFFiCt.AVE-MARIA LANE, Si. PAUL'S.

AN UNIVERSAL

SYSTEM

O F

NATURAL HISTORY.

O F Q^U ADRUPEDS.

THE name quadruped fuppofes that the animal
has four feet. If it wants two feet, like the
manati j if it has arnis and hands, like the ape;
or if it has wings, like the bat ; it is not a quadruped.
Hence this general term, when applied to thefe ani-
mals, is abufed. To obtain precision in words, the
ideas they prefent muft be ftridly true. If we had a
term for two hands fimilar to that which denotes two
feet, we might then fay that man was the only biped
and bimanus, becaufe he alone has two hands and two
feet; that the manati is a bimanus; that the bat is
only a biped ; and that the ape is a quadrimanus, or
four-handed animal. If we apply thefe denominations
to all the particular beings to which they belong, we
fhall find, that, from the race of animals who go under
the common name of quadrupeds, all the apes, ba-
boons, monkeys, fapajous, fagoins, and makis, muft
be retrenched, becaufe they are quadrimanus, or four-
handed i and that to thefe, the Joris or taillefs mau-
cauco, the Virginia murine, and Mexican opoflum,
the Egyptian and woolly jerboa's, &c. fhould be ad-
ded, becaufe they are four-handed like the apes and
nio.ikeys. Thus the number of quadrupeds will be

A 1 one-

4 NAT URAL HISTORY

one- fifth diminifhed. We Ihould likewife retrench
the feveral fpecies of bipeds, namely, the bats, whofe
fore-feet are rather wings than feet, and Hkewife three
or four jerboa's, becaufe they can walk on their hind-
feet only, the fore -feet being too fhort. If we fub-
traft alfo the manati, which has no hind- feet, the ar6lic
and Indian walrus, and the feals, to whom the hind-
feet are ufelefs j and, if we ftill retrench thofe animals;
which ufe their fore-feet like hands, as the bears, the
marmots, the coati's, the agouti's, the fquirrels, the
rats, and many others, thz denomination of quadruped
will appear to be applied improperly to more than one-
half of the animal race. The whole and cloven hoofed-
are indeed the only real quadrupeds. When we de-
feend to the digitated clafs, we find four-handed or
ambiguous quadrupeds, who ufe their fore- feet as
hands, and ought to be feparated or diftinguifhed from
the others. Of whole-hoofed animals, there are the
horfe, the afs, the zebra, &c. If to thefe we add the
elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the
cameJ, whofe feet, though terminated by nails, are fo-
lid, and ferve the animals for walking only, we fhall
find that to thefe the name of quadruped is perfedlly
applicable. The number of cloven-hoofed animals
greatly exceeds that of the whole-hoofed. The oxen,
the fheep, the goats, the antelopes, the bubal us, the
iama, the pacos, the giraffe, the elk, the rein-deer, the
ftag, the fallow-deer, the roebuck, &c. are all cloven-
footed, and conftitute real quadrupeds. In the digi-
tated animals, the lion, the tiger, panther, leopard,
lynx, cat, wolf, dog, fox, hysena, badger, polecat,
weafels, ferret, porcupines, hedgehogs, armadillos, ant-
eaters, and hogs, which laft conftitute the fhade be-
tween the digitated and cloven- footed tribes, form a
number of fpecies, to which the term of quadruped
applies with perfe(5l precifion j becaufe, though their
fore-feet be divided into four or five toes, they are
never ufed as hands. But all the other digitated fpe-

I ' eies.

O F QJJ AD RU P EDS. f

cies, who ufe their fore-feet in carrying food to their
mouths, ai-e not, in ftrid propriety of language, qua-
drupeds. Thefefpecies make an intermediate ckfs be-
tween quadrupeds and four-handed animals, being
neither the one nor the other. Hence, to more than a
fourth of our animals, the name of quadruped does
not feem to apply ; and to more than a half of them,
the application of it is incomplete.

The four-handed race fill the interval between man
and the animals ; and the two-handed fpecies confti-
tute a mean term in the diftance between man and the
cetaceous tribes. The bipeds with wings form the
jfhade between quadrupeds and birds j and the digita-
ted fpecies, who ufe their fore- feet as hands, fill the
whole fpace between the quadrupeds and the four-
handed kinds. But this fubjeft need be purfued no
farther, fince it can only furnifh a frefh proof, that
many of our definitions or general term.s want preci-'
fion, when applied to the objeds or beings which thef
reprefent.

E QJJ U S, of the Order B E L L U ^.

THIS genus of quadrupeds comprehends the
Horfe, the Dfhikketaei or wild Mule, the Afs, the
Zebra, the Quagga, and the Huemel ; the characfters
of which are thefe : they have fix ereft and parallel
fore-teeth in the upper-jaw, and fix fomewhat promi-
nent ones in the under jaw j the dog-teeth are folitary,
and at a confiderable diftance from the refl;i and the
feet confift of an undivided hoof.

The horse.

The intrepidity and fagacity of the horfe, have beea
regarded with admiration by all ranks of men, and in
all ages of the world. Even in a domeftic ftate he is
bold and fiery ; and, equally undaunted as his mailer,
faces danger and death with ardour and magnanimity.

He

s Maturalhistory

He delights in the noi{e and tumults of arms, and
feems to feel the glory of vidory : he exults in the
chace ;' his eyes fparkle with emulation in the courfe.
But, though bold and intrepid, he is docile and trac-
table: he knows how to govern and check the natural
vivacity and fire of his temper. He not only yields to
the hand, but feems to confult the inclination of his
rider. Conftantly obedient to the impreflions he re-
ceives, his motions are entirely regulated by the will
of his mafter. ,He in fome meafure refigns his very
exiftence to the pleafure of man. He delivers up his
•whole powers, he referves nothing; he will rather die
than difobey.

Thefe are features in the characfler of a horfe, whofe
natural qualities have been matured by art, and turned
v/ith care to the fervice of man. His education com-
mences with the lofs of liberty, and is completed by re-
ftraint. The flavery of the horfe is fo ancient and fo
univerfil, that he is rarely (o-tn in a natural ftate. When
employed in labour, he is always covered with the har-
nefs ', and, even during the time deftined for repofe»
he is never entirely delivered from bonds. If fome-
times permitted to roam in the pafture, he always bears
the marks of fervitude, and often the external impref-
fions of labour and pain. His mouth is deformed by
the perpetual fridion of the bit j his fides are galled
with wounds, or furrowed with cicatrices; and his
hoofs are pierced with nails. The natural geftures of
his body are conftrained by the habitual prefTure of
fetters, from which it would be in vain to deliver him;
for he would not be more at liberty. Thofe horfes,
the fervitude of wliich is rnofc mild, which are kept
folely for the purpofes of luxury and magnificence,
and whofe golden chains only gratify the vanity of their
mafters, are more difhonoured by the elegance of their
trappings, and by the plaits of their hair, than by the
iron fhocs on their feet.

Art

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 7

Art Is always excelled by Nature; and, in animated
beings, liberty of movement conftitiites the perfeftion
of their exillence- Examine thofe horfes which have
multiplied fo prodigioufly in Spanlfh America, and
live In perfed freedom. Their motions are neither
conrtrained nor meafured. Proud of their independ-
ence, they fly from the prefence man, and difdain all
his care. They fearch for, and procure, the food that is
moft fUutary and agreeable. They wander and friflc
about in immenfe meadows, and colle6l the frefh pro-
dudions of a perpetual fpring. Without any fixed ha-
bitation, or other fhelter than a ferene fky, they breathe
a purer air than in thofe mufty vaults in which we con-
fine them, when fubjeded to our dominion. Hence
wild horfes are ftronger, lighter, and more nervous,
than moft of thofe which are in a domeftic ftate. The
former poflefs force and dignity, which are the gifts of
nature; the latter have only addrefs and gracefulnefsj
which are all that art can beftow.

Thefe wild horfes are by no means ferocious in their
temper; they are only wild and fiery. Though of
ilrength fuperior to moft animals, they never make an
attack. But, when afTaulted, they either difdain the
enemy, bound out of his way, or ftrike him dead with
their heels. They aflbciate in troops from no other
motive than the pleafure of being together ; for they
have no fear ; but acquire a mutual attachment to each
other. As grafs and vegetables conftitute their food,
of which they have enough to fatisfy their appetite,
and as they are not carnivorous, they neither make
war with other animals, nor among themfelves. They
difputc not about their common nourifnment, and ne-
ver have occafion to fnatch prey from each other, the
general fource of quarrels and combats among the ra-
pacious tribes. Hence they live in perpetual peace;
becaufe their appetites are fimple and moderate, and
f|iey have no obje(5ls to excite envy.

All

8 NATURAL HISTORY

AH thefe features are apparent in young horfes bred
together in troops. Their manners are gentle, and
their tempers fecial -, their force and ardour are gene-
rally rendered confpicuous by marks of emulation.
They anxioufly prefs to be foremoft in the courfe, ta
brave danger in traverfing a river, or in leaping a
ditch or precipice; and it has been remarked, that
thofe which are moft adventurous a^nd expert in thefe
natural exercifts, are the mod generous, mild, and
tradable, when reduced to a domeftic ftate.

Wild horfes are mentioned by feveral ancient au-
thors. Herodotus takes notice of white favage horfes
on the banks of the Hypanis in Scythia ; and, in the
northern part of Thrace, be)-ond the Danube, he re-
marks, that there were wild horfes, covered all over
with hair five inches long. Ariftotle fays, they were
to be found in Syria j Pliny, in the northern regions ;
and Strabo, in Spain and the Alps. Among the mo-
derns, Cardan fays the fame thing of Scotland, and the
Orkney ifles V Olaus, of Mufcovy; Dapper, of the
ifland of Cyprus, where, he fays, there were beautiful
wild horfes, of great ftrength and fwiftnefs ; and Struys,
of the ifland of May, one of the Cape de Verds, where
Jie faw wild horfes of a fmall ftature. Leo of Africa
likewife relates, that there were wild horfes in the de-
ierts of Africa and Arabia; and he afTures us, that he
faw, in the folitudes of Numidia, a colt with crifped
hair and a crifped mane. Marmol confirms this fa6l,
by informing us, that fmall wild horfes, fame of them
of an afh-colour, and others white, with fhort curled
hair and manes, are to be found 'in the Lybian and
• Arabian deferts: he adds, that they out- run the dogs
snd domeftic horfes. We hkewife learn, from the
Lettres Edifiantes, that there are fmall wild horfes in
China.

But, as Europe is now almofl: equally peopled, wild
liorfes are no where to be found in this quarter of the
globe. Thofe in America are the offspring of do«

meftig

O F QV ADRUPEDS. 9

meftic horfes, tranfported originally from Europe by
the Spaniards. In thefe uninhabited, or rather depo-
pulated, regions, horfes have multiplied prodigioufly.
That this fpecies of animal was unknown in the New
World, appears from the terror and aftonifiiment ex-
prefled by the Mexicans and Peruvians at the fight of
horfes and their riders. The Spaniards carried great
numbers of horfes to thefe regions, both with a view
to their fervice, and to the propagation of the breed.
Many accordingly were left on the iflands, as well as
on the continent, where they have multiplied like other
wild animals. M. de Salle, in the year 1685, faw,
near the bay of St. Louis in North America, thefe
horfes grazing in the meadows ; and they were fo wild
that he could not approach them. The author of the
hiftory of the Buccaneers remarks, " That troops of
horfes, to the number of five hundred, are fometimes
{etn in the ifland of St. Domingo, who all run toge-
ther; that, when they perceive a man, they all flop;
and that one of them approaches to a certain diliance,
blows through his noftrils, takes flight, and is inftantly
followed by the whole troop." He adds, that he is
uncertain whether thefe horfes have degenerated by be-
coming wild ; but that he found none of them fo hand-
feme as thofe of Spain, though they fprung from the
fame race. ** They have," he continues, " very
grofs heads and limbs, and long necks and ears. The
inhabitants tame them with eafe, and then train them
to labour. In taking them, gins of ropes are laid in
the places where they frequent. V/hen caught by the
neck, they foon ftrangle themfelves, unlefs fome per -
fon arrives to difentangle them. They are tied to trees
by the body and limbs, where thev are left for two
days without viAuals or drhik. This trial is generally
fufficient for rendering them more tradable, and they
foon become as gentle as if they had never been wild j
and, even if they fhould by accident regain their liber-
ty, they never refume their favage ftate, but know their
Vol. Ill, No. 30. B mailers,

lo NATURALHISTORY

mafters, and allow themfelves to be approached, and
retaken with eafe." M. Garfault mentions another
method of taming wild horfes : " When the colts,"
he obferves, " are not very early tamed, it fometlmes
happens, that the approach of man ftrikes them with
terror; that they defend themfelves with their heels
and teeth, in fuch a manner, that it is almoft impof-
lible to drefs or flioe them : if not broke by gentle-
nefs and patience, they arc prevented from fleeping till
they fall down with weaknefs. During this operation,
a man continues, day and night, at their heads, giving
them, from time to time, handfuls of hay. When treat-
ed in this manner, it is aftonifhing how foon their tem-
pers are foftened. Some horfes, however, require to
be kept awake for eight days."

Thefe fads prove horfes to be naturally of gentle
difpofitions, and much difpofed to aflbciate with man.
They never forfake the abodes of men, to regain their
Jiberty in the forefls. They difcover, on the contrary,
great anxiety to return to the ftable, where they find
only coarfe food, which is always the fame, and often
meafured to them more by the rules of oeconomy, than
by the ftrength of their appetite. But the fweets of
habit fupply all they have loft by flavery. After being
opprefled with fatigue, the place of repofe is full of de-
light. They fmell it at a diftance, can diftinguifh it
in the midft of great cities, andfeem uniformly to pre-
fer bondage to hberty. They form a fecond nature
out of tho(e habits to which they have been forced to
fubmit ; for horfes, after being abandoned in the fo-
refts, have been known to neigh continually in order
to be heard, to run to the voice of man, and even to
grow meagre, and die in a Ihort time, though fur-
rounded with a profufion of nourifliment. Thus, it is
obvious, the manners of a horfe originate entirely from
his education, which is accomplifhed by a care and in-
duftry bellowed by man upon no other animah but he

is

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. ii

is amply rewarded by the perpetual fervices of this
noble and laborious creature.

The foals are feparated from their mothers at the
age of five, fix, or at moft feven, months ; for experi-
ence fhows, that when allowed to fuck ten or eleven
months, though generally fatter and larger, they are
not of equal value as thofe which have been more early
weaned. After fix or feven months, the foals are re-
moved from their mothers, and are fed twice a-day with
bran and a little hay, the quantity of which is augment-
ed in proportion as they advance in age. They are con-
fined to the ftables as long as they difcover any anxiety
to return to their mothers. But when this inquietude
is gone, they are allowed to go out, and are conduced
to the pafture : they muft not, however, be permitted
to graze when their fi:omach is empty. An hour be-
fore being put to grafs, they fiiould have a little bran,
be made to drink, and fhould never be expofed to great
colds or to rain. In this manner they pafs the firfl: winter.
In the month of May following, they may be allowed
to pallure freely every day, and to remain out continu-
ally till the end of Odober.

After young colts are weaned, they fhould not be
put into too warm a fi:able, otherwife they will be ren-
dered too delicate and too fenfible to the imprefiions of
the air. They fhould be often fupplied with frefh litter,
and kept clean by frequent fri(5lion ; but they ought
neither to be tied nor handled till they are near three
years of age. The manger and rack fhould not be too
high; for the neceffity of flretching their neck and
raifing their head, may induce a habit of keeping
them in that pofition, which would fpoil their neck.
When twelve or eighteen months old, their tails fliould
be cut; the hair will fhoot afterwards, and become
{Wronger and thicker. At the age of two years, the
male colts fhould be put with the horfes, and the fe-
males with the mares. Without this precaution, the
young males would fatigue and enervate themf'^lves.

B 2 At

12 NATURAL HISTORY

At the age of three years we fhould begin to drefs
the colts J and to render them tradable. At firft, a
light eafy faddle fhould be placed on them, and allowed
to remain two or three hours each day. They fhould
likewife be accuflomed to receive a fnaffle into their
mouths, and to allow their feet to be lifted and flruck,
in imitation of fhoeing. If deftined for the coach or
draught, they ought to be harnafled as well as fnaffled.
A bridle is unnecefTary at firft: by means of a halter or
cavefTon on their nofe, they may be made to trot up and
down on a fmooth piece of ground, with only a faddle
and harnefs on their bodies : and, when they turn eafi-
ly, and approach without fear the man who holds the
halter, they may then be mounted and difmounted at
pleafure.

The bit and the fpur have been contrived to com-
mand the obedience of horfes ; the bit for the diredion,
and the fpur for the qaicknefs of their movements.
Nature feems to have deftined the mouth folely for
receiving the imprefTions of tafte and of appetite. But
the mouth of the horfe is endowed with fuch amazing
fenfibility, that, to this organ, in place of the eye and ear,
man applies for conveying the indications of his will
to this animal. The flighteft motion or prefTure of the
bit gives him notice and determines his courfe. This
organ of fenfation has no fault but that of perfedion ;
its too great fenfibility requires the moft dexterous ma-
nagement j for the fmalleft abufe fpoils the mouth, by
rendering it infenfible to the impreflions of the bit.
The fenfes of feeing taid hearing cannot be blunted in
this manner: but it is probable, that all attempts to
govern horfes by thefe organs have been found incon-
venient. Befides, the figns tranfmitted by the touch
have a fironger effed upon animals in general, than
thofe conveyed by the eye or ear. The fituation of a
horfe's eyes, with regard to his rider or conductor, is
extremely unfavourable: and, though they be often a-
nimated and conduced by the ear, it appears that the

I ufe

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 13

life of this organ is abandoned to the coarfer fpecies of
horffs i for, in the menage, they are feldom addreiTed
by the ear. In a word, when horfes are well educated,
the fmalleft prefTure of the thighs, the flighteft move-
ment of the bit, are fufficient to dired them. Even
the fpiir is almoft ufelefs, being feldom employed but
to force them to exert violent motions : and when,
from the ignorance of the horfeman, he gives the fpur,
and at the fame time retradts the bridle, the horfe,
finding himfelf incited on one fide and reftrained on
the other, is obliged to rear, or make a perpendicular
bound.

By means of the bridle, the horfe is taOght to keep his
head in the moft beautiful and advantageous fituation,
and the fmalleft fign or flighteft movement of the rider
is fufficient to make the animal aftlime its different
paces. The trot is perhaps the moft natural motion
of a horfe; but the pace, and even the gallop, are moft
eafy to the rider ; and thefe are the two motions w-hich
are moft in requeft. When a horfe lifts his fore-leg
in order to walk, this movement muft be made w-ith
fteadinefs and facility, and the knee muft likev/ife be
bended. The lifted leg muft appear, for a moment,
to be fupported, and, when let down, it muft be firm,
and equally fupported on the ground, before the head
receive any impreflion from this movement ; for, when
the leg falls down fuddenly, and the head finks at the
fame time, this motion is generally made to give a
fpeedy relief to the other leg, which is not ftrong
enough alone to fupport the whole weight of the bo-
dy. This is a very great defe(5lin a horfe. It is alfo
worthy of a remark, that, when he refts on his heels, it
is a fign of weaknefs; and, when he fupports himfelf
on his toes, it is an unnatural and fatiguing attitude,
which the horfe cannot long continue. The only fure
mark of ftrength and foundnefs in a horfe, is when he
refts firmly on his foot, without favouring any parti-
cular part of it.

Walking,

t4 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

Walking, though the floweft of all motions, ougllC
to be brifk, light, and neither too long nor too fliort,
Lightncfs depends much on the freedom of the fhoul-
dcrs, and is diftinguifhed by the manner in which the
horfe, in walking, carries his head. If he carries his
head high and fteady, he is generally vigorous and
Jight. When the movement of the fhoulders is not
fufficiently free, the limbs are not lifted high enough,
and the horfe is apt to ftumble upon the road, in
walking, a horfe fhould raife his fhoulders, and lower
his haunches. He fhould alfo elevate and fupport his
leg ; but, if he fupports it too long, and allows it to
fall down flowly, he lofes every advantage of lightnefs ;
his walk becomes hard, and he is good for nothing but
ftate and parade.

But lightnefs is not the only good quality in the
movements of the horfe : they fhould likewife be equal
and uniform both before and behind : for, if the crup-
per vibrates when the fhoulders are fupported, his mo-
tion will be jolting and incommodious to the rider.-
The fame thing happens, when the horfe lengthens fo
much the ftep of the hind-leg, that the foot lights be-
yond the print of the fore- foot. Horfes with fhort
bodies are fubjecft to this fault. Thofe whofe legs crofs
each other, or hew, have an unfteady motion j and, in
general, long -bodied horfes are moft commodious to
the rider, becaufe he is placed at a greater diftance from
the two centres of motion, the fhoulders and haunches,
and is of courfe lefs jolted.

The general mode of walking among quadrupeds is
to hft up, at one time, a fore-leg and a hind-leg of op-
pofite fides. As their bodies reft on four points which
form an oblong fquare, the moft commodious manner
of moving is to change two at a time in the diagonal;
io that the centre of gravity of the animal's body may
always remain nearly in the direction of the two points
of fupport which are not in motion. In the three na-
tural movements of the horfe, namely, the walk, the

trot J

O F QJU ADRUPEDS. 15

trot, and the gallop, this mode is always obfcrved,
though with fome variations. In walking there are
four beats or times of moving; if the right fore-leg
moves firft, the left hind-leg inftantly follows; thea
the left fore- leg moves, and is inftantly followed by
the right hind-leg. Thus the right fore-foot refts firft
on the ground, then the left hind-foot, next the Jeft
fore-foot, and, laftly, the right hind -foot, which makes
a motion confifting of four beats and three intervals, uf
which the firft and third are fliorter than the middle
one. In the trot there are only two beats : if the right
fore-leg parts from the ground, it is accompanied, at
the fame time, by the left hind-leg; then the left fore-
Jeg moves at the fame time with the right hind-leg ; fo
that, in this motion, there are but two beats and one
interval ; the right fore-leg and the left hind-leg reil:
on the ground at the fame time, and the fame thing
happens with regard to the left fore-leg and the right
hind-leg. In the gallop, there are commonly three
beats: the left hind- leg moves firft and refts firft on
the ground; then the right hind- leg is raifed along
with the left fore-leg, and both reft on the ground at
the fame time; and, laftly, the right fore-leg is raifed
inftantly after the left fore-leg and the right hind- leg,
and falls laft upon the ground. Thus, in the gallop,
there are three beats and two intervals : \n the firft in-
terval, when the motion is quick, the four legs, for an
inftant, are in the air at the fame time, and the four
fhoes appear at once. When the horfe has fupple
limbs and haunches, and moves with agility, the gal-
lop is moft perfeifl, and the feet fall at four times,
firft, the left hind-leg, then the right hind-leg, next
the left fore-leg, and, laftly, the right fore-leg.

Horfes generally gallop on the right foot, in th-^
fame manner as they fet out in walking or trotting,
with the right fore-leg. In galloping, they firft cut
the road with the right fore- leg, which is farther ad-
vanced than the Izft, and the right hind-leg, which im-
mediately

i6 NATURAL HISTORY

mediately follows the right fore-leg, is likewife farther
advanced than the left hind-leg. Hence the left leg,
which bears the whole weighty and puflies the others
forward, has the greateft fatigue j fo that it would be
proper to learn horfes to gallop alternately upon the
left and right legs ; becaufe it would enable them to
continue this violent motion much longer. This is
pradifed at the menage, but perhaps for no other rea-
fon, but becaufe, in galloping round a circle, the centre
of which is fometimes on the right, and fometimes
on the left, the rider is frequently obliged to change
his hand.

In walking, the horfe raifes his feet very little above
the furfacej in trotting, he elevates them a little more,
and, in galloping, ftill higher. The walk ought to be
fmart, light, and fure ; the trot fhould be firm, quick,
and equally fupported, and the fore-legs pufhed with
rapidity by the hind ones. The trotting horfe fhould
carry his head pretty high, and keep his body ftraight j
for, if the haunches rife and fall alternately at every
movement, and if the crupper rocks, the animal is too
weak for this motion. To throw the fore-legs out is
another fault : they ought always to be within the line
of thofe behind -, for the fafeft horfes go wider behind
than before j becaufe horfes of this kind are not fo apt
to cut their legs, are more agile in their movements,
and can fupport greater fatigue in the field, or in long
journeys, &c.

The fpring of the hocks contributes as much to the
motions of galloping as that of the loins. While the
latter make an effort to elevate and pufh forward the
anterior parts, the fpring of the hocks breaks the flroke
and foftens the fhock. Hence the more uniform and
flrong the fpring of the hocks, the gallop is fofter and
more rapid.

Though walking, trotting, and galloping, be the
natural and ordinary movements of horfes, yet fome of
them have another natural motion^ known by the

name

' O F QJJ A D R U PE D S. 17

name of ambling, or pacing, which is very dificrent
from the other three; and, though lefs quick than the
hard trot or gallop, it appears, at firft iight, to be ex-
tremely fatiguing to the animal. The foot of the
horfe, in this movement, grazes the furface ftill nearer
than in walking, and each ftep is much longer. But,
what is lingular, to make a pace, the two legs of the
fame fide part from the ground at the fame time, the
fore and hind leg, for example, of the right fide, and
then the two legs of the left fide ; fo that each fide ot
the body alternately want fupport, which greatly fatigues
the animal, who is obliged to fupport a balance forced
by the rapidity of a movement which is hardly eleva-
ted above the ground ; for nothing but the rapidity of
the motion, and the fmallnefs of the elevation, could
pofiibly preven*: the creature from falling on his fide.
in the motion of pacing, as in that of trotting, there
are only two beats. This movement, which is very
laborious to the horfe, and in which he ought not to
be indulged except on fmooth ground, is very eafy
to the rider ; it has not the hardnefs of the trot, be-
caufe the hind- leg moves along with the fore- one, and
creates no refiftance to the motion. We are told by
connoifieurs, that horfes v/hich naturally amble never
trot, and that they are much weaker than thofe v^hich
have no fuch movement. Colts, indeed, often afiume
this mode of moving, when forced to go quick, and
when they have not Itrength enough to trot or to gal-
lop ; and even good horfes, after being fatigued, or
when they begin to decay, are apt, when pufhed, to
amble fpontaneoufly. The amble may therefore be
regarded as a motion occafioned by weaknefs or de-
fed. But there are two other movements afllimed
fpontaneoufly by weak or decayed horfes, which are
ftill more defedlive than that of the amble, and are
known by the name of broken ambles. The one is a
motion between walking and ambling, and the otlier
between trotting and galloping. Both proceed from
Vol. III. No. 30. C great

i8 NATURAL HISTORY

great fatigue, or weaknefs in the loins, and are confpl-
cuous In many of our hackney and pod horfes.

Of all quadrupeds, the horfe pofTefles, along with
grandeur of ftature, the greateft elegance and propor-
tion of parts. By comparing him with animals imme-
diately above or below him, v/e find that the afs is ill
made j that the head of a lion is too large j that the
limbs of the ox are too flender and too fhort, in propor-
tion to the fize of his body ; that the camel is deform-
ed ; and that the groffer animals, as the rhinoceros and
elephant, may be confidered as rude and fhapelefs maf-
fes. The great difference between the head of man
and that of the quadrupeds, confifts in the length of
their jaws, which Is the moA ignoble of all charadlers.
But, though the jaws of the horfe be very long, he has
not, like the afs, an air of imbecility, nor, like the ox,
of ftupidity. The regularity and proportion of the
parts of his head give him a light and fprightly afped,
which Is well fupported by the beauty of his cheft. He
elevates his head, as if anxious to exalt himfelf above
the condition of quadrupeds. In this noble attitude,
he regards man face to face. His eyes are open and
lively, his ears handfome and of a proper height, be-
ing neither too long, like thofe of the afs, nor too
fhort, like thofe of the bull. His mane adorns his
neck, and gives him the appearance of ftrength and of
courage. His long bufliy tail covers and terminates
with advantage the extremity of his body. His tail,
very different from the fhort tails of the deer, ele-
phant, 6cc. and from the naked tails of the afs, camel,
rhinoceros, &c. Is formed of long thick hairs which
feem to arife from his crupper, becaufe the trunk from
which they proceed Is very fhort. He cannot, like the
lion, elevate his tail, but, though pendulous, It be-
comes him better: and, as he can move it from fide
to fide, It ferves him to drive off the flies which in-
commode him ; for, though his fkin be very firm, and
well garnlfhed with clofe hair, it is extremely fenfible.

The

OF QJLJ ADRU P EDS. 19

The attitude of the head and neck contributes more
than all the other parts of his body, to give him a
graceful afpeA. The fuperior part of the neck, from
which the mane ifTues, fhould firft rife in a ftrait line
from the withers, and then, as it approaches the head,
form a curve nearly fimilarto that of a fwan's neck.
The inferior part of the neck fhould have no curvature,
but rife in a ftrait line from the poitrel, or breaft, to
the under jaw, with a fmall inclination forward. If it
rofe in a perpendicular dire<5lion, its fymmetry and
gracefulnefs would be diminifhed. The fuperior part
of the neck fhould be thin, with little flefh near
the mane, which ought to be garnifhed with long
delicate hair. A fine neck fhould be long and
elevated, but proportioned to the general fize of
the animal. When too long, the horfe commonly
throws back his head; and, when too fhort and flefhy,
the head is heavy to the hand. The moft advantageous
pofition of the head is, when the front is perpendicular
to the horizon.

The head of a horfe fhould be thin and meagre, and
not too long. The ears fhould be fmall, ered, but
not too ftiff, narrow, and placed on the upper part of
the head, at a proper diftance from each other. The
front fhould be narrow and a little convex, the eye-
pits, or hollows between the eyes and ears, well filled,
and the eye-lids thin ; the eyes fhould be pretty large
and prominent, clear, lively, and full of fire; the pu-
pil fhould be rather large ; the under jaw a little thick,
but not flefhy ; the nofe fomewhat arched, the noftrils
open and deep, and divided by a thin feptum or parti-
tion. The mouth fhould be delicate and moderately
fplit, lips thin, withers fliarp and elevated, the fhould-
ers flat, and not confined; the back equal, a little
arched lengthwife, and raifed on each fide of the back-
bone, which ought to have the appearance of being
funk; the flanks fhould be fhort and full, the crupper
round and plump, the haunches well furnifhed with

C 2 mufcular

lo NATURAL HISTORY

niufcular fiefh, the dock or flefhy part of the tail firm
and thick, the thighs large and fielhy, the hock round
before, broad on the fides, and tendinous behind ; the
fhank thin before, and broad on the fides ; the tendon
(or tendo Achilhs) prominent, ftrong, and well de-
tached from the leg- bone, and the fetlock fomewhat
prominent, and garnifhed with a fmall tuft of long hair
behind ; the pafterns fliould be of a middling length,
and pretty large; the coronet a little elevated; the hoof
black, folid, and fhining; the inftep high, the quarters
round, the heels broad, and a little prominent, the frog
thin and fmall, and the fole thick and concave.

Few horfes pofi!*efs all thefe perfeftions. The eyes
are fubjed to many faults, which it is often difficult to
diftinguifh. In a found eye, two or three foot- co-
loured fpots appear through the cornea abo-ve the pu-
pil ; for, unlefs the cornea be clean and tranfparent,
thefe fpots cannot be (cGn. When the pupil is fmally
long, and narrow, orfurrounded with a white circle, or
when it is of a greenifii-blue colour, the eye is unquef-
tionably bad.

Without entering into a long detail, the following
general remarks will enable the reader to form a judg-
ment of the principal perfedions and impertedions of
a horfe. The motion of the ears affords a tolerable
criterion : when a horfe walks, the point of his ears
fhould incline forwards ; when fatigued, his cars hang
down ; and, when angry, or of a malignant difpofition,
he points alternately one of his ears forwards, and an-
other backwards. Every horfe turns his ears to that
fide from which he hears any noife; and, when ftruck
on the back or crupper, he turns his ears backward.
Horfes with hollow eyes, or with one eye fmaller than
the other, have generally a bad fight. Thofe whofe
mouths are dry have not fuch good conftitutions as
thofe tl-at have moift mouths, and foam with the bit.
The fhoulders of a faddle- horfe fhould be fiat, fupple,
and not too fiefiiy. A draught-horfe, on the contrary,

2 ought

OF QUADRUPEDS. 21

ought to have thick, round, flefhy, flioulders. If, how-
ever, the Ihouldcrs of a fiiddle-horfe be too meagre,
and the bones advance too much through the fl<;in, it is
an indication that his flioulders are not free, and that,
of courfe, he will be unable to undergo much fatigue.
Another defed of a faddle-horfe is to have the poitrej,
or breaft, too prominent, and the fore- legs inclined or
placed too far backward; becaufe, in this cafe, he is
fubjed: to lean heavy upon the hand in galloping, and
even to ftumble and fall. The length of the legs
/hould. be proportioned to the ftature of the horfe.
When the fore-legs are too long, he is not Heady on
his feet ; and, when too ihort, he bears heavy on the
hand. It has been remarked, that mares are more li-
able than horfes to be low before, and that ftone-horfes
have thicker necks than mares or geldings.

It is of great importance to know the age of a horfe.
The eye-pits of old horfes are commonly hollow: but
this mark is equivocal j for young hcrfes begot by old
flaliions have likewife hollow eye-pits. The .teeth af-
ford the bcff; criterion of the age of horfes. Tlie horfe
has, in all, forty teeth, viz. twenty-four grinders, four
canine or tufhes, and twelve fore- teeth. Mares have
either no dog-teeth, or very fnort ones. The canine
and fore teeth onlv afford indications of the aoe. Five
days after birth, the fore-teeth begin to fhoot. Thcfe
firft teeth are round, flioit, and not very folid; and they
fall out at different times to be replaced by others. At
two years and a half, the fourmiddle fore- teeth fail out,
two above and two bv-low. The next year, other four
are fhed, one on each fide of the firft, which are nov/
replaced. At four years and a half, other four fall out,
always on each fide of thofe which were formerly flied
and replaced. Thefe laft four foal-teeth are fucceeded
by other four, which grow not near fo quickly as the
firfi: eight. It is from thefe four, called corner teeth, that
the age of a horfe is diftinguifhed; and they are eafily
known, being always the third, both above and below,

reckoning

11 NATURAL HISTORY

reckoning from the middle to the extremity of the jaw»
They are hollow, and have a black mark in their ca-
vities. At four and a half or five years, thefe teeth
hardly rife above their gums, and their cavities are
very perceptible. ' At fix years and a half, the cavities
begin to fill up, and the mark gradually diminifhes till
the animal is feven and a half or eight years, when the
cavities are perfedly filled, and the mark totally ef-
faced. After this period the age is attempted to be
difcovered by the tuihes or canine teeth. Thefe four
teeth lie immediately adjacent to the other four above
defciibed. Neither the tuflies nor grinders fhed. At
the age of three years and a half, the two tufhcs of the
under jaw generally begin to fiioot j the two of the
upper jaw appear at the age of four, and, till fix years
be completed, they are very fhavp. At t^n years, the
tufiies of the upper jaw feem to be blunted, worn out,
and long, becaufe the gum retradls with age ; and, the
more this appearance takes place, the elder is the horfe.
From ten to thirteen or fourteen years, there are hard-
ly any marks by which the age may be difcovered.
Some hairs of the eye-brows, indeed, begin to grow
white; but this mark is equally equivocal as that de-
rived from the depth of the eye-pits ; for it has been
remarked, that horfes begot by old ftallions and old
mares, have white hairs in the eye-brows at the age of
nine or ten. The teeth of fome horfes are fo hard,
that they wear not by eating, and never lofe the black
inark. But thefe horfes are eafily known, becaufe the
cavities of their teeth are perfedly filled up, and their
tufhes are very long. The age of a horfe may like-
wife be known, though with lefs precifion, by the bars
or ridges of the palate, which are effaced in propor-
tion as he advances in years.

As it is oftentimes great advantage to know the
technical terms employed by dealers and farriers, to
exprefs the external parts of a horfe, it will be proper
to enumerate them here, and to elucidate the whole

.by

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 23

by references to a copper-plate engravingof the figure

of a horfe.

A The two bones correfponding to the temples of
a man, and called by the fame name. B The eye-
pits, or two cavities between the eye and the ear,
above the eye-brows. C The vives. The paratid
glands, fituated between the ear and the locking of
the under jaw. D The face or chanfrin* The fore
part of the head from the eyes to the noftrils. E I'he
rim of the noftrils. The cartilage which forms the
circular aperture of the noftrils, and terminates them
above and below. F Tip of the nofe. The parti-
tion which divides the noftrils, terminating at the up-
per lip. G to H The bones of the lower jav/. H
The chin. I The beard. Gatherers ; the two fore-
teeth. Middle- teeth; thofe adjoining to the gather-
ers. Corner-teeth; the laft on each fide. Tufhes ;
the two canine teeth on each fide, and in each jaw.
Bars ; the fpaces between the cutting teeth and grind-
ers, filled with ridges, which run acrofs the palate.
•K The neck, which is bounded above by the mane,
and below by the throat, extending from the Ihoulders
to the head. L The tuft or toupet. That part of
the mane which lies between the two ears, and hangs
down on the front. M The withers. The place where
the two ftioulders approach each other between the
r.eck and back. N The ftioulders, extending from
the withers M, to the top of the fore-hand, or fore-leg
O. P The cheft or breaft. Q^The back, reaching
from the withers M, to the reins S. R The navel .
The part between the back and reins ; a very abfurd
term, as the navel is in the lower part of the belly, S
The reins. This term is often ufed, though improperly,
to exprefs the whole fpine of the horfe. T The fides,
which are formed and limited by the ribs. V ThecofFer.
The hollow formed by the contour of the ribs. The
name belly is given to the part extending from V to
the flank. X The flanks. The extremity of the belly,

at

24 NATURAL HISTORY

at the termination of the ribs, below the kidneys, and
reaching to the haunch-bones. Y The haunch, form-
ed, as in man, by the haunch-bone. Z The crupper,
which is round, and reaches from the kidneys to the
tail. The tail is diftinguifhed by two parts, the hair
and the rump, a The buttocks, are fituated below
the crupper and the origin of the tail, and extend to
the place where the hind-leg joins the body, b The
fhoulder- blade, c The humerus. Both of thefe are
included by horfemen under the name of ihoulder. d
The elbow, e The arm. / The knee, or joints fitu-
ated below the arm, a term improperly applied to a
horfe, as it correfponds to the wrift in man. g The
fhank or canon ; the fecond part of the fore-leg. It
begins at the articulation of the knee, terminates at
the fetlock joint /, and anfwers to the metacarpus in
man. ^ The tendon, commonly called the back-
finew. i The fetlock joint, k The tuft of hair which
furrounds a kind of foft horn fituated behind the fhank.
/ The pafterns. The part of the leg which extends
from the fetlock joint to the hoof, m The coronet.
The place where the hoof joins the leg, and is deco-
rated with long hair falling down all around the hoof.
n The hoof reprefents the nail in man ; the fore-part
of it n is called the toe ; and the fides o the quarters.
The hind-part of the hoof is a little raifed, and divi-
ded into two parts, both included under the name heel :
] they extend to the middle of the under part of the
foot, and uniting again under the fole, or bottom of
the foot, form the frog, f The ftiffle, is properly tha
articulation of the knee, and contains the knee-pan.
q The thigh. It extends from the ftifHe and extremity
of the buttocks to the ham r, and anfwers to the leg
in man. Accordingly, the horfe's thigh has a flefiiy
part J-, refembling the calf of a human leg. / The
hock or ham, is the joint at the extremity of the
thigh, and bends forwards. This articulation corre-
fponds with the tarfus in man. The hinder-part of

the

i If'

•'m^m.

O F Q^U ADRUPEDS. 25

the joint r:illed the hock, is properly the heel. What
is commonly called the great (inew, which arifes from
the point of the hock, and termin'.tes in the foot, is a
tendon, anfwering to the tendo Achillis inferted into
the human heel, u The fhank. x The paftern joint.
y The pafterns. z The foot, as in the fore-leg. This
explanation of the particular terms, will render the ge-
neral ones more eafy and fimple. A horfe is divided
into three principal parts, the fore-hand, the body or
cat cafe, and the hind-hand. The fore- hand includes
the head, neck, withers, bread, and fore-legs. The
body is compofed of the back, kidneys, ribs, belly,
and flanks. The hind-hand comprehends the rump,
haunches, tail, buttocks, ftiffle, thighs, hocks, and the
other parts of the hind-legs. By another mode of di-
vifion, the horfe is diftinguifhed into four parts, the
head, the body, and the fore and hind trains. The
body is compofed of the back, the kidneys, the belly,
the ribs, and the flanks. The fore-train confifl:s of the
neck, the fboulders, the breaft, and the fore-legs i and
the hind- train, of the rump, the tail, the haunches, and
the hind-legs.

At the age of three years the horfe is in a condition
to propagate j and the mares, like moft other females,
are ftill fooner ripe for this operation. But the foals
produced from fuch early embraces are weakly, or ill-
formed. The horfe {hould never be admitted to the
mare till he is four or four and a half; and even this
period is too early, except for coarfe or draught horfes.
When fine horfes are wanted, the male fhould not be
admitted to the mare before he is fix years old ; and
Spanifh ftallions not till they be full feven. The mares
may be one year younger: they generally come in fea-
fon from the end of March to the end of June. But
their chief ardour for the horfe lafts not above fifteen
days or three weeks; and, during this critical period,
the mare fliould be admitted to the ftallion : he ought
to be found, vigorous, well-made, and of a good-breed.
Vol. III. No. 30. D To

a6 NATURAL HISTORY

To procure fine faddle-horfes, foreign ftallions, as A-
rabians, Turks, Barbs, and Andalufians, are preferable
to all others. Next to thefe, well-bred Britifti ftal-
lions are the befti becaufe they originally fprung from
thofe above mentioned, and are very little degenerated.
Italian ftallions, efpecially thofe of Naples, are ex-
tremely good. With mares of a proper fize, they
produce excellent horfes for the faddle; and, with
ftrong large mares, they produce good coach-horfes.
Neither ought the colour of ftallions to be overlooked,
as a fine black, grey, bay, forrel, &c. A 11 party-co-
loured, or ill-defined colours, ought to be banifhed
from the ftud, as well as every horfe which has white
extremities. Befides thefe external qualities, a ftallion
fhould be endowed v^ith courage, traflabillty, and fpi-
rit ; he fliould have agility, a fenftble mouth, and fure
limbs i his fhoulders ftiould be perfedlly free, and his
haunches fupple ; he fhould have a fpring and elafti-
city in his whole body, efpecially in his hind-legs ; and
he ought to be trained and drelTed in the riding-fchool.
Thefe precautions in the choice of a ftallion are the
more neceffary, becaufe it has been found by experi-
ence, that he communicates to his oftspring almoft all
his good or bad qualities, whether natural or acquired.
A horfe naturally crofs, fklttifh, reftive, &c. produces
foals of the fame difpofttions : and, as the defeds of
conformation and the vices of the humours are more
certainly perpetuated than the qualities of the temper,
one fhould rejed from the ftud every horfe that is de-
formed or dileafed, extremely vicious, glandered, bro-
ken-winded, frantic, &c.

In every climate the mare contributes lefs to the
beauty of the offspring than the ftallion ; for many
experiments and obfervatlons have been adduced to
prove, that not only in horfes, but in man, and every
other animal, the male has more, influence on the ex-
ternal form of the young than the female, and that, in
every fpecies, the male is the principal type of the

race.

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 27

race. In the common order of nature, it is not the
males, but the females, which conftitute the unity of the
fpecies ; but this prevents not the male from being
the true ty'pe of each fpecies ; and what is advanced
concerning unity, extends only to the greater facility
of reprefenting the fpecies poffefTed by the female,
though fhe fubmits to the embraces of different males.
From hence it appears, that, though the female feems
to have more influence upon the fpecific charafter of
the breed, fhe never improves it, the male alone en-
joying the faculty of fupporting the purity of the race,
and of rendering it more perfe(ft. It is however of
great importance that mares for breed fhould be found,
tall, large, roomy in the trunk of the body, and good
nurfes. For elegant horfes, Spanifh and Italian mares
are beftj but, for draught- horfes, thofe of England
and Normandy are preferable. However, when the
ftallions are good, fine horfes may be produced from
mares of any country, provided they be well made and
of a good breed ; for, if the mares have fprung from
a bad ftallion, their offspring are generally defeftive.

And again, when the mare has been begot by a bad
horfe, it often happens, that though ferved by a good
ftallion, and handfome herfelf, her offspring, though
beautiful and well made at firft, gradually decline as
they grow up ; whilft other mares, fprung from a
good race, produce foals, which, though they have an
unpromifing afped: when young, improve as they ad-
vance in years.

"When the ftallion is chofen, and the mares are af-
fembled, another ftone -horfe ftiould be allowed to
teaze them, for no other purpofe but to difcover thofe
which are in feafon. Thofe that are not in proper
condition repel his attacks. But, inftead of allowincr
him to proceed with the mares which are in feafon,
he is led oft*, and the true ftallion is fubftituted in his
place. This trial is chiefly ufeful for difcovering the
condition of fuch mares as have never produced; for

D a thofe

28 NATURAL HISTORY

thofe which have produced are commonly in reafoii
nine days after their delivery, and may be fafely co-
vered on the tenth day. Nine days after, their condi-
tion may be tried by the above proof, and, if ftill in
feafon, they fhould be covered a fecond time, and fo
on every ninth day, till their ardour abates, which hap-
pens a few days after conception. But, to condudl
this matter properly, requires confiderable attention
and expence. The ftud fhould be eftabli/hed on good
ground, and its dimenfions proportioned to the quan-
tity of mares and ftallions employed. This ground
fhould be divided into feveral apartments, and well
fenced with ditches and hedges. The impregnated
mares, and thofe which are fuckling their young, lliould
have the richeft pafture. Another enclofure, where
the grafs is lefs rich, fhould contain the uncovered
mare, thofe that have not conceived, and the female
foals ; for a rich pafture makes them grow too far,
and weakens the generative faculty. Laftly, the young
male foals and geldings fhould be confined to the drieft
and mofl; rugged part of the ground, that, by afcend-
ing and defcending the eminences, they may acquire a
freedom in their limbs and fhoulders. This lad inclofure
fhould be well fenced from that which contains the mares,
to prevent the young horfes from enervating themfelves
by premature efforts. If the field be fufficiently ex-
tensive, each of thefe inclofures fliould be divided into
two, and grazed alternately by horfes and oxen. This
mode of grazing improves the pafture j for the ox re-
pairs what is injured by the horfe. Each park fhould
likewife be furnifhed with a pond, which is better than
a running water, and alfo with trees to fhelter the ani-
mals from too much heatj but, to prevent accidents,
aH old ftumps fhould be rooted out, and deep holes fil-
led up. Thefe paftures will afford fufficient nourifli-
ment to the ftud during the fummer ; but, in winter,
the mares and foals fhould be put into ftables, and fed
with hay, except in very fine weather^ when they may

be

O F Q^U ADRUPEDS. 2^

be fet out to pailare during the day. The ftaliions
fhould always be kept in the ftables, fed with a greater
proportion of ftraw than of hay, and moderately ex-
ercifed till the time of covering, which generally lafts
from the beginning of April till the end of June. Du-
ring this period, they ihould be fed plentifully, but with
no other article than their ordinary food.

When the ftallion is conduded to the mare, to aug-
ment his ardour, he fhould be well drefTed. The mare
fhould have the fhoes taken off her hind- feet ; for
fome of them are apt to kick at the approach of the
flallion. One man holds the mare by the head, and
two others lead the ftallion by long reins. . When in a
proper fituation, he fhould be alfifled by the hand.
The ftallion fometimes quits the mare without con-
fummating. If the trunk of his tail near the crupper
vibrates before he defcends, we may be certain that he
has confummated ; for this motion always accompanies
emiftlon. After confummation, the aft ftiould not be
reiterated -, but he ought to be carried back immedi-
ately to the ftable, there to remain two days : for,
though a horfe might be able to cover every day during
the feafon j yet, if only admitted once in two days, be
is both more vigorous and more luccefsful. Durinp-
the firft {^Mtn days, therefore, let him have four dif-
ferent mares, and, on the ninth, let him again cover
the firft mare, and fo on as long as they continue in
feafon. When one of the mares ceafes to be ardenr,
another fliould be fubftituted in her places and, as
many are impregnated at the firft, fecond, or third,
time, a ftallion, managed in this manner, may cover
fifteen or eighteen mares, and produce ten or twelve
foals, during the three months that thefe amours con-
tinue. Stallions throw out a vaft profufion of feminal
fluidj mares likewife emit, during the time they are
in feafon -, and, as foon as they are pregnant, thefe
cmiftions ccafe. This fluid was called hippomanes by
tlie Greeks ; and of it they are faid to have made love-
a- potions.

3d NATURAL HISTORY

potions, which rendered horfes, in particular, frantic
with defire. The hippomanes is totally different from
the fluid found in the membranes that cover the foal,
which was firft difcovered and defcribed by M. Dau-
benton. The appearance of the hippomanes is the
moft certain mark of ardour in mares. This paflion
may likewise be difcovered by the fvvelling of the under
part of the vulva, and by the frequent neighing of the
mares, who, at this period, have a ftrong defire of be-
ing appropxhed by the horfe. After a mare has been
covered, flie may be led to the pafture without any-
other precaution. The firft foal is always more puny
than the fubfequent ones : to compenfate this defed, a
mare fhould be ferved, for the firft time, with a large
ilallion. The differences in the figures of the horfe
and mare fhould be attended to, in order to corred the
faults of the one by tlie perfedtion of the other ; and no
difproportioned conjunctions ought to be admitted, as
of a fmaii horfe and a larf^e mare, or of a lar^-e horfe and
a fmsll marci for the produce of fuch conjundions
will either be fmall or ill proportioned. In order to
improve hature, we muft advance by gradual fteps : a
plump but h;indfome horfe, for example, may be ad-
mitted to a m^ie that is too grofs, a fmall mare to a
horfe that is a httle taller, a mare with a bad fore-hand
to a horfe with a fine head, neck, &c.

It has been remarked, that ftuds kept m dry light
foils produce atftive, nimble, and vigorous, horfes, with
nervous limbs and ftrong hoofs ; while thofe kept in
moift ground, and in too rich paflurage, have generally
large heavy heads, grofs bodies, thick legs, bad hoofs,
and broad feet. It is tafy to perceive that thefe differ-
ences proceed from the varieties in climate and food.
But the neceffity of croffing the breed, to prevent the
degeneration of horfes, is more difficult to underftand,
and of more importance to be known.

There is in nature a general prototype of every fpe-
cies, upon which each individual is modelled, but which

feemSj

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 31

feems, in its adiial produiftion, to be depraved or im-
proved by circumftances ; (b that, with regard to cer-
tain qualities, there appears to be an unaccountable va-
riation in the fuccefiion of individuals, and, at the fame
time, an admirable unitormitv in the entire fpecies.
The firft animal, the firfl: horfe, for example, has been
the external and internal model, upon Vvhich all the
horfes that haveexifted, or (hall exiii, have been form-
ed. But this model, of v/hich we know only copies,
has had, in communicating and multiplying its form,
the power of adulterating or of improving itfelf. The
original impreflion is i^referved in each individual. But,
among millions of individuals, not one exa<5t]y refem-
bles another, nor, of courfe, the model from which they
fprung. This difference, which fhews that Nature is
not abfolute, but knows how to vary her works by in-
finite fhades, is equally confpicuous in the human fpe-
cies, in all animals, and in all vegetables. What is An-
gular, this model of the beautiful and the excellent,
items to be difperfed over every region of the earth, a
portion of which refides in all climates, and always de-
generates, unlefs united with another portion brought
from a diftance. In order, therefore, to obtain good
grain, beautiful flowers, &c. the feeds mufl be chan-
ged, and never fown in the fame foil that produced
them. In the {kme manner, to have fine horfes, dogs,
&c. the males and females of different countries muff
have reciprocal intercourfe. Without this precaution,
all grain, flowers, and animals, degenerate, or rather re-
ceive an impreffion from the climate fo ftrong as to
deform and adulterate the fpecies. This imprefllon
remains, but is disfigured by every feature that is not
eflential. By mixing races, on the contrary, or by
croffmg the breed of different climates, beauty of form,
and every other ufeful quality, are brought to perfec-
tion : nature recovers her fpring, and exhibits her beft
produdtions.

I mean

52 NATURAL HISTORY

I mean not to enter into a detail of the caufes of
thefe effeds ; but fhall confine myfelf to fuch conjec-
tures as moft readily prefent themfelves. We know
by experience, that animals or vegetables, tranfported
from diftant climates, often degenerate, and fometimes
come to perfection, in a few generations. This efFed:,
it is obvious, is produced by difference of climate and
of food. The operation of thefe two caufes muft, in
procefs of time, render fuch animals exempt from, or
fufceptible of, certain affedions, or certain difeafes.
Their temperament muft fuffer a gradual change. Of
courfe, their form, which partly depends on food and
the qualities of the humours, muft alfo, in the courle
of generations, fuffer an alteration. This change, it is
true, is hardly perceptible in the firft generation ; be-
caufe the male and female, which we fuppofed to be
the origin of this race, being fully grown, had received
their form and ftru(5lure before they were tranfported.
The new climate and new food may change their tem-
perament j but cannot have influence upon the folid
and organic parts fufficient to alter their form. The
firft generation of thefe animals, therefore, will not fuf-
fer any change in their figure ; nor, at the inftant of
birth, will the ftock be vitiated or depraved. But the
young and tender ftranger will feel a much ftronger
impreflion from the climate than its father or mother
experienced. The operation of food will likewife be
{(J great as to influence the organic parts during the
time of the animal's growth : a change will, of courfe,
be introduced into its formj the feeds of imperfeiilion
will be fown, and appear in a fenflble manner, in the
fecond generation, which will not only labour under its
own proper defers, or thofe proceeding from its growth
and nourifhment, but inherit all the vices of the fecond
ftock. Laflly, the imperfec^lions and deformities tranf-
mitted to the third generation, being combined with
the influence of the climate and food during the growth
of the animal, will become fo great as to obliterate en-
tirely

OFQJJADRUPEDS. 33

tirely the chara(5lcrs of the original ftock. Hence, in
a few generations, animals tranfnorted into a climate
different from their own, Icfe all their diitincffcive qua-
lities, and acquire thofe peculiar to the country they
are obliged to inhabit. In France, Englifh, Spanifli,
and Barbary, horfes, v/hen the breed is not crolTed, .be-
come French horfes, fometimes in the fecond genera-
tion, and always in the third. Inftead of preferving
the breed diftinvfl, therefore, it is neceflary to crofs it
every generation, by admitting Spanifh, Englifli, and
Barbary, horfes, to mares of the country. It is fmgu-
lar, that this renewing of the race, which is only partial,
produces better eiFc(5ls than if it were complete. This
may eafily be conceived, if we attend to the compenfa-
tion of defects which neceflarily happens, when males
and females oF different countries are allowed to inter-
mix. Every climate, by its influence, joined to that
of the food, gives a certain conformation of parts,
which errs either by excefs or defed:. When a warm
climate produces redundancies in particular parts, a
cold climate giv^s rife to deficiencies in the farne parts.
Hence, when animals of oppofite climates intermix, an
exad: compenfation is effeded. As the moft perfe(5t
work, of Nature is that in which there are fewefl; de-
feds, and as the mofl; pcrfeft forms are thofe which
have the fewelt deformities, the produdion of two ani-
mals, whofe faults exadly compenfate each other, will
be the moft perfed of this kind. Now, this compen-
fation being aUvays completefl, when animals of remote,
or rather of oppofite, climates, are joined, the com-
pound refulting from the mixture is more or lefs per-
fed, in proportion as the excefs or defeds in the con-
flitution of the father are oppofed to thofe peculiar to
the mother.

Though the common feafon of mares is from the
beginning of April to the end of June ; yet the ardour
of fome not frequently appears at a more early period.
An ardour fo premature ihould be repreffed ; Se-'iaufe

Vol. III. No. 31. E the

34 NATURAL HISTORY

the foal would be brought forth In cold weather, and,
confequently, fuffer both from the intemperance of the
feafon and from bad milk. If this ardour appears not
till after the month of June, it ihould likewife be re-
prefled; becaufe the foal would be produced in fum-
mer, and would not acquire ftrength enough to refift
the rigours of winter.

When the impregnated mares begin to grow heavy,
they fhould be feparated from thofe which are not in
that condition, to prevent them from receiving any
injury. Their period of geftation is generally eleven
months and fome days. They bring forth in a {land-
ing pofture, while moft other quadrupeds lie down.
"When the delivery is difficult, they require the aflift-
ance of man j and, when the foal is dead, it is extraded
with cords. As in moft animals, the colt firft prefents
its head. In efcaping from the uterus it breaks the
membranes, and the waters flow abundantly. The
waters are accompanied with feveral folid mafTes, form-
ed by the fediment of the liquor of the allantoides.
Thofe mafTes, called hippomanes by the ancients, are
not, as they fuppofed, pieces of flefh attached to the
head of the foal. They are, on the contrary, feparated
from the foal by the amnios. Immediately after birth,
the mare licks the foal : but ihe never touches the hip-
pomanes, though the ancients aflert that fhe inftantly
devours it.

It is ufual to cover a mare nine days after fhe has
foaled, that no time may be loft, and that every poffible
profit may be derived from the ftud. It is certain,
however, that, her ftrength being divided, fhe is unable
to nourifti both a foal and a foetus fo fuccefsfully as if
.ilie had but one at a time. To procure excellent horfes,
therefore, the mares ftiould be covered but once in two
years, which would make them live longer, and hold
more furely: for, in ordinary ftuds, it is well if a half
or two -thirds bring forth in a year. Mares, though
impregnated, will fometimes fuffer tg be covered; aivd

yet

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 35

yet there are no inftances of fuperfoetation. In gene-
ral, they are capable of produchig to the age of fourteen
or fifteen years, and the moft vigorous produce not af-
ter eighteen. Stallions, when properly managed, re-
tain their prolific powers to the age of twenty years,
and fometimes longer : and, as in man, thofe which
begin too early are fooneft extinguifhed j for the large
horfes, which come fooner to maturity than fine ones,
and are employed as ftallions at the age of four years,
are commonly ufelefs at fifteen. The life of horfes, as
in every other fpecies of animals, is proportioned to
the time of their growth. The horfe, whofe growth is
accomplifhed in four years, can live fix or (even times
as much, i. e. twenty-five or thirty. The exceptions
to this rule are fo few, that no conclufions can be drawn
from them: and, as large horfes come fooner to ma-
turity than the delicate ones, their lives are likewife
fhorter, and they are generally fuperannuated in fifteen
years.

In horfes, and moft other quadrupeds, the growth of
the pofterior parts feems at firft to be greater than that
of the anterior. But, in man, the growth of the infe-
rior parts is at firft lefs than that of the fuperior : for
the thighs and legs of infants are, in proportion to
their bodies, much lefs than thofe of adults. The
hind- legs of the foal, on the contrary, are fo long,
that they can reach his head, which is by no means-
the cafe after he acquires his full growth. But this
dififercnce proceeds not fo much from the inequa-
lity in the total growth of the anterior and pofterior
parts, as from the unequal lengths of the fore and hind
feet, which uniformly hold through all nature, and is
moft remarkable in quadrupeds. Man's feet are larger,
and likewife fooner formed, than his hands. The
greateft part of the horfe's hind-leg is only a foot, being
compofedof bones correfpondingto the tarfus, metatar-
fus, &c. It is not, therefore, furprifing, that his foot
fhould fooner be expanded than the fore-leg, the inferior
part of which reprefents the hand, being compofed of

E 2 the

3f^ NATURAL HISTORY

the bones of the carpus, metacarpus, &c. This difference
is eafily perceived immediately after a foal is brought
forth. The fore-legs, when compared with the hind-
ones, are proportioiiably much fhorter than they are
to be afterwards. Befides, the thicknefs which the
body acquires, though independent of the proportional
growth in length, increafes the diftance between the
hind-feet and the head, and, confequently, prevents the
anima!, when full grown, from reaching the head.

The Arabian horfes are the moft beautiful. They
are larger, more jfleihy, and handfomer, than the Barbs.
Barbary horfes are more common. They have along
fine neck, not overcharged v/ith hair, and well divided
from the withers. The head is fmall and beautiful.
The ears are handfome and properly placed, the
flioulders are light and flat. The withers are thin and
well raifed. The back is ftrait and fhcrt. The flank
and fides are round, and the belly not too large. The
haunch-bones are properly concealed; the crupper is
fomevvhat long, and the tail placed rather high. The
thigh is well formed, and rarely flat. The iimbs are
fine, handfome, and not hairy. The tendon is promi-
nent, and the foot well made; but the padern is often
long. They are of all colours, but generally greyifh.
In their movements, they are apt to be carelefs, and
require to be checked. They are fwift, nervous, light,
and m.ake fine hunters. Thcfe horfes appear to be the
raoft proper for improving the breed. Their ftature,
however, is not fo large as could be wilhed. It is
however confirmed by repeated experience, that in
England they produce foals wjiich grow much larger
th;in themfclves. Of the Barbary horfes, thofe of the
kingdom of Morocco are faid to be the befl:, and next
to th'fe are the Barbs from the mountains. The horfes
of Mauritania are of an inferior quality, as well as
thofe of Turkey, Perfia, andArmeni i. All the horfes of
warm climates have fmoother and fhorter hair than thofe
of other countries. The Turkifh horfes are notfo v^'ell
proportioned as the Barbs. Their necks are generally
2 fiender.

O F Q^U ADRUPED^. jy

(lender, their bodies long, and their legs too thin. They
are however excellent travellers, and have a long wind-
It will not be thought furprifing, that the bones of ani-
mals are harder in warm than cold climates. It is for
this reafon that, though they have thinner fhank bones
than the horfes of this country, their limbs are ftronger.
The Spanifh horfes, which hold the fecond rank af-
ter the Barbs, have a long, thick, hairy, neck. The
head is rather grofs and flefhy. The ears are long,
but well fituated. The eyes are full of fire, and their
air is bold and noble. The fhoulders are thick, and
the cheft broad. The reins are often a little low, the
fides round, and the belly frequently too big. The
crupper is generally round and large, though in fome
it is rather long. The limbs are fine, and not hairy;
the tendons of the legs are prominent ; the paftern \s
fometimes too long, like that of the Barbj the foot is
rather long, like that of the mule ; and the heel is ofceii
too high. The Spanifh horfes of the befl race are
thick, plump, and of a lov/ ftature : their movements
are likewife quick and fupple; and they are remark-
able for fpirit and boldnefs. Thfeir colour is commonly
black, or a dark chefnut, though they are to be found
of all colours. Their nofes and limbs are feldom white:
thefe marks are difliked by the Spaniards, who never
breed from thofe which have fuch charadlers. Their
favourite mark is a ftar in the forehead; and they
efteem a horfe Vv ithout a fingle fpot as much as we de-
fpife him. Both of thefe prejudices, though oppofite
to each other, are perhaps equally ill-founded i for we
find excellent horfes with all kinds of marks, or with
no marks whatever. • Thefe little diiferences in the
coats ot horfes feem to have no dependence on their
difpofitions or internal conftitution, but take their rife
from external circum fiances j for a flight wound on the
fkin produces a white Ipot. Befides, Spanifli horfes,
of whatever kind, are all marked in the thigh with
the fignature of the flud from which they were taken i

they

St NATURAL HISTORY

they are generally* of a fraall ftature, though feme of
them are from fourteen to fifteen hands high. Thofe
of Upper Andalufia, are faid to be the beft, though
their heads be often too long: but their other rare and
excellent qualities make this fault infignificant. They
are obedient, courageous, graceful, fpirited, and more
docile than the Barbs. For thefe talents they are pre-
feired to all horfes of the world, for the purpofes of
war, of pomp, or of the menage.

The fineft horfes in this country, refemble thofe of
Arabia and Barbary, from which they originally fprung:
their heads are handfome, and their ears in general well
fituated. By the ears alone, an English horfe may be
diftinguifhed from a Barb, being longer; but the great
difference lies in their ftature ; for the Hnglifh horfes
are much largerand plumper : they are generally ft rong,
vigorous, hardy, capable of enduring much fatigue, and
excellent either for hunting or the courfe.

The Englifti race-horfes of this breed are extremely
^eet, and are managed with great dexterity by their
riders. In the annals of Newmarket may be found in-
ftances of fome of them that have literally outftripped
the wind. Childers was an amazing inftance, of rapi-
dity ; his fpeed having been more than once exerted
equal to 82 i-half feet in a fecond of time, which is
near a mile in a minute. Edipfe was alfo, among
many others, a furprifing inftance of the happy com-
bination of fiiperior ftrength, courage, and fleetnefs,
united in the fame animal.

The prefent cavalry of England fupports its ancient
glory. It was eminent in the eariieft times : our
fcythed chariots, and the aclivity and good difcipline
of our horfes, even ftruck terror into Casfar's legions :
and the Britons, as foon as they became civilized e-
nough to coin, took care to reprefent on their money
the animal for which they were fo celebrated. It is now
impoflfible to trace out this fpecies ; for thofe which
cxift ^mong the indigense of Great Britain, fuch as thq

little

OF QUADRUPEDS. :^9

little horfes of Wales and Cornwall, the hobbies of
Ireland, and the Ihelties of Scotland, though admirably
well adapted to the ufes of thofe countries, could never
have been equal to the work of war : but probably we
had even then a larger and ftronger breed in the more
fertile and luxuriant parts of the ifland.

The Englifti were ever attentive to an exa(?t culture
of thefe animals: and in very early times fet a high va-
lue on their breed. The efteem that our horfes were
held in by foreigners fo long ago as the reign of Athel-
ftan, may be colle(5led from a law of that monarch,
prohibiting their exportation, except they were defigned
as prefents. Thefe muft have been the native kind, or
the prohibition would have been needlefs ; for our com-
merce was at that time too limited to receive improve-
ment from any but the German kind, to which country
their own breed could be of no value. But, when our
intercourfe with the other parts of Europe was en-
larged, we foon laid hold of the advantages this gave
of improving our breed. Roger de Belefme earl of
Shrewfbury, is the firfl: that is on record : he introdu-
ced the Spanifh ftallions into his eftate in Pow-ifland,
£rom which that part of Wales was for many ages ce-
lebrated for a fwift and generous race of horfes. Gi-
raldus Cambr^nfis, who lived in the reign of Henry II.
takes notice of it j and Michael Drayton, cotemporarv
withShakefpear, fings their excellence in the fixth part
of his Polyolbion. This kind was probably deftined
to mount our gallant nobility, or courteous knights, for
feat of chivalry, in the generous contefts of the tilt and
tournament. From thefe fprung, to Ipeak the lan-
guage of the times, the flower of courfers, whofe ele-
gant form added charms to the rider, and whofe aflivity
and managed dexterity gained him the palm in that
£eld of gallantry and romantic honour.

The Italian horfes were formerly much handfomer
^han they are now ; becaufe, for fome time pall, the
ifcreed has been negledled. Howjsver, the Neapolitan

horfes

40 NATURAL HISTORY

horfes are excellent for carnages. But, in general, they
have large heads and thick necks ; they are alfo un-
-tradlable, and, of courfe, not eafily managed. Thefe
<3efe6ts are compenfated by the ftatelinefs of their form,
:by their high fpirit, and by the gracefulnefs of their
motions.

The Danifh horfes, both on account of fize and
beauty, are preferred to all others for carriages. Some
of them are perfeft models j but their number is fmall ;
for moft of them are not very regularly formed, hav-
ing thick necks, grofs fhoulders, backs too long and
too low, and cruppers too narrow in proportion to the
-thicknefs of their fore-parts. But they are all grace-
ful in their movements; and, in general, they are ex-
cellent for war and pomp: they are of ail colours 3 but
ithe tiger-fpotted horfes are peculiar to Denmark.

Germany produces very fine horfes: but, though
-generally bred from Barbary, Turkifh, Spanifh, and
Italian, horfes, moft of them are heavy and fhort-
;"winded j and therefore ill qualified for hunting or
-courfing. The horfes of Hungary and Tranfylvania,
,on the contrary, are light and nimble. To prevent
their neighing in time of war, ard alfo, it is faid, to
improve their wind, the Hungarians flit the noftrils of
.their horfes. It is remarked of the Hungarian, Croa-
tian, and Polifh, horfes, that they are noted for retain-
ing what is called the mark in their teeth till they be
very old.

Having defcribed thofe horfes with which we are
ibeft acquainted, we fhall now give the relation of tra-
-vellers concerning foreign horfes, of which we have
^ittle knowledge. There are good horfes in all the
' iflands of the Archipelago. Among the ancients, the
:horfes of Crete were in high eftimation for agility and
fwiftnefs. However, horfes are now little ufcd in that
• ifland, on account of the ruggednefs of the country,
which is every where mountainous and full of inequa-
iiities. The beft horfes in thefe iflands, and even in

Barbary,

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 41

Barbary, are of the Arabian race. The native horfes
of the kingdom of Morocco are much fmallcr than
thofe of Arabia, but very nimble and vigorous. Mr.
Shaw alleges, that the breed of Egypt and of Tingita-
nia is fuperior to thofe of the neighbouring countries j
and yet, more than a century ago, excellent horfes
were found throughout all Barbary: thefe Barbary
horfes, he fiys, never ftumblej and they ftand ftiil
when the rider difmounts, or drops the bridle. They
walk very fail, and gallop with great rapidity ; but
they are never allowed to trot or amble, thefe move-
ments being confidered by the natives as rude and vul-
gar. He adds, that the Egyptian horfes are fuperior
to all others both in ftature and beauty. But thefe
Egyptian, as well as moft of the horfes of Barbary,
fprung originally from the Arabians, which are unquef-
tionably the handfomeft horfes in the world.

According to Marmol, the Arabian horfes are de-
fcended from the wild horfes in the deferts of Arabia,
of which ftuds were formed very anciently, and which
multiplied fo greatly, as to fpread over all Afia and
Africa : they are fo fvvlft as to out-run the oftrich.
The Arabs of the defert and the people of Lybia rear
numbers of thefe horfes for the chafe: they never ufe
them either in war, or for travelling: they pafture "
them as long as the grafs remains, and, when it fails,
they feed them with dates and camel's milk, which
makes them nervous, hght, and meagre. They catcji
the wild horfes in fnares, and, when young, they eat
their flefh, which they efteem as very delicate food.
Thefe wild horfes are fmall, and commonly of an afh-
colour, though fome of them are white ; and the hair
of the mane and tail is fhort and crifped. Curious re-
lations, concerning the Arabian horfes, are given by
other travellers, of which we fhall only mentiop iome
of the principal fa(5ls.

There is not an Arabian, however poor, who has
pot his horfes. The Arabs generally ride on mares.

Vol. III. No. 31. F having

A1 NATURAL HISTORY

having learned from experience, that mares endure fa-
tigue, hunger, and thirft, better than horfes. Thefe
mares are fo gentle,- that, though numbers of them are
often left together for whole days, they never ftrike or
do each other the fmalleft injury. The Turks, on the
contrary, are not fond of mares; but they purchafe
from the Arabs thofe horfes which they intend not to
ufe as ftallions. The Arabs prefer ve with great care,
and for an amazing length of time, the races of their
horfes: they know all their alliances and genealogies;
and they diftinguifh their races into three different
clafles : the firft, which are of a pure and ancient race
on both fides, they call nobles ; the fecond are llkewife
of an ancient race, but have been degraded by vulgar
alliances ; and the third confift of their common horfes.
The latter fell at a low price : but thofe of the firft
clafs, and even of the fecond, among which fome indi-
duals are not inferior to the nobles, are exceflively
dear. Mares of the noble clafs are never permitted to
be covered but by horfes of the fame quality. The
Arabs, by long experience, know all the races of their
horfes^ as well as thofe of their neighbours. They
know their names, furnames, colours, peculiar marks,
&c. When a family have no noble ftalllons, they
borrow one of a neighbour to cover their mares, which
is performed in prefence of wltnefTes, who give an at-
teftation of it, figned and fealed, before the fecretary of
the emir, or fome other public perfon. This attefta-
tion contains the name of the horfe and mare, and a
complete hlftory of their pedigrees. When the mare
has foaled, witnefTes are again called, and another at-
teftatlon is made, including a defcriptlon of the foal, ^
and the day of its birth. Thefe atteftations enhance
the value of their horfes, and they are always delivered
to the purchafers. The fmalleft mares of the firft clafs
are worth five hundred crowns j and many of them fell
atone thoufand crowns j and even higher prices are
fometimes given. We fhali here prefent the reader

with

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 43

■with an original atteftation of the pedigree of an Ara-
bian horfe, feme of which, M. D'Arvieux fays, have
been preferved for above five hundred years in the
pubhc records. " Taken before A bdorraman kadi of
Acca. The occafion of this prefent writing or inftriiment
is, that, at Acca, in the houfe of BadI, legal-eftablifned
judge, appeared in court Thomas Ufgate the Englifh
conful, and with him Sheikh Morad £bn al Hajj Ab-
dollah, fbeikh of the county of Safadj and the faid
conful defired, from the aforefaid fheikh, proof of the
race of the grey horfe which he bought of him, and he
affirmed to be Monaki Shaduhi ; (thefe are the names
the two breeds of Arab horfes which are reckoned pure
and true, and thofe which are of both thefe breeds by
father and mother, are the moft noble and free from
baftardy :) but he was not fatisfied with this, but de-
fired the teftimony of the Arabs who bred the horfe,
and knew how he came to Shiekh Morad j whereupon
there appeared certain Arabs of repute, whofe names
are undermentioned, who teftified and declared, that
the grey horfe which the conful formerly bought of
Sheikh Morad, is monaki fhaduhi, of the pure race
of horfes, purer than milkj and that the beginning of
the affair was, that Sheikh Saleh fheikh of Alfabal,
bought him of the Arabs, of the tribe of al Moham-
madat, and Sheikh Saleh fold him to Sheikh Morad
Ebn al Hajj Abdollah iheikh of Safad, and Sheikh
Morad fold him to the conful aforefaid ; when thefe
appeared to us, and the contents were known, the faid
gentleman defired a certificate thereof, and tedimony
of the witnefTes, whereupon he wrote him this certifi-
cate, for him to keep as a proof thereof. Dated Fri-
day 28 of the latter Rabi in the year 1 135." Witnefies,

Sheikh Jumat al Falibau of the Arabs
of al Mohammadat.

Ali Ebn Taleb al Kaabi.

Ibrahim his brother.

Mohammed al Edrah Iheikh Alfarifat.

Khamis al Kaahi.

F 2 As

44 NATURAL HISTORY

As the Arabs live In tents, thefe tents ferve them
likewife for ilables. The mare and her foal, the huf-
band and his wife and children, fleep together promif-
cuoufly. The infants often lie on the body, or on the
neck of the mare or foal, without receiving any injury
from thefe animals, which feem afraid to move, left
they fhould hurt the children. Thefe mares are fo
accuftomed to fociety, that they fubmit to every kind
of familiarity. The Arabs never beat their mares;
but treat them gently, aiid talk and reafon with them.
They are fo careful as to allow them always to walk,
and never fpur them, unlefs the occafion be very ur-
gent. Hence, whenever the creatures perceive the
rider's heel make an approach on their fides, they in-
flantly fet off with incredible fwiftnefs, and leap hedges
and ditches as nimbly as ftags. If their rider chances
to fall, they are fo well trained, that they llop fhort,
even in the moft rapid gallop. All the Arabian horfes
are of a middle ftature, very eafy in their carriage, and
rather meagre than fat. They aredreffed every morn-
ing and evening with fo much care, that not a fpot of
dirt is left on their fkin ; and their legs, mane, and tail,
are v/afhed. Their tails are allowed to grow long;
and the comb is feldom ufed, to prevent the hiir from
being broken. During the day, they are not permit-
ted to eat ; but are watered twice or thrice. At fun-
fet, a bag, containing about half a buihel of barley, is
pafled over their heads, and faftened to the neck. This
bag is not removed till next morning, when the barley
is entirely confumed. In the month of March, when
the grafs is good, they are turned out to pafture: this
IS alfo the feafon in which the mares are covered ; and,
on thefe occafions, water is employed in the fame man-
ner as in other countries. After the fpring is paft, the
horfes are taken from the pafture ; and, during the reft
of the year, they are allowed neither grafs nor hay, and
rarely ftra.v, barley being their only food. At the age
of a year or ten months^ the Arabians cut the manes

of

OFQ^UADRUPEDS. 45

of their foals, with a view to make them grow long
and bufhy. When two years, or two years and a half,
old, they are mounted, having never, before that pe-
riod, been either faddled or bridled. Every day, from
morning to night, all the Arabian horfes ftand faddled
at the tent- doors.

This race of horfes is fpread over all Barbary ; and
the great men among the Moors, and even among the
negroes along the rivers Gambia and Senegal, have
Arabian horfes of great beauty. Inftead of barley or
oats, they are fed with maize, reduced to a powder,
which is mixed with milk, when they require to be
fattened. In this warm climate they are allowed little
water. On the other hand, the Arabian horfes are dif-
perfed over Egypt, Turkey, and perhaps Perfia, where
verv confiderable ftuds were formerly kept. Marc
Paul mentions one of thefe ftuds which contained ten
thoufand white mares j and he fays, that in the pro-
vince of Balafcia, there is a vaft number of large nimble
horfes, with hoofs fo hard as to require no flioes.

In Perfia, the horfes are expofed night and day to
the open air. But, to protect them from the injuries
of the weather, from damp vapours, and from rain,
they are covered, efpecially in winter, with cloths;
and fometimes an additional covering is added, which
is made of hair, and very thick. A fpot ot dry level
ground is prepared for them, which is greater or fmah*-
er according to their number, and kept extremely
clean. Here they are all tied to a long rope, which is
well ftretched) and firmly fixed at each end to two iron
rods ftuck in the earth, Their halters, however, are
fufficiently free to allov/ them to move with eafe. To
prevent them from hurting each other, their hind-legs
are tied with a rope, which has iron buckles at each
extremity ; thefe are brought about to the fore-part of
the horfes, and fafiened to the ground by pegs, but
loofe enough to allow them to lie down or to rife at
their pleafure. When put into the ftables, they are
^ managed

46 NATURAL HISTORY

managed in the fame manner. Xenophon informs u<i,
that this praftice was obferved in his days ; and it is
alleged, that, by this means, the animals were rendered
more gentle and tra(5bable, and lefs peevifli, among
themfelves ; qualities extremely ufeful in war, when
vicious horfes, tied up in fquadrons, often injure one
another. For litter, the Perfians ufe only fand or dry
duft, upon which their horfes lie down and fleep as
well as if it were ftraw. In other countries, as the
Mogul empire, &c. the horfes are littered with their
own duog, well dried and reduced to a powder. The
* eatlern horfes are never allowed to eat from the ground,
or even from a rack; but are ferved with barley and
cut ftraw in pocks tied to their heads j for in thefe cli-
mates no hay is made, nor do the natives cultivate
oats. In fpring, the horfes are fed with grafs or green
barley, and great care is taken to give them as much
only as is barely neceffary j for too much nourifhment
makes their legs fwell, and foon renders them ufe-
)efs. Thefe horfes, though ridden without bridle or
ftirrups, are eafily managed. They carry their heads
very high, by means of a fimple fnaffle, and run with
great rapidity and furenefs upon the word roads. The
whip and fpur are very feldom employed. The latter,
when ufed, confifts only of a fingle point fixed to the
heel of the boot. Their common whips are made of
fmall ftrips of parchment knotted and tv^ifted. A few
lafhes with this whip are fu/ficient for every purpofe
of the rider.

Horfes are fo numerous in Perfia, that, though ex-
cellent, they fell cheap. Some of them are very tali
and heavy; but all of them are more remarkable for
ftrength than for gracefulnefs and beauty. For eafy
travelling, the Perfians u{e pacing horfes. which are
taught this motion by tying the fore-foot to the hind-
foot on the fame fide : when young, their noftrils are
flit, from a notion that it makes them breathe more
freely. Thefe horfes travel fo well, that they per-

foxm.

O F O.U A D R U P E D S. 47

form with eafe a journey of eight leagues without
ftopping.

But Arabia, Barbary, and Perfia, are not the only
climates which produce good and handfome horfes.
Even in the coldeft countries, if not too moift,
thefe animals fucceed better than in very warm cH-
mates. In Iceland, where the cold is exceffive, and
where often no other food can be had than dried fiflies,
the horfes, though fmall, are extremely vigorous;
fome of them indeed are fo diminutive as to be fit for
carrying children only. Befides, they are fo plentiful
in this ifland, that the fhepherds tend their flocks on
horfeback. Their number is not expenfive; tor their
food cofls almoft nothins;. Such as the owners can
apply to no immediate ufe, they mark, and turn out
to the mountains. There they foon become wild; and,
when wanted, are hunted in troops, and caught with
long ropes. When the mares foal in the mountains,
the proprietors put their peculiar marks on the young,
and leave them there for three years. Thofe horfes
which are brought up in the mountains, are generally
more handfome, bold, and fleet, than thofe reared in
iiables.

The Norwegian horfes are likev/ife fmall, but well
proportioned. Mofl of them are yellow, with a black
tine running the whole length of the b.^ck. Some of
them are of a chefnut, and others of an iron-grey co-
lour. Thefe horfes are very fure footed, travel with
great caution through the rough paths of the moun-
tains, and flide down fleep declivities, by bringing
their hind-feet under their bellies. They defend them-
felves againft the afTaults of the bear. When a ftallion,
in company with mares or foals, perceives this vora-
cious animal, he makes them ftay behind, approaches,
and boldly attacks the enemy, whom he beats with his
fore-feet, and generally kills. But, if the horfes at-
tempt to defend themfelves by ftriking with their hiud-
fcet, they are infallibly gone; for the bear leaps upon

their

4? NATURAL HISTORY

their backs, where he flicks with fuch force that he
fufFocates them in a ihort time.

The horfes of Nordland never exceed four feet and
a halt in height. The nearer we approach to the pole,
we find that horfes become fmaller and weaker. Thofe
of Weft Nordland are of a fingular form. They have
large heads and eyes, fhort necks, large poitrels, nar-
row withers, long thick fhoulders, fhort loins ; the upper
part of their legs is long, and the under fhort and naked ;
their hoofs are fmall and hard j their tails and manes
are large and bufhy i and their feet are fmall, but fure,
and never defended with fhoes. Thefe horfes are good,
feldom reftive or ftubborn, and climb with patience the
higheft n;iountains. The pafture in Nordland is fo ex-
cellent, that, when horfes are brought from thence to
Stockholm, they feldom remain above a year without
lofing their flefh and their vigour. On the contrary,
when horfes are carried from more northern countries
to Nordland, though fickly for the firft year, they re-
cover their ftrength.

Excefs of heat or of cold feems to be equally hoftile
^o the ftature of horfes. The japanefe horfes are ge-
nerally fmall, though fome of them are of a tolerable
^ze. The latter probably come from the mountains of
that country. The fame remark applies to the horfes
of China. We are aifured, however, that thofe of
Tonquin are ijervous, of a good fize, gentle, and eafily
l^ra^ned to any kind of exercife.

It is well known, that horfes bred in dry warm cli-
mates degenerate, and even cannot live, in moift coun-
tries, hov/ever warm. But they fucceed very well In
all the mountainous countries of our continent, from
Arabia to Denmark and Tartary, and, in America,
from New Spain to the land of Magellan. It Is, there-
fore, neither heat nor cold; but moifture alone, that is
noxious to thefe animals.

There were no horfes in America when it was dlf-
covered. B.ut,. in lefs than two centuries after a fmall'

number

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 49

number of them had been tranfported thither from Eu-
rope, they multiplied fo prodigioufly, efpecially in Chi-
li, that they fold at very low prices. Frezier remarks,
that this great increafe was ftill more furprifmg, be-
caufe the Indians eat horfes, and kill many of them by
fatigue and bad management. The horfes carried by
the Europeans to the moft eaftern parts of our conti-
nent, as the Philippine iflands, have likewife multi-
plied exceedingly.

In the Ukraine, and among the Coffacks along the
river Don, the horfes live wild in the fields and forefts.
In that large and thinly-peopled country comprehended
between the Don and N leper, the horfes go In troops
of three, four, or five, hundred, and have no fhelter
even when the ground is covered with fnow, which
they remove with their fore-feet In queft of food.
Thcfe troops are guarded by two or three men on
horfcback ; and it is only in fevere winters that they
are lodged for a few days In the villages, which, in this
country are verydiftant from each other. Thefe troops
of horfes give rife to fome remarks, v/hich feem to
Drove that men are not the only animals that live in
fociety, and obey, by compaft, the comm.ands of one
of their own number. Each of thefe troops have a
chief whom the individuals Implicitly obey ; he dirc(5ls
their courfe, and makes them proceed or itop at plea-
fure. This chief likewife alves orders for the necef-
fary arrangements and motions, when the troop is at-
tacked by robbers or by wolves. He is extremely
vigilant and alert: he frequently runs round the troop;
and, when he finds any horfes out of their rank, or lag-
ging behind, he gives them a pufh with his fhoulder,
and obliges them to take their proper ftations. Thefe
animals, without being mounted or conduded by men,
march nearly in as good order as our trained cavalry.
Though at perfedl liberty, they pafture in files and bri-
cades, and form difi-erent companies, without ever
mixing or feparating. The chief occupies this im-

VpL. III. No. 31. G portant

50 NATURAL HISTORY

portant and fatiguing office for four or five years.
When he becomes weaker arid lefs adlive, another
horfe, ambitious of command, and who feels his own
ftrength, fprings out from the troop, attacks the old
cliief, who, if not vanquifhed, keeps his^'command ;
But, if beat, enters with fhame into the common herd ;
and the conqueror takes the lead, is recognifed as fo-
vercigh, and obeyed by the whole troop.

In Finland, when the fnows are diflblved in the
month of May, the horfts depart from their mafters,
and go into certain diiVricls of the forefts, as if they
had previoufly fixed a rendezvous. There they form
different troops, which never feparate or intermix.
Each troop takes a different diftrift of the fori f^" for
paftufing. To this territory they confine themiUves,
and never encroach on the lands belonging to other
troops. When the grafs is exhaufted, they Atczmp^
and take pofTeffion of a frefh pailurage in the fame or-
der as before. The police of their focittty is fo well
regulated, and' their marches fo uniform, that their
owners always know where to find their horfes, when
they have o'ccafion for them ; and thofe v/hich are car-,
ried off, after having performed their tafk, return of
their own accord to their companions in the woods.
In the month of'^September, when the weather turns
bad, they quit the foreft, march home in tro"ops, and
each takes poiTeffion of his own ftable.

Thefe horfts are fmall, but good and fpirited, with-
out being vicious. Though generally very docile,i
feme of them refift, Vv'hen their owners offer to take
them, or to yoke them in carriages. When they re-
turn from the forefts, they are Tat and in fine order.
But the perpetual labour they undergo during the win-
ter, and the fmall quantity of ""food they receive, foon
make them lofe their flefh. They roll on the fnow as
other horfes do on the grafs. They pafs the night in-
differently, either in the court-yard or in the ftable,
even durmg the moft violent frofts.

■ Thefe

OF QJQADRUPEDS. 51

Thefe horfes, which live in troops, and are_ often
i-emoved from the dominion of man, form the link or
Ihade between domeftic and wild horfes. Qf the latter
there are feme in the ifland of St. Helena, which, af-
ter being tranfpofted thither fior^i Europe, becanie {f>
favage and ferocious, t|iat, rath'ep than lufer thera-
felves to be taken, they would leap oyer the hjgheft
precipices into the fea. In tfie environs of Nippes*
fome of them are not larger than alTes ; but they are
rounder, and well proportioned. They are vivacious,
indefatigable, and poffefs a ftrength and dexterity be-
yond what could be expe(5te4. In Saint Domingo, the
horfes are of a middle ftature, and much efteemed*
Numbers of tliem ai'e taken with fnares arid ropes;
but moli of thefe continue to be extremely reftive and
Ikittifh. There are alfo horfes in Virginia, which,
though fprung from the domeftic kind, have becpme
fo ferocious in the woods, that it is difficult to ap-
proach them, and, when taken, they belong to the per-
son who apprehends them. They are commonly fb
ftubborn that it is not eafy to tame them. In Tartary,
and particularly in the country between Urgenz and
the Cafpian fea, birds of prey are employed in hunt-
ing wild horfes. Thefe birds are trained to feize the
horfe by the neck and head, who fatigues himfelf by
running, but is unable to difengage hinifelf from his
tormentor. The wild horfes in the opuntry of the
Mongous and Kakas Tartars, differ not from thofe
which are tame. They are found in great numbers
upon the weftern coaft j and fome appear in the coun-
try of the Kakas which borders on the Harni. Thefe
wild horfes are fo fwift, that they often efcape the ar-
rows of the moft dexterous hunters. They march in
numerous troops; and, when they chance to meet with
tamed horfes, they furround them and oblige them to
join their company. In Congo, confiderable numbers
of wild horfes are ftill to be found. They are fome-
times ken ^Ifo in the environs of the Cape of Good

G A Hope i

52 NATURAL HISTORY

Hope; but they are reldom taken, becaufe the inhabi-
tants prefer the horfes tranfported from Pcrfia.

If we confult the ancients as to the qualities of
horfes in different countries, we fhall find, that the
Greek horfes, and efpecially thofe of Theflaly and E-
pirus, were in high eftimation, and were excellent for
the purpofes of war ; that thofe of A chaia were the
largeft then known ; that the handfomeft came from
Egypt, where they were very numerous j that, in E-
thiopia, on account of the great heat of the climate,
the horfes did not thrive j that Arabia and Africa fur-
nifhed the handfomeft, lighteft, and beft, horfes, either
for travelling or for the courfe j that thofe of Italy,
and particularly of Apulia, were likewife very good ;
that Sicily, Cappadocia, Syria, Armenia, Media, and
Perfia, produced excellent horfes, which were remark-
able for lightnefs and fleetnefs J that thofe of Sardinia
and Corfica were fmall, but bold and vivacious ; that
the horfes of Spain refembled thofe of Parthia, and
excelled in war i that, in Tranfylvania and Walachia,
there were fwift horfes, with light heads, long manes,
which hang down to the ground, and bufhy tails; that
the Danifh horfes were handfome, and fine leapers ;
that thofe of Scandinavia were fmall, but well-formed,
and very agile j that the horfes of Flanders were re-
markable for ftrength; that the Gauls furnifhed the
Romans witl# good horfes for the purpofes of riding
and carrying burthens ; that the German horfes were
ill-formed, and fo vicious, that no ufe was made of
them ; that the horfes of Switzerland were numerous,
and ufeful in war; that thofe of Hungary were alfo
very good; and, laftly, that the Indian horfes were
fmall and very feeble.

From all thefe fa^ls, it is apparent, that the Arabian
horfes have always been, :ind llill are, the bell: horfes of
the world, both for beauty and goodnefs ; that from
them, either direitly or by the mediation of the Barbs,
are derived the fineil horfes in Europe, in Africa, and

in

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 53

in Ada; that Arabia, is, perhaps, not only the origi-
nal climate of horfes, but the beft fuited to their con-
ftitution; fince, inftead of crofTing the breed by foreign
horfes, the natives anxioufly preferve the purity of
their own race; that, atleaft, if Arabia be not beft cli-
mate for horfes, the Arabs have produced the fame
efFe(5l, by the fcrupulous and perpetual attention they
have paid towards ennobling the race, and never per-
mitting individuals to mix which were not the moft
handfome, and of the fineft quality ; and that, by the
fame attention, continued for ages, they have improved
the fpecies far beyond what nature would have per-
formed in the moft favourable climate. It may ftiil
farther be concluded, that climates rather warm than
cold, and above all, dry countries, are beft adapted to
the nature of horfes; that, in general, the fmail are
better than the large horfes ; that care is equally necef-
fary to them as food ; that, by familiarity and careffes,
we procure more advantage from them, than by force
and chaftifemcnt ; that the horfes of warm countries
have their bones, hoofs, and mufcles, more firm and
compacfl than thofeof cold climates ; that, though heat
is more conformable to the nature of thefe animals than
cold, yet exceftive heat is exceedingly hurtful to them;
that exceflive cold is not kfs injurious; and, in fine,
that their conftitution and difpolitions depend almoft
entirely upon climate, food, care, and education.

The pradice of gelding horfes, fo generally diffufed
over Europe, is unknov/n in Perfia, Arabia, and many
other parts of the eaft. This operation greatly dimi-
nifties their ftrength, courage, fprightlinefs, &c. but it
e.idows them with gentlenefs, tranquillity, and docility.
In performing it, the animal is thrown on his back, by
means of ropes fixed to his legs; the fcrotum is opened
with a fharp knife; and the teftes, with their vefTeis,
and the ligam.ents which fupport them, are removed.
The wound is then clofed ,up; and the patient is ba-
thed twice a-day with cold water. His food, during
2 thi^

54 NATURAL HISTORY

this period, cpnfifls of bran drenched in water, with d
view to cool him. The operation fliould be performed
in fpring or autumn, much heat or much cold being
equally dangerous. With regard to the age at which it
ihould be executed, the pradice differs in different
places. In fome countries horfes are gelded at the age
of a year or eighteen months, or as foon as the tefles
are very apparent without the body. But the moll ge-
neral and mod rational cuftom is to delay the operation
till the age of two or three years ; becaufe when pro-
tradted thus long, the animal retains more of the qua-
lities peculiar to the male fex. Pliny fays, that, if a
horfe be gelded before he lofes his milk-teeth, they
never fhed. But I know, from repeated obfervation,
that this remark is faife. The ancients, it is probable,
were led into this error, by an analogy drawn from the
(lag, roebuck, &c. for the horns of thcle animals never
fall after caftration. Geldings lofe the power of im-
pregnating J but there are many examples of their be-
jing Jftill able to copulate.

Mares and geldings neigh lefs frequently than per-
feS: horfes. Their voices are alfo neither fg full nor
fo deep. In horfes of every kind, five different fpecies
of neighing, expreflive of different pafiions, may be
.didinguifhed. In the neigh proceeding from joy, the
voice is long protrafted, and begins and terminates
"with fharp founds : the horfe, at the fame time, flings,
but without any inclination to ftrike. In the neigh o{
dcfire, whether from love or friendfhip, the horfe does
not fling, the voice is long continued, and finirhes with
graver founds. The neigh of anger, during which the
animal flings and fl-rikes with fury, is very fhort and
iharp. The neigh of fear, during which he alfo flings,
is not longer than that of ar.ger j the voice is grave and
hoarie, and feems as if it proceeded entirely from the
.noflrils. This neigh refembies the roaring of a lion.
The noife expreflive of pain is not To much a neigh,
as a groan or fnorting uttered with a grave voice, and

following

OF Q^U ADRtJP ED S. 55

following the alternate motions of refpiration. It has
Jikewifc been remarked, that horfes which neigh mdft
frequently from motives of joy or defire, are the be^
and moft generous. The voice of unmutilated horfes
is ftronger than that of geldings or irmres. The fe-
male voice, even from the moment of birth, is vyeakef
than that of the male. At two years, or two and a
half, which is the age of puberty, the voice both of
males and females, as in man and other animals, be-
comes ftronger and more grave.

When the horfe is fired with love, he fhews his
teeth, and has the appearance of laughing. He Hke-
wife fhews them when angry and inclined to bite. Hft
fometimes thrulls out his tongue to lick, but lefs fre-
quently than the ox, though the latter is lefs fenfibleof
carefles. The horfe remembers injuries much longer
than the ox, and is alfo more eafily difpirited. His
natural difpofition, which is bold and impetuous,
makes him exert his whole force at once j and, when
he perceives that ftill more is requifite, he grows indig-
nant, and ob:linately refufes to aft. Bufthe ox, \vhb
h nataraily flow and flothful, feldom employs his whole
ilren'gth, and is not fo eafily difheartened.

''The horfe fleeps much lefs than man. Wheh in
good health, he never lies above two or three hours at
a time. He then rifes to eat. After being much fa-
tigued, and after filling his belly, he lies down a fecond
time. But, upon the whole, he fleeps not above three
or four hours in the twenty-four. There are alfo fome
horfes which never lie do'wn, but fleep ftanding ; and
even thofe which ai-e accuftomed tq lie down, fome-
tirhes fleep on their feet. It has been remarked, that
geldings fleep oftsner and longer than perfeft horfes.

All quadrupeds drink nbt in the fame manner,
though all are under an equal necefllty of exploring
with the head that liquor which they have no other
method of apprehending, except the ape, and fom'e
other animals that have hands, and can drink like man,

whet;

S6 NATURAL HISTORY

when a proper veiTel is prefented to themj for they
carry It to their mouth, pour out the liquor, and fwallow
it by the firnple movement of degkitition. This is the
ordinary way in which man drinks, becaufe moll: com-
modious. But he can vary his method of drinking, by
contrading the lips, and fucking the fluid, or rather
by finking both mouth and nofe into it, and then per-
forming the motions neceflaiy to fwailovving. He can
^even feize a fluid by the fimple motion of his h'ps j or,
laflly, he can flretch out and expand his tongue, make
a kind of little cup of it, and in this maimer, though
with fome difficulty, fatisfy his third. Moil quadru-
peds might alfo drink in different ways : but, like
man, they follow that which is mcft convenient. The
dog, whofe mouth opens wide, and whofe tongue is
long and flender, drinks by lapping, or licking, with
his tongue, which he forms into a kind of cup or fcoop,
fills at each time, and thus carries a fufficicnt quantity
cf fluid into his mouth. This method he prefers to
that of dipping his nofe Into the water. The horfe, on
the contrary, whofe mouth is too fmall, and whofe
tongue is too thick and too fliort for forming a fcoop,
and who, befides, drinks with more avidity than he
eats, briikly finks his mouth and nofe deep into the
water, which he fv/allows plentifully by the Ample mo-
tion of deglutition. After running, when the refpira-
tlon Is fliort and laborious, horfes fliould be allowed
to drink at leifure, and to breathe as often as they in-
cline. Neither fhould they be permitted to drink
water that is too coldj for, independent of the colics
frequently occafioned by very cold water, it often cools
their nofe to fuch a degree, as to bring on rheums, and
perhaps lay the foundation of the difeafe called glan-
ders, the moil obftinate of all maladies to which this
noble animal is iubjeft.

The horfe is flill found wild about the lake Aral;
near Kuzneck, in lat. 54; on the river Tom, in the
fouth part of Siberia, and in the great Mongalian de-

ferts.

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. i^y

fttts, and among the Kalkas, N. W. of China. The '
Mongalians call them Takijah. They are lefs than
the domeftic kind, and of a moure-colour, with very-
thick hair, efpecially in A^inter : they have greater
heads than the tame; their foreheads are remarkably
arched : they go in great herds, and are exceffively vi-
gilant. They are however often furprized by the Kal-
mucks, who ride in amongft them mounted on very
fwift horfes, and kill them with broad lances : they
eat the flefli, and ufe the fkins to lie on. The wild
horfes are a]fo taken by means of hawks, which fix on
"the head, and diftrefs them fo as to give the purfuers
time to overtake them. In the interior parts of Cey-
lon is a fm.all variety of the horfe, not exceeding thirty
inches in height: which is fometimes brought to Eu-
rope as a rarity.

Diftindlion muft be made between the wild horfes
of Afia above mentioned, and thofe in the deferts on
each fide of the Don, particularly towards the Palus
Msotis and the town of Backmut. Thefe were the
offspring of the Ruffian horfes employed in the fiege
of Afoph in 1697, when, for want of forage, they were
turned loofe, and which have relapfed into a flate of
nature, and grew as wild, fhy, and timid, as the ori-
ginal favage breed. The Coffacks chafe them, but
always in the winter, by driving them into the vallies
filled with fnow, into which they plunge and are caught;
their exceffive fwiftnefs excludes any other method of
capture. They hunt them chiefly for the fake of the
fkins : if they catch a young one, they couple it for
fome months with a tame horfe, and fo gradually do-
mefticate it. Thefe are much efleemed, for they will
draw twice as much as the former. The horfes of the
wandering Tartars, carried away by the herds of the
wild kind, mix and breed together. Their offspring
are very dirtinguifhable by their colours, which are
compofed of variety of fhades of chefnut.

Vol. III. No. 31. H No

58 NATURALHISTORY

No horfes are to be met with in any place within the
Ardic circle, except there fhould be a few in the ex-
treme part of Norway. Kamtfchatka is entirely defti-
tute of horfes, and of every domeftic animal except
dogs: which, with the rein- deer, are the fubftitute of
horfes ufed by the natives. America, before the arri-
val of the Europeans, was in like circumftances, or ra-
ther worfe J for inftead of the dog it had only a wolfifh
cur j nor do either the Greenlanders or Eikimaux make
any other ufe of the rein- deer, than to fupply them-
felves with its flefh for food, and its flcin for raiment.
The fynonyms of this noble animal, or appellations
given it by different authors, are as follow : Equus,
Gejner quad. AfO^, Rait Jyn. quad. 62. Pferdt. Klein
quad. 4. Equus cauda undique fetofa. E. caballus.
Lin. fyji. 100. Haeft. Faun. Juec. No. 47. Equus
auriculis brevibus eredis, juba longa. Briffon, quad.
6g. Le Chev ci\. de Buffon iv. 174. tab. i. Br. Zool. i.
Wild horfe. Leo Afr. 339, Hakluyt's coll. voy. i. 329.
Beirstrav. i. 225. Zimmerman. 138. 140.

The DSHIKKETAEI, or, WILD MULE.

THE dfhikketaei, or wild mule, is of the fize and
appearance of the common mule; with, a large head,
flat forehead growing narrow toward the nofe, eyes of
a middle fize, the irides of an obfcure afli- colour;
thirty-eight teeth in all, being two in number fewer than
In a common horfe ; ears much longer than thofe of a
horfe, quite ered, lined with a thick whitijfh curling
coat; neck {lender, comprefied; mane upright, fhort,
foft, of a greyifh cobur ; in place of the foretop, a fhort
tuft of downy hair about an inch and three-quarters
long. The body is rather long, and the back very
little elevated ; the breaft protuberant and fharp. The
limbs are long and elegant; the thighs thin, as in a
mule's. Within the fore-legs there is an oval callus;
,ia the hind- legs none. Thenoofs are oblong, fmooth,

and

OF QJJADRUPEDS. S9

and black ; the tail is like that of a cow, flender, and,
for half of its length, naked, the reft covered with long
aih-coloured hairs. Its winter-coat grey at the tips,
ofabrownifh afti-colour beneathj about two inches
long, in foftnefs like the hair of a camel, and undulated
on the back. Its fummer-coat is much fhorter, of a
moft elegant fmoothnefs, and in all parts marked moft
beautifully with fmall vortexes. The end of the nofe
is white ; from thence to the foretop inclining to taw->
ny. The buttocks are white; as are the inlide of the
limbs and belly. From the mane a blackifh teftaceous
line extends along the top of the back to the tail,
broadcft on the loins, and growing narrower towards
the tail. The colour of the upper part of the body is
a light yellowifh-grey, growing paler towards the
lides. The length, from the tip of the nofe to the
bafe of the tail, is fix feet kvQn inchesj length of the
trunk of the tail one foot four ; of the hairs beyond the
end, eight inches. The height of the animal is three
feet nine. This fpecies inhabits the deferts between
the rivers Onun and Argun in the moft fouthern parts
of Siberia, and extends over the vaft plains and deferts
of weftern Tartary, and the celebrated fandy^ defert of
Gobi, which reaches even to India. In Siberia they
are feen only in fmall numbers, as If detached from the
numerous herds to the fouth of the Ruffian dominions.
In Tartary they are particularly converfant about Ta-
ricnoor, a fait lake at times dried up. They fhun
wooded traces and lofty fnowy mountains : they live in
feparate herds, each confifting of a chief, a number of
mares and colts, in all to the number of about twenty ;
but feldom fo many, for commonly each male has but
five and fometimes fewer females : they copulate to-
wards the middle or end of Auguft j and bring for the
moft part but one at a time, which by the third year
attains its full growth, form, and colour. The young
males are then driven away from their paternal herds,
and keep at a diftance till they can find mates of their

H 2 OWJX

^o NATURALHISTORY

Qwn age which have quitted their dams. Thefe ani-
mals always carry their heads horizontally; but, when
they take to flight, hold them upright, and eredt their
tail : their neighing is deeper and louder than that of a
horfe : they fight by biting and kicking, as ufual with
the horfe : they are fierce and untameable ; and even
thofe which have been taken young, are fo intraftable
as not to be broken by any art which the wandering
Tartars could ufe. Yet were it poflible to bring them
into fit places, and to provide all the conveniencies
known in Europe, the tailc -night be effeded : but it
i$ doubted whether the fubiued animal would retaia
the fwiftnefs it is fo celebrated for in its ftate of nature.
It exceeds that of the antelope j it is even proverbial ;
and the inhabitants of Thebet, from the fame of its ra-
pid fpeed, mount on it Chammo their god of fire. The
Mongalians defpair of ever taking them by thechace;
but lurk behind fome tomb, or in lome ditch, and fhoot
them when they come to drink or eat the fait of the
defert. They are excefTively fearful animals, and pro-
vident againft danger. A male takes on him the care
of the herd, and is always on the watch. If they fee a
hunter, who by creeping along the ground has got near
them, the centinel takes a great circuit, and goes round
and round him, as difcovering fomewhac to be appre-
hended. As foon as the animal is fatisfied, it rejoins
the herd, which fets off with great precipitation. Some-
times its curiofity cofts it its life j for it approaches ib
near as to give the hunter an opportunity of fhooting
it. But it is obferved, that in rainy or in frormy wea-
ther, thefe animals feem very dull, and Iffsfenfible of
the approach of mankind. The Mongalians and Tun-
gufi, according to Du Halden, kill them for the fake
of the flelh, which they prefer to that of horfes, and
even to that of the wild-boar, efteeming it equally
nourifhing and wholefome, The Ikin is alfo ufed for
the making of boots. Their fenfes of hearing and
fmelling are moft exqulfite; fo that they are approach-
2 ed

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 6t

cd with the utmoll: difficulty. The Mongalians cal!
them dihikketaei, which fignifies, the eared j the Chi-
nefe, yototfe, or mule. In ancient times the fpecies
extended far to the fouth. It was the hemionos or
half afs of Ariftotle, found in his days in Syria, and
which he celebrates for its amazing fwiftnefs and its fe-
cundity, a breeding mule being thought a prodigy ;
«nd Pliny, from the report of Theophraftus, fpeaks of
this fpecies being found in Cappadocia, but adds they
were a particular kind.

The domeftic mules of the prefent times are the
ofi-spring of the horfe and the afs, or afs and mare.
They are very much commended for their being
ftronger, furer footed, going eafier, being more cheaply
maintained, and lading longer, than horfes. They are
commonly of a black- brown, or quite black, with that
fhining lilt along the back and acrofs the fhoulders
which diftinguifhes affes. In former times they were
much more common in this country than at prefent;
being often brought over in the days of popery by the
Italian prelates. They continued longeft in the fer-
vice of millers ; and are yet in ufe among them in
fome places, on account of the great loads they carry
on their back. As they are capable of being trained
for riding, bearing burdens, and for draught, there is
no doubt that they might be ufefully employed in
many different fervices. But they are commonly found
to be vicious, ftubborn, and obftinate to a proverb ;
which, whether it occafions or is produced by the ill
ufage they meet with, is a point not eafily fettled.
Whatever may be the cafe of afles, it is allowed that
mules are larger, fairer, and more ferviceable, in mild
than in warm climates. In the prefent Britifh Ame-
rican colonies, both on the continent and in the iflands,
but efpecially in the latter, they are much ufed and
efleemed ; fo that they are frequently fent to them from
hence, fuffer lefs in the pafiage, and die much fel-
domer than horfes, and commonly yield, when they

arrive.

^2 NATURAL HISTORY

arrive, no inconfiderable profit. The fynonyms of this
animal are, Mulus, Gefner. quad. 702. Jym. quad. 64,
Maul elel. Klein quad. 6. Le Mulet. De Bufforit iv.
401. xiv. 22^^' Brtjfon quad. 71. Equus mulus, Lin,
Jyjl. Faun.Juec. No. 35. Br. Zocl. i. 13. Equus he-
mionus, Mongolis dfhikketaei didus, defcribente P,
S. Pallas, Nov, com. Petro^. xix. 394. tab, vii. Zijn-
merman 666.

The ass.

THE koulan, or wild-afs, varies from the tame in
fevetal refpedls, and requires a more particular defcrip-
tion. The forehead is very much arched: the ears are
ereft, even when the animal is out of order ; fharp-
pointed, and lined with whitifh curling hairs ; the irides
are of a livid brown ; the lips thick ; and the end of
the nofe floping deeply down to the upper lip; the noi^
trils are large and oval. It is much higher on its limbs
than the tame afs, and its legs are much finer, but it
again refembles it in the narrownefs of its cheft and
body : it carries its head much higher; and its fkull
is of a furprifing thinnefs. The mane is dufky, about
three or four inches long, compofed of foft woolly hair,
and extends quite to the fhoulders : the hairs at the
end of the tail are coarfe, and about afpan long. The
colour of the hair in general is a filvery white; the up-
per part of the face, the fides of the neck and body, are
of a flaxen-colour; the hind-part of the thighs are the
fame ; the fore -part divided from the flank by a white
line, which extends round the rump to the tail : the
belly and legs are alfo white: along the very top of
the back, from the mane quite to the tail, runs a iiripe
of bufhy waved hairs of a coffee-colour, broadefl above
the hind- part, growing narrower again towards the
tail ; another of the fame colour croffes it at the fhoul-
ders (of the males only), forming a mark, fuch as dif-
tinguiflies the tame affes: the dorfal band and the

manG

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 6j

mane are bounded on each fide by a beautiful line of
white, well defcribed by Oppian, who gives an admi-
rable account of the whole. Its winter-coat is very
fine, foft, and filky, much undulated, and likeft to the
hair of the camel ; greafy to the touch: and the flaxen-
colour, during that feafon, more exquifitely bright.
Its fammer-coat is very fmooth, filky, and even, with
exception of certain ftiaded rays that mark the fides of
the neck pointing downwards.

Thefe animals inhabit the dry and mountainous
parts of the deferts of Great Tartary, but not higher
than lat. 48. They are migratory, and arrive in vaft
troops to feed, during the fummer, in the trads eaft
and north of lake Aral. About autumn they cclleft
in herds of hundreds, and even thoufands, and direct
their courfe towards the north of India, to enjoy a warm
retreat during winter. But Perfia is their moft ufual
place of retirement: where they are found in the moun-
tains of Cafbin, fome even at all times of the year. If
we can depend on Barboga, they penetrate even into
the fouthern parts of India, to the mountains of Ma-
labar and Golconda. According to Leo Africanus,
wild afles of an afh-colour are found in the deferts of
northern Africa. The Arabs take them in fnares for
the fake of their flefh. If frefh killed, it is hot and
unfavory: if kept two days after it is boiled, it be-
comes excellent meat. Thefe people, the Tartars, and
Romans, agreed in their preference of this to any other
food: the latter indeed chofe them young, at a period
of life in which it was called lahlio ; (vide Martial xiii,
97.) The epicures of Rome preferred thofe of Africa
to all others. The grown onagri were introduced a-
mong the fpediacles of the theatrej and their combats
were preferred even to thofe of the elephants.

The manners of the wild afs are very much the fame
with thofe of the wild horfe and the dlhikketaei. They
aflemble in troops under the conduA of a leader ; and
are very ihy. They will, however, (lop in the midll of

their

64 NATURAL HISTOrlY

their courfe, and even fuffer the approach of man at
that inftant, but will then dart away with the rapidity
of an arrow difmifled from the bow. This Herodotus
fpeaks to, in his account of thofe of Mefopotamia; and
Leo Africanus, in that of the African.

They are extremely wild. Holy writ is full of allu-
fions to their favage nature. " He fcorneth the mul-
titude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of
the driverj" (Job. xxxix. 7.) Yet they are not un-
tameable. The Perfians catch and break them for the
draught: they make pits, half-filled with plants to lef-
fen the fall, and take them alive. They break, and hold
them in great efteem, and fell them at a high price.
The famous breed of afles in the eaft is produced from
the koulan reclaimed from the favage ftate, which
highly improves the breed. The Romans reckoned
the breed of afTes produced from the onager and tame
afs to excel all others. The Tartars, who kill them
only for the fake of the flefh and fkins, lie in ambufh
and fhoot them. They have been at all times cele-
brated for their amazing fwiftnefs; for which reafon
the Hebreans call them pere; as they ftyled them arod
from their braying. Their food is the falteft plants of
the deferts, fuch as the kalis, .atriplex, chenopodium,
&c. and alfo the bitter milky tribe of herbs: they alfo
prefer falt-water to frefh. .This is exadly conformable
to the hiflory given of this animal in the book of Job;
for the words *' barren land," expreffive of its dwell-
ing, ought, according to the learned Bochart, to be
rendered *' fait places." The hunters lie in wait for
them near the ponds of brackifh water, to which they
refort to drink : but they are not of a thirfty nature,
and feldom have recourfe to water. Thefe animals
were anciently found in the Holy Land, Syria, the
l:md of Uz or Arabia Deferta, Mefopotamia, Phrygia,
and Lycaonia. But at prefent they are entirely con-
fined to the countries above-mentioned. Chagrin, a
word disrived from the Tartar foghre, is made of the

Ikin

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 65

/kin of thefe animals, which grows about the rump,
and alfo thofe of horfes, which is equally good. There
are great manufadures of it at Aftracaii and in all
Perfia. It is a miftake to fuppofe it to be naturally
granulated, for its roughnefs is entirely the effedl of
art. The Perfians ufe the bile of the wild afs as a re-
medy againft the dimnefs of fight: and the fame people,
and the Nosav^n Tartars, have been known to endea-
vour the moft infamous beftialities with it in order to
free themfclves from the diforders of the kidneys.

The tame or domeftic afs, is an humble, patient,
and tranquil, animal. He fiibmits with firmnefs to
ftrokes and chaftifement : he is temperate both as to the
quantity and quality of his foodj he contents himfelf
with the rigid and difagreeable herbage which the
horfe and other animals leave to him and difdain to eat:
he is more delicate with regard to his drink, never
ufing water unlefs it be perfedlrly pure. As his mafter
does not take the trouble of combing him, he often
rollr; himfelf on the turf among^ thiftles, ferns, &c.
Without regarding what he is carrying, he lies down
to roll as often as he can, feeming to reproach his maf-
ter for negled: and want of attention. 'When very
young, the afs is a gay, fprightly, nimble, and gentle,
animal. But he foon lofes thefe qualities, probably bv
the bad ufage he meets with; and becomes lazy, un-
tra(5Vable, and ftubborn. When under the influence of
love, he becomes perfe6lly furious. The affection of
the female for her young is ftrong : Pliny afTures us,
that, when an experiment was made to difcover the
ftrength of maternal aflredion in a fhe-afs, fhe ran
through the flranes in order to come at her colt. Al-
though the afs be generally ill ufed, he difcovers a great
attachment to his mafter; he fmelis him at a diftance,
fearches the places and roads he ufed to frequent, and
eafily diftinguillies him from the reft of mankind. The
afs has a very fine eye, an excellent fcent, and a good
ear. When overloaded, he hangs his head, and links

Vol. III. No. j2. I his

^(> NATURALHISTORY

his cars: when too much teazed or tormented, he
opens his mouth and retrafts his lips in a difagreeable
manner, which gives him an air of ridicule and deri-
fion. If you cover his eyes, he will not move another
ftep } if you lay him on his fide, and place his head fo
that one eye refts on the ground, and cover the other
with a cloth, he will remain in this fituation without
making any attempt to get up. He walks, trots, and
gallops, in the fame manner as the horfe j but all his
motions are flower. Whatever be the pace he is go-
ing at, if you pufti him, he inftantly flops.

The cry of the horfe is known by the name of neigh-
ing J that of the afs, by braying, which is a long dif-
agreeable noife, confifting of alternate difcords from
fharp to grave and from grave to fharp; he feldom
cries but when preffed with hunger or love : the voice
of the female is clearer and more piercing than that of
the male. The afs is lefs fubjed to vermin than other
animals covered with hair; he is never troubled with
lice, probably owing to the hardnefs and drynefs of
his fkin ; and it is probably for the fame reafon that
he is lefs fenfible to the whip and fpur than the horfe.
The teeth of the afs fall out and grow at the fame age
and in the fame manner as thofe of the horfe; and he
has nearly the fame marks in his mouth.

Alies are capable of propagating when two years
old. The females are in feafon during the months of
May and June. The milk appears in the dugs ten
months after impregnation ; fhe brings forth in the
twelfth month, and always one at a time. Seven days
after the birth, the feafon of the female returns, and
fhe is again in a condition to receive the male. The
colt fliould be taken from her at the end of five or fix*
months, that the growth and nourilhment of the foetus
may not be obftruded. The ftallion or jack-afs fhould
be the larg^ft and ilrongeft that can be found; he
Jfhould be at leaft three years old, and never ought to
exceed ten. The afs, like the horfe, takes three or

four

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 67

four years in growing, and lives till he be twenty-five
or thirty : he fleeps lefs than the horfe, and never lies
down to fleep but when exceflively fatigued. He is
more robuft, and lefs fubjed: to difeafes, than the horfe.

Travellers inform us, that there are two forts of
afles in Perfia; one of which is ufed for burdens, they
being flow and heavy : the other is kept like horfes for
the faddle ; for they have fmooth hair, carry their head
well, and are much quicker in their motion; but, when
they ride them, they fit nearer their buttocks than
when on a horfe : they are drefix^d like horfes, and are
taught to amble like them i but they generally cleave
their noftrils to give them more room for breathing.
Dr. Kuflel likewife tells us they have two forts in Sy-
ria ; one of which is like ours ; and the other very
large, with remarkable long ears ; but they are both
put to the fame ufe, which is, to carry burdens.

In America there were originally no afl!es at all, nor
yet horfes : but they were carried thither long ago, at
firft by the Spaniards, and afterwards by other nations,
where they multiplied greatly; infomuch, that, in
fome places, there are whole droves of them that run
wild, and are very hard to be caught. Afl'es in gene-
ral carry the heavieft burdens in proportion to their
bulk; and, as their keeping cofts little or nothing, it
is a great wonder that they are not put to more ufes
than they generally are among us. The flefii of the
common afs never is eaten in thefe parts of the world ;
though fome pretend their colts are tender, and not dif-
agreeable.

In countries where the land is light, the afs is often
yoked in the plough; and his dung, in fl:rong moift
land, is an excellent manure. Afles fl^in, being very
hard and elaftic, is employed for making fieves, drums,
fl^oes, and pocket-book parchment for memorandums,
which is laid over with a kind of plaifl:er. The bones
of the afs being alfo remarkably hard and compact, the
ancients preferred them for making their beil founding

I 2 flutes »

68 -NATURAL HISTORY

flutes. The fynonyms of this beaft are the follownng:
Afinus. Gefner quad. 5. Raiijyn. quad. 63. Efel. Klein
quad. 6. L'ane. D<? J5/{^/7, iv. 377. Equus auricu-
lis longis flaccidis, juba brevi. BriJJbn quad. 70. Equ-
us annus. Eq. caudas extremitate fetofa, cruce nigra
fupra. Lyn. jyft. 100. Afna, Faun. Juec. No. 35. ed.
1746. Afs, Br. Zool. I. ii. Smellie' s de Buffon^ III.
398. tab. xii. Onager, Varro de re ruft. lib. ii. c. 6.
p. 8 1. Plinii Hift. Nat. lib. viii. c. 44. Oppian Cyneg.
ii. Lin. 184. Pallas in aft. acad. Peirop. ii. 258.
Zimmerman. 666.

The zebra!

WHETHER we confider fymmetry of fhape, or
beauty of colours, the zebra is perhaps the moft ele-
gant of all quadrupeds. In this animal, the figure and
gracefulnefs of the horfe are united with the fleetnefs of
the ftag. His robe is adorned with black and white
belts, alternately difpofed, with fuch regularity and ex-
ad proportion, that nature feems here to have em-
ployed the rule and compafs. Thefe alternate bands of
black and white are the more fingular^ becnufe they are
ftraight, parallel, and as nicely feparated as thofe of a
ftriped ftuif. Beiides, they extend not only over the
body, but the head, thighs, legs, and even the, ears
and tail ; fo that, at a diitance, the whole body of the
animal has the appearance bf being artificially adorned,
in the moft elegant manner, with ribbands. The (hades
are always lively and brilliant ; and the hair is fhort,
clofe, and fine, the luftre of which augments the beauty
of the. colours. The zebra, in general, is fmaller than
the horfe, and larger than the afs. Though he has
often been compared to thefe two animals, under, the
names of the wild-horfe and ftriped-afs, he is not a
copy of either, but fhould rather be regarded as their
model, if in nature every fpecies were not equally ori-
ginal, and had not an equal right to creation.

Neither

^*»

/

I'

ii

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 69

: Neither can the onager, nor the fine mules of Sibe-
ria, be regarded as the origin of the zebra fpecies,
though they rcfemble it in figure and fvviftnefs. None
of them exhibit that regular variety of colours, by
which the zebra is fo eminently diftinguifhed. This
beautiful fpecies is fingular, and very remote from all
other kinds. It likewife belongs to a different climate
from that of the onager, being only found in the eaft-
ern and fouthern regions of Africa, from ^Ethiopia to
the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence as far as
Congo. He exiils not in Europe, Afia, America, nor
in any of the northern parts of Africa. Thofe men-
tioned by fome voyagers to have been found in Brafil,
had been tranfported thither from Africa. Others,
which have been (een m Perfia, and in Turkey, had
been brought to thofe countries from j^,thiopia. In
fine, almoil: all we have feen in Europe came from the
Cape of Good Hope. This point of Africa is ther
native climate, where they are very numerous, 'and
where the Dutch have exerted every effort to tame and
render them domeftic ; but they have not hitherto
been able fully to accomplifli this purpofe. But the
wild horfe and the onager are perhaps equally untrafl:-
ablej and, it is extremely probable, that, if the zebra
were early accuftomed to obedience, and to a domeftic
ftate, he v/ould become equally gentle with the afs and
horfe, and might fupply the place of both.

As the Britifli dominion has been lately extended
over the Cape of Good Hope, where thele beautiful
animals are found in the greateft abundance, it is pro-
bable, that, in a Ihort time, we fhall receive further
information of every thing relative to their nature.
There is no doubt, but, if they were imported into
England, they might not only be made to generate
and multiply among tliemfelves, but likewife with
horles and afles, whereby a new race of mules, and
perhaps of great value, might be brouglit Into ufe.
I'his is confirmed by the following facb. A ftallion-

afs

70 NATURALHISTORY

afs was brought to a female zebra kept a few years ag6
in London ; but the zebra at firft refufed any com-
merce with him. The afs was then curioufly painted,
to refemble the male zebra j whereupon fhe admitted
his embraces, and produced a very fine mule. The
reprefentation given in the annexed plate, is drawn
from a very beautiful zebra belonging to the ftadhold-
cr, which he imported from the Cape a little before
the late revolution in Holland. It is about the fize
of an Hungarian horfe, and very much r^fembles that
animal, in the fprightly attitude of its head and neck ;
the mane is fhort and ftiff, variegated with the fame
colours as the body. Its hair is fhort, fmooth, and
ihining, like the coat of a blood-horfe ; and upon the
whole more elegant than any other we have yet {een.
The colour of this creature is a white ground ftripcd
with black tranfverfe bands, about tv/o fingers broad,
which terminate in dark- brown or yellow. From the
mane to the tail runs a black line along the fpine of
the Back, whence the black ftripes, that encircle the
body, branch forth, which without joining difappear
under the belly, and leave a white fpace of an hand's
breadth. The legs are marked down to the hoofs
with narrower rings, alternately black and white, the
fame as the tail and ears. The upper part of the neck
is encircled after the fame manner, but near the body
the rays verge towards the breaft. From the top of
the head proceed ten or twelve ftraight black ftripes
over the forehead, which grow narrower and reach
down to the nofe, where the black colour is changed ta
a brown, and afterwards at the extremity to a yellow.
The fynonymsare: Zthrz, Nierem^erg. i6S. Zecora,
Ludclph. JEthiop. I. Hb. i. c. lo. II. 150. Zebra, Raii
jyn. quad. 64. Klein quad. 5. Le Zebre, ou L'ane
raye. Brijfon quad. 73. De Buffon, xii. i. tab. i. ii.
Equus Zebra, Eq. fafciis fufcis verficolor. Lyn. fyfi,
10 1, Ed.w. 222, Wild-afs, Kolben Cape Good Hope.
ii. 112. MtiJ, Lev,

Thb

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 71

T H E CLU A G G A.

THIS animal is ftriped like the former, on the
head, neck, and mane. From the withers to the
middle of the flanks the ftripes grow gradually fhort-
er, leaving part of the back, loins, and fides, quite
plain : the ground colour of the whole upper-part and
ildes is bay : the belly, legs, and thighs, white and free
from fpots or ftripes : the ears are fhorter than thofe
of the zebra: the feet of each are fmall, and the
hoofs hard.

This animal and the zebra have been long con-
founded together, and confldered as male and female ;
but in each fpecies the fexes agree in colours and
marks, unlefs that thofe in the male are more vivid.
Sir Jofeph Banks firft feparated thefe fpecies by the
remarks he communicated on a quagga he iavv at the
Cape in 1 77 1. They keep in valt herds like the ze-
bra, but ufually in different tracts of country, and ne-
ver mix together : they are of a thicker and ftronger
make, and from the few trials which have been made,
prove of a more docile nature. A quagga caught
young has been known to lofe its favage difpofition,
and run to receive the carefTes of mankind j and there
have been inftances of its being broke fo far as to draw
in a team with the common horfes. It is faid by Spar-
man, * to be fearlefs of the hyaena, and even to attack
and purfue that fierce animal; fo that it proved an ex-
cellent guard to the horfes with which it was turned
out to grafs at night. Nature feenis to have deligned
them for the beaft s of draft or of burden for this coun-
try ; and they certainly might be broke for the carriage
or the faddle. They are ufed to the food which harfh
dry paftures of Africa produce; are in no terror of
wild beafts, nor are fubjedl to the epidemic diftemper
which deflroys fo many horfes of the European off-
ipringi and it may generally be obferved, that both the
2 , oxen

72 NATURAL HISTORY

oxen and horfes introduced into this country lofe the
ftrength and powers of thofe in Europe. The fyno-
nyms of this fpecies are : Le Voy. de M. Hop. 40.
Opeagha, MaJforCs Travels, in the Phil. Tranf. Ixvi.
297. or ^aggaj of the Hottentots. Female Zebra;
Edw. 223.

The HUEMEL.

THE huemel is diftinguiflied by bifculated hoofs;
and is of the fame lize, coat, and colour, of the afs :
the ears are ered, fhort, ftrait, pointed like that of a
horfe; the head being equally elegant, and the neck
and rump finely formed. This animal inhabits the
higheft and mod: inacceflible part of the Andes, and is
therefore very difficult to be taken. Yet it mufl: at
times defcend, as Commodore Byron faw one at Port
Defire. It neighed like a horfe, and frequently flop-
ped and looked at our people ; then ran off at full
fpeed, and ftopped and neighed again. Its voice had
nothing of the braying of an afs ; neither does it re-
femble that animal in its internal parts : it is full of
mettle, and of great fwiftnefs. By its cloven hoofs it
forms the link, as M. Molina obferves, between this
genus and the ruminant animals. The fynonyms are:
Le Gnemel ou Huemel, Molina Chili, 303. Equus
bifculus Gmelin. Lin. 209.

BOS, of the Order P E C O R A.

THE generic characters of this genus of quadru-
peds are : the horns are hollow within, and bend
out laterally ; there are eight cutting teeth in the lower
jaw, and none in the upper, their place being fupplied
by a hard membrane ; there are no dog-teeth in either
jaw ; the f]<;in along the lower fide of the neck is pen-
dulous. The fpecific marks of the common bull and
cow are, rounded horns, with a large fpace between

their

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 73

their bafis. The following fpecies are comprehended
in this genus :

The TAURUS, or common BULL and COW.

THE northern countries of Europe are found to
produce the beft cattle of this kind. In general, they
bear cold better than heat j for which reafon they are
not fo plenty in the fouthern countries. There are but
few in Afia, to the fouth of America, or in Africa be-
yond Egypt and Barbary. America produced none
till they were carried there by the Europeans. But
the largeft are to be met with in Denmark, Podolia,
the Ukraine, and among the Calmuck Tartars ; hke-
wife thofe of Ireland, England, Holland, and Hun-
gary, are much larger than thofe of Perfia, Turkey,
Greece, Italy, and Spain; but thofe of Barbary are
leaft of all. In mountainous countries, as Wales, the
highlands of Scotland, &c. the black cattle are fmall,
but hardy J and when fatted make excellent beef. In
Lapland they are moftly white, and many of them want
horns. The Britifli breed of cattle has in general been
fo much altered and improved by foreign mixture,
that it is difficult to point out the original kind of
thefe iflands. Thofe which are fuppofed to have been
originally Britifh, are far inferior in fize to thofe on the
northern parts of the European continent; the cattle in
Scotland are in general fmall, andhornlefs; the Welfli
runts are larger, as are the black cattle of Cornwall.
The large fpecies that is now cultivated in moft parts
of England, are either of foreign extraction, or our
own improved by a crofs with the foreign kind. The
Lincolnfhire kind derive their fize from the Holfteia
"breed; and the large hornlefs cattle that are bred in
fome parts of England, come originally from Poland.

About two hundred and fifty years ago, there was
found in Scotland a wild race of cattle, called bifontes
juhatiy which were of a pure white colour, and had, if

Vol.. III. No. 32. JC we

74 NATURAL HISTORY

we may believe Boethius, manes like lions. Thefe are
now extind in a wild ftatej but their oiFspring,. ftill
fufficiently favage, are preferved in the parks of Drum-
Janrig and Chillingham. They retairt their white co-
lour, but have loft their manes. The principal exter-
nal appearances which diftinguifh this breed of cattle
from all others, are the foilovving : — Their colour is
invariably white; muzzles black; the whole of the in-
iide of the ear, aiKi about one-third of the outfide, from
the tip downwards, red : the colour of the ears, in the
undegenerated beafts, is black; horns white, with
black tips, very fine, and bent upwards : fome of the
bulls have a thin upright mane, about an inch and an
half or two inches long. At the firft appearance of
any perfon, they fet off in full gallop ; and, at the dif-
tance of two or three hundred yards, make a wheel
round, and come boldly up again, tolling their heads in
a menacing manner : on a fudden they make a full ftop
at the diftance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at
the objed of their furprize; but, upon the ieaft motion
being made, they all again turn round and fly off with
equal fpeed, but not to the fame diftance; forming a
ihorter circle, and again returning with a bolder and
more threatening afpeft than before, they approach
much nearer, probably within thirty yards; when they
make another ftand, and again fly off: this they do fe-
veral times, fhortening their diftance, and advancing
nearer, till they come within ten yards, when moft
people think it prudent to leave them, not chufing to
provoke them farther; for there is little doubt but in
two or three turns they would make an attack. The
xnode of killing them was perhaps the only modern re-
mains of the grandeur of ancient hunting: — -On notice
being given, that a wild bull would be killed on a cer-
tain day, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood came
mounted, and armed with guns, &c. fometimes to the
amount of an hundred horfe, and four or five hundred
foot, who ftood u^oa walls, or got into trees, while the

horfemen

O F QJJ ADRUPED5. 75

harfemen rode off the bull from the reft of the herd,
until he flood at bay ; when the markfmen difmounted
and fhot. At fome of thefe huntings twenty or thirty
fhots have been fired before he ^^'as fubdued. On fuch
occafions the bleeding vidim grew defperately furious,
from the fmarting of his wounds, and the fliouts of fa-
vage joy that were echoing from every fide : but, from
the number of accidents that happened, this dangerous
mode has been little pradlifed of late years, the park-
keeper alone generally fhooting them with a rifled
gun, at one fiiot. When the cows calve, they hide
their calves for a week or ten days in fome fequeftered.
fituation, and go and fuckle them two or three times
a-day. If any perfon come near the calves, they clap
their heads clofe to the ground, and lie like a hare in
form, to hide themfelves. This is a proof of their na-
tive wildnefs ; and is corroborated by the following
circumftance that happened to the writer of the narra-
tive, who found a hidden calf, two days old, very lean,
and very weak:---On ftroking its head, it got up,
pawed two or three times like an old bull, bellowed very
loud, fi:epped back a few fl:eps, and bolted at his legs
with all its force; it then began to paw again, bellow-
ed, fl:epped back, and bolted as before; but knowing
its intention, and ftepping afide, it mifled him, fell, and
was fo very weak that it could not rife, though it made
feveral efforts : but it had done enough : the whole
herd were alarmed, and coming to its refcue, obliged
him to retire; for the dams will allow no perfon to
touch their calves, without attacking them with impe-
tuous ferocity. When any one happens to be wound-
ed, or is grown weak and feeble through age or fick-
nefs, the reft of the herd fet upon it, and gore it to
death. The weight of the oxen of this fpecies is ge-
nerally from forty to fifty ftone the four quarters; the
cows about thirty. The beef is finely marbled, and of
excellent flavour. Thofe at Burton- Conftable, in the
county of York, were all deftroyed by a diftemper a

K 2 few

16 NATURAL HISTORY

few years fince. They varied flightly from thole at
Chillingham, having black ears and muzzles, and the
tips of their tails of the fame colour ; they were alfo
much larger, many of them weighing fixty ftone, pro-
bably owing to the richnefs of the pafturage in Hol-
dernefs, but generally attributed to the difference of
kind between thofe with black and with red ears, the
former of which they ftudioufly endeavoured to pre-
ferve. — The breed which was at Drumlanrig, in
Scotland, had alfo black ears.

Frequent mention is made of our favage cattle by
hiftorians. One relates, that Robert Bruce was (in
chafing thefe animals) preferved from the rage of a
wild bull by the intrepidity of one of his courtiers,
from which he and his lineage acquired the name of
Tut-n-bull. Fitz Stephen names thefe animals «r/-
fyhejlres among thofe that harboured in the great fo-
reft that in his time lay adjacent to !J-ondon. Another
enumerates, among the provifions at the great feait of
Nevil archbifhop of York, fix wild bulls. 7 he lofs
of the favage nature of thefe animals by domeitication,
might occafion fome change in the external appearance,
as is frequent wit'i vnld animals deprived of liberty;
and to that we may akribe their lofs of mane. The
nrus of the Hercynian forefi: defcribed by Cspfar was of
this kind : the fame which is called by the modern Gtv~
mans J aurochs y i. e. bos fylve/tris.

The ox is the only horned animal in thefe iflands
that will apply its ftrength to the fervice of mankind.
It is now generally allowed, that, in the draught, oxen
are in many cafes more profitable than hoFfesj their
tood, harnefs, and fhoes, being cheaper; and, fhould
they be lamed or grow old, an old working beaft will
be as good meat, and fatten as well, as a young one.
There is fcarce any part of this animal without its ufe.
The blood, fat, marrow, hide, hair, horns, hoofs, milk,
cream, butter, cheefe, whey, urine, liver, gall, fpleen,
bones, and dung, have each their particular ufe in ma-
2 nufadureSi

0 F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 77

nufadlures, commerce, and medicine. The fkin has
been of great ufe in all ages. The ancient Bri'ons,
before they knew a better method, built their boats
with ofiers, and covered them with the hides of bulls,
which ferved them for fhort coafting voyages.

Primum canafaUx madefa^lo vhmne parvam
I'exitur in pifprn^ dejoqu^ induia juvenco.,
Ve£ioris p alien Sy tumidumjuper emicat amnem:
Sic Venetus ftagnante Pado, fufcque Brit annus
Navigat oceano. Lucan. lib. iv. 13 1-.

The bending willow into barks they twinfe;
Then line the work with fpoils of flaughter'd kinc.
Such are the floats Venetian fifhers know.
When in dull marfhes ftands the fettling Po ;
On fuch to neighb'ring Gaul, alkir'd bv gain,
The bolder Britons crofs the fwelling main. Rowi*

VefTels of this kind are ftill in ufe on the Irifli lakes ;
and on the Dee and Severn: in Ireland they are called
curathj in Englifh, coracles; from the Britilh cwrgwl,
a word fignifying a boat of that ftrudure. At prefent
the hide, when tanned and curried, ferves for boots,
/hoes, and numberlefs other conveniencies of life. —
Vellum is made of the thlnnelt calve-ikins, and the
flcins of abortions. Of the horns are made combs,
boxes, handles for knives, and drinking vefTels; and,
when foftened by water, obeying the manuhidurer's
hands, they form pellucid laminae for the fides of Ian-
thorns. Thefe lart conveniences were invented by the
great King Alired, who firft ufed them to preferve his
candle time-meafurers from the wind: or (as other
writers will have it) the tapers that were fet up before
the reliques in the miferable tattered churches of that
time. The very fmalleft fragments, and even the dull
and filings of horn, are found very ferviceable in ma-
nuring cold lands. The matter lying within, on which
the horn is formed, is called the floughj and, when dry,

is

78 NATURAL HISTORY

is ufed in making walls or fences, in which, covered
from wet, it will laft a long time. It is alfo moft ad-
mirable in mending roads, where the foil is foft and
fpewy; for, diiTolving, it becomes a glutinous fub-
ftance, that binds amazingly with gravel. As a ma-
nure, they allow between two and three quarter-facks
to an acre. Horn faw-duft with mould is an excellent
compoft for flowers. It is alfo of ufe in hardening,
and giving what is called a proper temper, to metals.
In medicine, horns were employed as alexipharmics
or antidotes againft poifon, the plague, or the fmall-
poxj they have been dignified with the title of Englifh
bazoar, and are faid to have been found to anfwer the
^nd of the oriental kind.

The teguments, cartilages, and griftles, for the in-<
different,— -and, for the finer, all the cuttings, parings,
and fcrapes, of hides,— -are boiled in water, till the ge-
latinous parts of them are thoroughly difToIvedj and
the mafs, properly dried, becomes glue. The bones
are ufed by mechanics where ivory is too expenfive ;
by which the common people are ferved with many
neat conveniences at an eafy rate. From the tibia and
carpus bones is procured an oil much ufed by coach -
makers and others in drefTmg and cleanfing harnefs, and
all trappings belonging to a coach ; and the bones cal-
cined afford a fit matter for tefts for the ufe of the re-
finer in the fmelting trade. The bJood is ufed as an
excellent manure for fruit-trees, and is the bafis of that
fine colour the PrufTian blue. The finews are pre-
pared fo as to become a kind of thread or fmall cordi
ufed in fewing faddles, in making racquets, and other
things of a like nature. T he hair hath alfo its value,
and is employed in many different ways. The long
hair of the tail is frequently mixed with horfe hair fpuii
into ropes, and fometimes wove. The fhort hair ferves.
to fluff faddles, feats of feveral kinds, matreffes, and
chairs. The refufe is a good manure, and operates
more fpeedily than the horns. The fat, tallow, and

f«et>

O F (i,U ADRUPEDS. 79

{iiet, furnifh us with light ; and are alfo ufed to preci-
pitate the fait that is drawn from briny fprings. The
gall, liver, fpleen, and urine, had alfo their place in the
materia medica, though they have now refigned it to
more efficacious and agreeable medicines. The ufes of
butter, cheefe, cream, and milk, in domeftic ceconomy,
and the excellence of the latter in furnifhing a palatable
nutriment for moft people whofe organs of digeftion
are weakened, are too obvious to be infifted on.

It is a great doubt whether any wild oxen of out*
fpecies are found on the continent of Africa. We muft
beware of the mifnomers of common travellers, efpe-
cially the antient. Thus we fhall find the wild ox of
Leo to be the antelope ; and the buffaloes of Pigafet-
ta, faid to be found in Congo and Angola, may pro-
bably prove the fpecies called bonajiis. With more
confidence we may fay, from the authority of Flacourt,
that wild oxen are found in Madag-afcar, like the Eu-
ropean, but higher on their legs. Borneo, according
to Beckman, and the mountains of Java, yield oxen \i\
a. ftate of nature; but the torrid zone forbids the fcru-
tiny into fpecies, which would give fatisfadion to ati
inquifitive naturalift. The varieties of domeftic cattle
fprung from the wild ftock are very numerous j fuch
as the great Indian ox, of a reddifh colour, v^'ith fliort
horns bending clofe to the neck; with a vaft lump on
the flioulders, very fat, and efteemed the moft delici-
ous part. This lump is accidental, and difappears in
a few defcents, in the breed produced between them
and the common kind. This variety is alfo commoti
in Madagafcar, and of an enormous fize. A very fmall
kind, with a lump on the flioulders, and horns almoft
upright, bending a little forward, is the bos indicus of
Linnctus, and the zebu of M. de Buffon, In Suratis
a minute kind, not bigger than a great dog; v/hich
has a fierce look, and is ufed to draw children in fmali
carts. The larger fpecies are the common beafts of
draft in many parts of India, sind draw the hackeries

or

«o NATURAL HISTORY

or chariots; and are kept in very high condition. O*
thers are ufed as pads, are faddled, and go at the rate
of twenty miles a-day. There are cattle in Abyflinia,
and the ifle of Madagafcar, with lumps on their backs,
and horns attached only to the fkin, quite pendulous.
In Adel or Adea, and Madagafcar, they are of a fnowy
whitenefs, as large as camels, and with pendulous ears,
and hunch- backs. They are called boury. There
are alfo white cattle, with black ears, in the ifle of Ti-
nian. The lant or dant, defcribed by Leo.Africanus,
is another beaft, perhaps, to be referred to this genus.
He fays it refembles an ox -, but hath fmaller legs and
comelier horns; that the hair is white; and fo fwift,
as to be one of the rivals in fpeed with the Barbary
horfe : the oftrich is the other. If the horfe can over-
take either, it is elieemed at a thoufand ducats, or a
hundred camels. The hoofs are of a jetty blacknefs :
of the hide targets are made, impenetrable by a bullet;
and valued at a great price.

Of the European cattle, the mo ft famous are thofe
of Holftein and Jutland, which feeding on the rich
low warm lowlands, between the two feas, grow to a
great fize. A good cow yields from twelve to twenty-
four quarts of milk in a day. Befides home con-
fumption, about thirty-two thoufand are annually fent
towards Copenhagen, Hamburgh, and Germany. A-
bout the Villula is bred the fame kind. Podolia and
the Ruflian Ukrain, particularly about the rivers Bog,
Dnieper, and Dnieper, produce a fine breed; tajl,
large-horned, of a greyifli-white colour, with dufky
heads and feet, and a duiiky line along the back. The
calves of thofe defigned for fale fuck a year, and are
never worked, which brings them to a larger fize than
their parents. They are called in Germany blue oxen,
eighty or ninety thoufand are driven to Konigfberg,
Berlin, and Breflaw : the beft are fold at one hundred
rix-dollars apiece, or twenty pounds flerling; which
brings annually a return to their native country of fix

million

OF QJLJ AD RUPED S. St

million three hundred thoufand rix-dollars. Hungary

. breeds the fame kind, and fends annually to Vienna

and other parts of Germany about one hundred and

twenty thoufand, which brings back eight million of

irix- dollars.

The antient Gauls ufed horns to drink out of; in
cimpUJfimis epulis fro proculis uiunturi fays Caefar : if,
according to Pliny, each horn held an urnay or four
gallons, it was a goodly draught. Gefner, in his Icon.
Anim. 34, fays, he faw a horn, he fuppofes of an urus^
hung againft a pillar in the cathedral of Strafburgh,
which was fix feet long. Thefe were probably the
horns of oxen, or caftrated hearts, which often grow
to enormous fizes j the horns of wild cattle being
very fhort.

The bison.

THE Bifon has fhort black rounded horns, with a
great interval between their bafes. On the fhoulders
is a vaft hunch, confiiling of a flefhy fubftance, much
elevated. The fore-parts of the body are thick and
ftrong; the hind-part {lender and weak. The hunch
and head are covered with a very long undulated fleece,
divided into locks, of a dull ruft- colour: this is at
times fo long, as to make the fore-part of the animal
of a fliapelefs appearance, and to obfcure its {tn^o. of
feeing. During winter, the whole body is clothed in
the fame manner. In flimmer the hind-part of the
body is naked, wrinkled, and duflcy. The tail is about
a foot long; at the end is a tuft of black hairs, the
reft naked. It inhabits Mexico and the interior parts
of North America. It is found in great herds in the
Savannas; and is fond of marfhy places, where it lod-
ges amidft the high reeds. In Louifiana they are feen
feeding in herds innumerable, promifcuoufly with mul-
titudes of ftags and deer, during morning and evening;
retiring in the fukry heats into the fhade of tall reeds,
which border the rivers of America. They are ex-

VoL. III. No. 32. L ceedingly

82 Natural HISTORY

ceedingly fhy; and very fearful of man, unlefs the/
are wounded, when they purfue their enemy, and be-
come very dangerous.

The chafe of thefe animals is a favourite dlverfion
of the Indians; and is efFe6led in two ways. Firft, by
/hooting: when the markfman muft take great care to
go againft the wind: for their fmeil is fo exquifite, that-
the moment they get fcent of him they inftantly retire
■with the utmoft precipitation. He aims at their fhoul-
ders, that they may drop at once, and not be irritated
by an inefFedtual wound. Provided the wind does not
favour the beafts, they may be approached very near,
being blinded by the hair which covers their eyes. —
The other method is performed by a great number of
men, who divide and form a vaft fquare: each band
fets fire to the dry grafs of the favannah where the
herds are feeding : thefe animals having a great dread
of fire, which they fee approach on all fides, they retire
from it to the centre of the fquare j when the bands
clofe and kill them (prefled together in heaps) with-
out the leall: hazard. It is pretended, that on every
expedition of this nature they kill fifteen hundred or
two thoufand beeves. The hunting-grounds are pre-
fcribed with great form, left the different bands fiiould
meet and interfere in the diverfion. Penalties are enabl-
ed on fuch who infringe the regulations, as v/ell as on
thofe who quit their pods and fuffer the beafts to efcape
from the hollow fquares: the punifiiments are, the
gripping the delinquents, the taking away their arms,
which is the greateil: difgrace a favage can undergo, or
laftly the deniclition of their cabins.

The ufes of thefe animals are various. Powder- flafks
are made of their horns. The ficins are very valuable;
in old times the Indians made of them the beft targets.
When drefied, they form an excellent buff j the In-
dians drefs them with the hair on, and clothe them-
fclves with thera; the Europeans of Loufiania ufe them
for blankets, and find them light, warm, and foft

The.

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 8j

The bulls become excefliv^ely fat, and yield great
quantities of tallow, a hundred and fifty pounds weight
having been got from one beaft, which forms a confi-
derable matter of commerce. Thefe over-fed animals
ufually become the prey of wolves; for, by reafon of
their great unwieldinefs, they cannot keep up with the
herd. The Indians, by a very bad policy, prefer the
flefli of the COWS; which in time will deftroy the fpe-
cies : they complain of the ranknefs of that of the bulls ;
but Du Pratz thinks the laft much more tender, and
that the ranknefs might be prevented by cutting oit
the tefticles as foon as the beaft is killed.. The hair or
wool is fpun into cloth, gloves, ftockings, and garters,
which are very ftrong, and look as well as thofe made
of the beft fheep's wool ; Governor Pownal afiures us,
that the moft luxurious fabric might be made of it.
The fleece of one of thefe animals has been found to
weigh eight pounds. Their fagacity in defending
themfelves againft the attacks of wolves is admirable.
When they fcent the approach of a drove of thofe ra-
venous creatures, the herd flings itfelf into the form of
a circle : the weakeft keep in the middle ; the ftrongeft
are ranged on the outfide, prefenting to the enemy an
impenetrable front of horns : ihould they be taken by
furprife, and have recourfe to flight, numbers of the
fatteft or weakeft are fure to peri(h. Attempts have
been made to tame and domefticate the wild, by catch-
ing the calves and bringing them up with the commort
kind, in hopes of improving the breed ; but it has not
yet been found to anfwer: notwlthftanding they had
the appearance for a time of having loft their favage
nature, yet they always grew impatient of reftraint,
and by reafon ot their great ftrength would break down
theftrongeft inclofure, and entice the tame cattle into
the corn-fields. They have been known to engender
together, and to breed,

I^ 2 The

U NATURAL HISTORY

The grunting OX.

THIS fpecies hath a fhort head, a broad nofe, with
thick and hanging Yips. Ears large, befet with coarfe
briftly hairs, pointed downwards, but nor pendulous.
Horns fhort, (lender, rounded, upright, and bending,
and verv iharp-pointcd. They are placed remote at
their bafes, between which the hair forms a lo'-'g curl-
ing tuft. The hair in the middle of the forehead is
radiated, and the fpace between the fhoulders is much
elevated. Along the neck is a fort of mane, which in
fome extends along the top of the back to the taii. The
"whole body, efpecially the lower parrs, the throat, and
neck, are covered with hairs, fo long as to conceal at
leaft half the legs, and make them appear very fhort.
All the other parts of the body are covered with long
hairs like thofe of a he- goat. The hoo*s are large:
the falfe hoofs projed much ; are convex without, and
concave within. Its moft- obvious fpecific mark is the
tail, which fpreads out broad and long, with flowing
hairs like that of a beaut.ful mare, ofamoft elegant
filky texture, and of a glofiy filvery colour. There is
one preferved in the Britilh Mufeum, not kfs than fix
feet long. The cr.lour of the head and body is ufually
black ; but that of the mane is of the fame colour with
the tail.

Doftor Pallas compares the fize of thofe which he
iaw to that of a fmall domcftic cow. But the growth
of thefe was probably checked by be'ng brought very
young from their native country into Siberia. Mr.
Bogle fj.eaks of them as larger than the common Thi-
bet breed. Marco Polo lays, that the v/ild kind, which
he faw in his travels, were nearly as large as elephants.
He may exaggerate j but the tail in the Britim Mu-
feum is a proof of their great fize, for it is fix feet
long yet probably did not touch the ground. Thefe
animals, in the time of Rubruquis and Marco Polo,

were

* O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. S5

werevery frequent in the country of Tangut, thcprefent
feat of the Mongol 7'artars. They were found both
wild and don^efticated. Ihey are in thefe days more
rare, but are met with in abundance in both ftates, in
the kingdom of I'hibet. Even when fubjugated, they
retain tiieir fierce nature, and are particularly irritated
at the (ight of red or any g;iv colours. Their rifing
anger is'perceived by the fha'-iing of their bodies, rail-
ing and moving their tails, and the menacing looks of
their eyes : their attacks are fo fudden and fo rapid,
that it is very difficult to avoid them. The wild breed,
which is called bucha, is very tremendous: if, in the
chace, they are not flain on the fpot, they grow fo fu-
rious from the wound, they will purfue the aflallant;
and, if they overtake him, they never defift tofllng hira
on their horns into the air, as long as life remains :
they will copulate with domeftic cov;s. In the time of
Marco Polo, this half-breed was ufed for the plough,
and for bearing of burdens, being more tradable thaii
the others: but even the genuine breed were fo far
tamed as to draw the waggons of the Nomades or
wandering Tartars. To prevent mlfchief, the owners
always cut off the fharp points of the horns. The
tamed kinds vary in colour to red and black, and fomc
have horns almoft as white as ivory.

There are two varieties of the domefticated kinds,
one called in the Mongol language ghainouk, the other
farlyk. The firft of the original Thibet race, the other
a degenerated kind. Many are alfo deftitute of horns,
but have on the front, in their place, fuch a thicknefs
of bone, that it is with the utmoil difficulty that the
perfons employed to kill them can knock them down
with repeated blows of the ax. Their voice is very
iingular, being like the grunting of a hog. A bezoar
is laid to be fometimes found in their ftomachs, in high
efteem among the oriental nations: but the moft va-
luable part of them is the tail, which forms one of the
four great articles of comnrjerce in Thibet. They are

fold

U NATURAL HISTORt

fold at a high price, and are mounted on filver handles,
and ufed as chowras or brufties to chafe away the flies.
In India no man of fafhion ever goes out, or fits in form
at home, without two chowrawbadars or brufhers at-
tending him, each furnifhed with an inftrument of this
kind. The tails are alfo faftened by way of ornament
to the ears of elephants, and the Chinefe dye the hair
red, and form it into tufts, to adorn their fummer bon-
nets. Frequent mention is made of thefe animals in
the facred books of the Mongols : the cow being with
•them an objed of worfhip, as it is with moft of the
orientalifts. Of the antients, JE.lhn is the only one
who takes notice of this fingular fpecies. Amidil his
immenfe farrago of fables, he gives a very good ac-
count of it, under the name of " the Poephagus, an
Indian animal larger than a horfe, with a moft thick
tail, and black, cotnpofed of hairs finer than the hu-
man. Highly valued by the Indian ladies for orna-
menting their heads j each hair he fays was two cubits
long. It was the moft fearful of animals and very
fwift. When it was chaced by men or dogs^ and found
itfelf nearly overtaken, it would face its purfuers, and
hide its hind parts in fome bufh, and wait for them :
imagining that if it could conceal its tail, which was
the object they were in fearch of, that it would efcapc
unhurt. The hunters fhot at it with poifoned arrows,
and, when they had flain the animal, they took only tho
tail and hide, making no ufe of the fle(h.'*

The BUFPALO.

THE buffalo hath large horns, ftraight for a great
length from their bafe, then bending upwards ; not
round, but comprefled, and one fide fharp : the (kin is
almoft naked, and black. Thofe about the Cape of
Good Hope of a duiky red. The head is propor-
tionably lefs than the common ox; the ears are larger;
the nofe broad and fquare^ eyes white, and no dewlaps :

I the

O F QV ADRUPEDS. ty

the limbs are long, body fquare, tail fhorter and more
(lender than that of our common cattle. It grows to
a very great fize, if we may form a judgment from the
horns. In the Britifli Mufeum is a pair fix feet fix
inches and a half long, it weighs twenty-one pounds,
and the hollow will contain five quarts. Lobo men-
tions fome in Abyfllnia, which would hold ten. Dil-
lon faw fome in India ten feet long: they are fometimes
wrinkled, but often fmooth. Thefe animals are found
wild in Malabar, Borneo, and Ceylon : they are ex-
cefTively fierce and dangerous if attacked; they arc
afraid of fire, and are greatly provoked at the fight of
red : they are vei-y fond of wallov/ing in the mud ;
love the fides of rivers ; and fwim very well. They
are domefticated in Africa, India, and Italy, and arc
ufed for their milk and their flelh, which is far infe-
rior to the common beef: much cheefe is alfo produced
from the milk. The horns are greatly efteemed in
manufad:ories ; and of their fkin is made an impene-
trable buff. They form a diftin<5l race from the com-
mon cattle : they will not copulate together, neither
will the female bufi'aloes fuffer a common calf to fuck
themi nor will the domefticcow permit the fame from
the young buffalo. A buffalo goes twelve months
with young; our cows only nine. The buffaloes of
Abyffjnia grow twice the fize of our largeft oxen, and
are called taur-elephantes, not only on that account,
but becaufe their ficins are naked and black like that of
the elephant: they are very common in Italy, origi-
nally introduced into Lombardy from India by King
Agiluif, who reigned from 591 to 616 : they are faid
to have grown wild in Apuglia, and to be very com-
mon, in hot weather, on the fea-fhore between Man-
fredonia and Barletta: the tamed kind are ufed ia
Italy for the dairy and the draught. In India and A-
frica for both; and in fome parts of India alfo for the
ikidJe.

Ariflotle

SS NATURAL HISTORY

Ariftotle defcribes thefe animals very well under the
title of wild oxen, among the Arachotfe, in the north-
ern part of India, bordering on Perfia. He gives them
great (Irength, black colour, and their horns bending
upwards more than thofe of the common kind. Pliny
probably means a large breed of this kind, as high as a
camel, with horns extending four feet between tip and
tip. There was a fmall fort exhibited in London fome
years ago, under the name of bonafus ; of the fize of a
runt: hair on the body briftly, and very thin, fo that
the fkin appeared: the rump and thighs quite bare;
the firft marked on each fide with two dufky ftripes,
pointing downward, the laft with two tranfverfe ftripes:
the horns are comprefTed fideways, taper, and fharp at
the point. There is another variety, namely, the anoa,
which is a very fmall fpecies, of the fize of a middling
fheep: they are wild, in fmall herds, in the mountains
of Celebes, which are full of caverns : they are taken
with great difficult)' ; and even in confinement are fo
fierce, that Mr. Soten loft in one night fourteen flags,
which were kept in the fame paddock, whofe bellies
they ripped up. The gauvera is another fpecies found
in Ceylon, and defcribed by Knox, who fays, its back
ftands up In a lliarp ridge, and whofe legs are white
half way from the hoofs. The hunch-backed oxen
already defcribed are probably the animals intended by
Mr. Knox.

The musk BULL and COW.

THESE are natives of Hudfon's-bay : they are a-
bout the fize of a Scotch bullock ; have a thick bo.dy,
and ftiort legs : the horns are large, and very remark-
able: they are united at their origin in the fkull j but,
immediately after, they fall down on each fide of the
crown of the head, then taper away fmall, the points
turning up. The hair is black, and grows to a great
length i underneath which is a fine wool fuperior to

Vigonia

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 89

Vigonia wool. The male only has the curious fcalpi
the female is covered with hair. Thefe animals fre-
quent the country about a hundred miles inwards tq.
the north-weft of Churchill-river, in Hudfon's-bay,
where they are very numerous. They live in herds of
thirty, forty, and upwards to the number of eighty or
a hundred. The bulls are very few in proportion to
the cows : for, according to Mr. Graham's informa-
tion, it is rare to fee more than two or three fu!l-grown
bulls with the largeft herd; and, from the number of
males which at times are found dead, the Indians are
of opinion that they kill each other in contending for
the females at the rutting feafon. They are then {o
jealous of their miftrefles, that they run at either man
or beaft who offers to approach them, and have been
feen to run and bellow even at ravens and other large
birds which chanced to fly or light near them. They
go to rut in Auguft. The females bring forth their
young about the latter end of May or beginning of
June, and are never known to have more than one at
a time. They delight much in the moft mountainous
parts of the barren grounds, and are feldom found at
any great diftance through the woods : though a beaft
of confiderable magnitude and apparently unwieldy
form, yet it climbs the rocks with great eafe and agi-
lity i and is nearly as fure- footed as a goat, and like
that animal will feed on any thing: for though they
feem fondeft of grafs, yet in winter they eat mofs and
any other herbage they can find; alfo the tops of the
willows and the brufti of the pine-tree. The flefti of
this animal no way refembles that of the weftern buf-
falo J but is more like that of the moofe or elk, the
fat being of a clear white flightly tinged with a light
azure. The calves and young heifers are exceeding
good eating; but the flefh of the bulls both fmell and,
tafte fo ftrong of mufk, as to render it very difagree-
able. It feems to have been from want of better in-r
formation, that Mr. Drage afferts the heait to be the
Vol. III. No. 32. M moft-

90 NATURALHISTORY

jnoft impregnated: had he faid the kidneys, he would
have been much nearer the truth. The urine mult
contain this fcent in a very great degree : for the penis
is always lubricated with a brown gummy fubftance,
fo highly fcented with mufk, that after having been
kept for feveral years it does not feem to have loft any
of its quality. The dung of this animal (though fo
large) is all in little round knobs; and fo exacftly like
that of the varying hare both in fize and colour, that
it would be very eafy to miftake the one for the other,
were it not for the quantity. The Indians kill great
numbers of them. From two thoufand to four thou-
fand weight of the flerti frozen is brought to Prince of
Wales's fort annually, and is ferved out as provifions
to the Europeans.

The cape BUFFALO.

THESE inhabit the interior parts of Africa north
of the Cape of Good Elope, but qo not extend to the
north of the Tropic. They are faid t<^ be greatly fu-
perior in fize to the largeft Englifh ox: hang their
heads down, and have a mod ferocious and mah^volent
appearance. They are in fa6t exceflively fierce and
dangerous to travellers: will lie quietly in wait in the
woods, and rufh fu^denly on paffengers, and trample
them, their horfes, and oxen of draught, under their
feet: fo that they are to be ihunned as the moft cruel
beafls of this country. They will even return to the
attack, and delight to lick the flaughtered bodies. They
a.e prodigicufly fwift, and fo ftrong, that a young one
of three years of age, being placed with fi>; tame oxen
in a waggon, could not by their united force be moved
from the fpot. They are ulfo found in the interior
par's of Guinea j but are fo fierce and dangerous, that
the negroes who are in chafe of other animals are fear-
ful of fhooting at them. The lion, which can break
the back of the ftrongeft domeftic oxen at one blow,

cannot

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 91

cannot kill this fpecies, except by leaping on its back,
and fuffocating it by fixing its talons about its nofe
and mouth. The lion often pcrlfhes in the attempt;
but leaves the marks of its fury about the mouth and
nofe of the beaft. They live in great herds, efpecially
in Krake-Kamma, and other deferts of the Cape ; and
retire during the day into the thick forefts : they are
reckoned good meat by the Dutch of the Cape : they
are called aurochs, but differ totally from the Euro-
pean. The warmth of the climate has prevented the
vaft length and abundance of hair which diftinguifhes
the former, and the luxuriance of herbage in this coun-
try has given it the vaft fuperiority of fize.

Of this animal we have the following account by
Dr. Sparman, who was the firft who gave a diftindt
delineation and defcription of it. Defcribing the death
of one that was fliot, he informs us, that " immedi-
ately after the report of the gun the buffalo fell up-
on its knees: that he afterwards, however, raifed hira-
felf up, and ran (ev^n or eight hundred paces into a
thicket; and, diredly upon this, with a moft dreadful
bellowing, orave us to underftand, that it was all over
with him. All this together formed a fpedacle, which
moft fportfmen would have been highly delighted to
have been prefent at: this creature, as well as moft of
the largeft kind of game, was fhot by a Hottentot.
Even fome of the beft huntfmen among the farmers
are obliged, for the moft part, to make ufe of Hotten-
tots by way of bufh- hunters; as in their fkin- cloaks
they do not excite the attention of the wild beafts fo
much as the Europeans do in their drefs: they are
likewife ready, at any time when there is occafion for
it, to go barefoot, and crawl foftly upon their bellies,
till they come within a proper diftance of the animal.
Moreover, when the buffalo at length is irritated, the
Hottentots can much ealier efcape from the danger
which threatens them than a Chrifti:n. I myfelf, on
another occafion, faw two Hottentots run with amaz-

M 2 ing

t)i NATURAL HISTORY

ing fwlftnefs when a buffalo was iti purfuit of them,
It was not without the greateft difcontent on the part
of my Hottentots that I made a draught and took the
dimenfions of this buffalo j thus preventing them, in
the mean while, from falling aboard of the flefh. Nei-
ther did they afterwards delay one moment to cut a
few flices off and broil them : they likewife laid two
bones on the fire to broil for the fake of the marrow.
After this they began to take out the entrails, which,
according to theteftimony of my Hottentots, perfe<5lly
fefembled thofe of an ox: the buffalo's, however, are
much larger, and take up more room, and indeed gave
us no little trouble in clearing them away ; for the dia-
meter of this creature's body was full three feet.

" Upon the whole, the fize of the buffalo was as
follows : the length eight feet, the height five and a
half, and the fore -legs two feet and a half long j the
larger hoofs were five inches over; from the tip of the
muzzle to the horns was twenty-two inches. This
animal in fhape very much refembled the common ox:
but the buffalo has rHuch ftouter limbs, in proportion
o its height and length i their fetlocks hang likewife
nearer to the ground. The horns are fingular, both in
their form and pofition : the bafes of them are thirteen
inches broad, and are only an inch diilance from each
other; by which means there is formed between them
a narrow channel or furrow, in a great meafure bare of
hair. Meafuring them from this furrow, the horns rife
up in a fpherical form, with an elevation of three inches
at molf- In this way they extend over a great part of
the head, viz. from the nape of the neck to the diftance
of three and. a half inches from the eyes; fo that the
part from which they grow out, does not occupy a fpace
of iefs than eighteen or twenty inches in circumference.
From hence bending down on each fide of the neck,
and becoming more cylindrical by degrees, they each
of them form a curve, the convex part of which is
turned towards the ground and the point up in the

airj

O V QJ) ADRUPEDS. 9:5

air; which, however, at the fame time is generally in-
clined backwards : the diftance between the points of
the horns is frequently above five feet ; the colour of
them is black ; and the furface, to within about a third
part of them, meafured from the bafe, is very rough
and craggy, with cavities fometimes an inch deep.
Neither thefe cavities, nor the elevations which are
formed between them, appear to be at all accidental,
as there is a tolerable fimilariry between thefe excre-
fcences, though they are very different in different
buffaloes. The ears are a foot in length, fomewhat
pendant, and In a great nieafure covered and defended
by the lower edges of the horns: the edges of the ears
arc notched and fbrivelled up in divers ways, which
probably proceeds from the wounds thefe creatures often
receive in their battles with each other, and from ths
rents they get in the briars and almoft impenetrable
thickets through which they pafs, together with other
cafualties of that nature : thounjh feveral Hottentots
have been induced from thence to imagine, that the
buffaloes belonged to certain fupernatural beings, who
marked thefe animals in this manner for their own
cattle. By way of naming thefe beings to me, they
made ufe of the word duyvel, which means devil.

" The hairs of the buffalo are of a dark brown co-
lour, about an inch long ; harfh; and, on fuch males as
are advanced in years, very thin, efpecially on the
middle of the fides of the belly : hence they appear at
fome diftance as if they were girt with a belt ; and,
what contributes not a little to this appearance is, that
the buffaloes in general are very fond of rolling in the
mire, l^he hairs on the knees are in moft buffalots
fomewhat lonjzer than thofe on the reft of the bodv.
and lie as it were in whirls : the eyes are fomewhat
funk within their prominent orbits : this, together with
the near fituation of them to the bafes of the herns,
which hang fomewhat over its pendant dangh'ng ears,
and its ufual method of holding its head inclined to
I one

94 NATURAL HISTORY

one fide, gives tlie buffalo a fierce and treacherous zC-
pedl. The difpofitlon likevvife of the anuTial feems to
correfpond with its countenance. He may in fome
fort be called treacherous, as he is wont to hide him-
felf among the trees, and ftand there fkulking till fome-
body happens to come very near him, when he rufhes
out at once into the road, and attacks them. This
animal likewife deferves the appellation of fierce and
cruel; as it has been remarked, that, not content with
throwing down and killing the perion whom he at-
tacks, he Hands over him ■ aftervvards, in order to
trample upon him with his hoofs and heels, at the
fiuTie time crufhing him with his knees, and with his
Jiorns and teeth tearing to pieces and mangling the
whole body, and i1:ripping off the fkin by licking it
with his tongue. This, however, he does not all at
once, but at intervals, going away between whiles to
fonie diiiance off. Notwithftanding all this, the buf-
falo will bear to be hunted; though fometimes he will
turn and hunt his pvrfuer, whofe only dependence in
that gafe is upon the fwiftnefs of his fteed. The fureft
way to ekape from him is to ride up fome hill, as the
great bulk of the buffalo's body, like that of the ele-
phant, is a weight fufficient to prevent him from being
able to vie with the flender and fine limbed horfe in
fwiftnefs; though, on the other hand, the buffiilo, in
going down hill, gets on much fafter than the horfe;
a fadt to which 1 have more than once been an eye-
witnefs.

" The flelh of the buffalo is coarfe and not very fat,
but full of juice, and of a high and not difagreeable
flavour. The hide is thick and tough, and is in great
requeft with the farmers for thongs and harneffes. Of
it we made the only halters that can be depended upon
for fecuring our horfes and oxen; fo that thefe bealls
cannot get loofe by fnapping them afunder, which they
nre otherwife apt to do when the lions and wolves
make their appearance in the neighbourhood. Every

fach

O F Q^U ADRUPE^S. 9^

fuch halter fliould be a finger and a hai in breadth
and about three yards long-, and are fold a good way
lip in the country for a quarter of a rixdollar a-piece.

" The hide of ttie buffalo we had now {liot, after it
had been drefled in fome fort by my Hottentots, bf
being ftretched out and faked a little, and aftervvards
half dried, ferved to n\ake a pair of nev/ four-plaited
traces for my waggon. We obferved, that the ball
had hit the lower part of the neck, and entered the
lungs; where, though it did not feem to have ftruck
againft any bont, and thouo;h it was alloyed with the
ufual quantity of tin, it was yet found to be pretty-
much flattened. In other buffaloes that v/e fhotfince,
I have fometimes found the balls, though alloyed with
tin, fhivered into feveral pieces againft the bones in the
interna] parts, or at le;ift very much flattened. It is
not, theretore, worth while to fet about flnooting the
bufl^alo with balls made of lead only, for they will fel-
dom be able to penetrate into thofe parts where they
are likely to prove mortal. Befides being pofl^efled of
the degree of hardnefs requifite, a ball fliould be of a
tolerable flze, in order to kill fo large an animal as the
bufi^alo. 1 he leaft that ought to be ufed for this pur-
pofe fliould weigh two ounces and a quarter.

" My Hottentots fliewed fo much diligence and
zeal both in cutting up and eating this beaft, that the
encouragement and ftimulation which is otherwife fre-
quently neceflary to fet their fluggifli and heavy fouls
in motion, would on this occafion have been quite fu-
perfliious. They drove the w^-ggon then up to the
place where the beafl: lay, and loaded it with the bell
and fatieft part of the flefli. The raw hide, which
was of confide rable weight and extent, was tied under
the waggon till it fliould be wanted, and the two re-
maining legs or marrow-bones were fafl:ened to each
fide ot the body of the waggon. Nocwithftandina this
our Bofliies-men had each of theni loaded themfclves
with a quantity of flips of fleih made up into bundles.

Thus

$6 NATURAL HISTORY

Thus covered up to the eyes and ears in meat, we
made a fingular appearance, which might have given
any traveller who had happened to pafs that way the
idea of a walking flefh-market. As we proceeded on
our journey, afwarni of other carnivorous animals in a
coniiderable number, viz. eagles, filcons, and common
hawks, were {qqh foon afterwards to occupy our places
about the buffalo's remains; though we faw none of
them either in the trees or flying about in the air till
we had got to the diftance of a few gun-fliots from the
fpot."

Another hunt of this formidable animal he afterwards
defcribes as follows : " There was now again a great
fcarcity of meat in the waggon j for which reafon my
Hottentots began to grumble, and reminded me that
we oug;ht not to waftc fo much of our time in looking:
after infedls and plants, but give a better look out after
the game. At the fame time they pointed to a neigh-r
bouring dale over-run with wood, at the upper edge of
which, at the diftance of a mile and a quarter from the
fpot where we then were, they had (^Qn feveral buffa-
loes. Accordingly we went thither; but, though our
fatigue was leffened by our Hottentots carrying our
guns for us up a hill, yet we were quite out of breath
and overcome by the heat of the fun before we got up
to it. Yet, what even now appears to me a matter of
wonder is, that as foon as v/e had got a glimpfe of the
game, all this languor left us in an inftant. In fadl,
we each of us drove to fire before the other, fo that we
feemed entirely to have loft fight of all prudence and
caution. When we advanced to within twenty or
thirty paces of the beaft-, and confequently were per-
haps likewife in fome degree aLT:uated by our fears, we
difcharged our pieces pretty nearly at the fame time;
while the buffalo, which was rather upon lower ground
than we were, behind a thin fcambling bufh, feemed to
turn his head round in order to make towards us. In
the mean while, however, the monient we had dif-r

charged.

O F CLU ADRUPEDS. 97

charged our guns, we had the pleafure to fee him fall,
and dire(5lly afterwards run down into the thickeft part
of the wood. This induced us to hope that our (hot
had proved mortal ; for which reafon we had the im-
prudence to follow him down into the clofe thickets,
where luckily for us we could get no farther. We
had, however, as we found afterwards, only hit the
hindmoft part of the chine, where the balls, which lay
at the diftance of three inches from each other, had
been fhivered to pieces againfl: the bones. In the mean
while our temerity, which chiefly proceeded from
hurry and ignorance, was confidered by the Hotten-
tots as a proof of fpirit and intrepidity hardly to be
equalled; on which account, from that inftant they
ever after appeared to entertain an infinitely higher
opinion of our courage than they had ever done before.
Several of our Hottentots now came to us, and threw
ftones down into the dale, though without fuccefs, in
order to find out by the bellowings of the beaft whi-
ther he had retired : afterwards, however, he feemed
to have plucked up his courage; for he came up at
laft out of the dale on his own accord to the fkirts of
the wood, and placed himfeif fo as to have a full view
of us on the fpot v/here we were reiling ourfelves
fomewhat higher up : his intention was, in all proba-
bility, and in the opinion of our old fportfmen, to re-
venge himfeif on us, if we had not happened to fee
him in time, and fired at him diredly. What, per-
haps, in fome meafure put a flop to his boldnefs was,
that we flood on higher ground than he did ; for feve-
ral veteran fportfmen have afTured me of it as a faft,
that they know from experience, that the buffaloes do
not willingly venture to afcend any hill or eminence in
order to attack any one. The third lliot, which af-
terwards was obferved to have entered at the belly, was
fatal. This occafioned the buflalo to take himfeif
down again into the vale, dying the ground and bufhes
^11 the way he went with his blood. Though ftill hjot
Yp^. HI. No. 33. N u^orv

9« NATURAL HISTORY.

upon the chafe, yet we advanced with the greateft
caution, accompanied by two of our Hottentots,
through the thin and more pervious part of the wood,
where the buffalo had taken refuge. He was advan-
cing again in order to attack fome of us, when Mr^
Immelman, from the place where he was pofted, fhot
him in the lungs. Notwithftanding this, he had ftill
ftrength enough left to make a circuit of a hundred and
fifty paces, before we heard him fall : during his fall,
and before he died, he bellowed in a moft ftupendous
manner J and this death-fong of his infpired every one
of us with joy, on account of the vi6lory we had gain-
ed : and fo thoroughly fteeled is frequently the human
heart againft the fufferings of the brute creation, that
we haftened forwards, in order to enjoy the pleafure of
feeing the buffalo ftruggle with the pangs of death.
I happened to be the foremoft amongft them; but
think it impoflible for anguifh, accompanied by a fa-
vage fiercenefs, to be painted in ftronger colours than
they were in the countenance of this buffalo. I was
within ten fteps of him when he perceived me, and bel-
lowing raifed himfelf fuddenly again on his legs. I
had reafon to believe fince, that I was at the time very
much frightened ; for, before I could well take my aim,
I fired off my gun, and the (hot miffed the whole of
his huge body, and only hit him in the hind legs, as
we afterwards difcovered by the fize of the balls. Im-
mediately upon this I flew away like lightning, in or-
der to look out for fome tree to climb up into. Not-
withftanding the tedious prolixity it might occafion
me to be guilty of, I thought the beft and readieft me-
thod of giving my reader an idea of the nature of this
animal, and of the method of hunting it, as well as of
other contingent circumfiances, would be to adduce an
inrtance or two of what occurred during the chace.
My Hottentots cut up the buffalo with their ufual
alacrity and ardour; but, as they had a great way to
carry the fleih to the waggon, they took it thither in a

rather

O F Q^U ADRUPEDS. 99

rather unufual way. This was as follows : they cut
out large flips of flefh, whole and entire, with holes in
the middle, wide enough for them to put their heads
and arms through, and loaded themfelves with it in this
manner before, behind, and on every fide of them i the
meat all the while dangling about their bodies in a
manner ludicrous enough, though not much adapted to
create an appetite in the fpedator. In this way their
hands being entirely difengaged, excepting that each
man carried a ftick, they clambered up the brow of the
hill that overhung the vale, and thus walked on to-
wards the waggon, whither one might trace them all
the way by the blood."

^ The dwarf BUFFALO.

This fpecies hath horns receding in the middle,
almoft meeting at the points, and ftanding eredj in
body they are larger than a roebuck, and lefs than a
ftagj compa(5t and well made in their limbs j the hair
ihining, and of a tawny brown j legs (hort, neck thick,
fhoulders a little elevated; and the tail terminated with
long hairs, twice as coarfe as thofe of a horfe. This
fpecies is defcribed by Belon, who met with it at Cairo;
but he fays, that it was brought from Afamie, the pre-
fent Azafi, a province of Morocco, feated on the ocean,

OVIS, the SHEEP, of the Order PECORA.

THE fheep is a genus of the mammalia clafs, the
charafters of which are thefe : the horns are concave,
turned backwards, and full of wrinkles j there are eight
fore-teeth in the under -jaw, and no dog-teeth. The
wool of thefe animals is only a congeries of very long
and fletider hairs, ^^ddly twirted and contorted, and
varioufly interwoven with one another. This, as far
as is yet known, is a clothing peculiar to the fheep
kind, no oth.r animal having been feen to pofTefs it.
Jt is not, however, the clothing of all the fpecies of

N 2 iheep.

^00 NA T U R A L H I S T O R Y

ftieep, fome that are found in diftant nations having
fliort hair like that of the goat. The Engllfh wool is
excellent for almoft every purpofe. The Spanifh is
cxtrfemeiy fine ; and the oeconomy of their /hepherds
admirable J as is alfo their vaft attention to the bufi-
nefs, and their annual migrations with their flocks.
The finefl: fleeces in the world arethofe of Caramania,
referved entirely for the Moulhaes and priefts; thofe
of Cachemire are excellent j and the lamb-fkins of Bu-
charia are exquifite.

The fheep in its nature is harmlefs and timid, re-
fifts by butting with its horns, and threatens by ftamp-
ing with its footj it drinks little; generally brings
forth one at a time, fometimes two, but rarely three ;
it goes about five months with young; is fubjedl to
the rot, to worms in its liver, the vertigo, &c. Sheep
have their teeth, when they feed in certain paftures,
incrufl:ed and gilt with pyritical matter ; which has
been obferved in the flieep of .^gypt, Anti-Lebanon,
and Scotland. The various fpecies of fheep are thus
enumerated by Mr. Pennant, viz.

The Cretan, or ovis -.JlrefficeroSt has large horns,
quite eredl, and twifted like a fcrew. They are com-
mon in Hungary; and are called by the Auftrians,
%ackl; and is almoft the only kind in which their
butchers deal. Great flocks are found on Mount
Ida in Crete. M. Buffon has given defcriptions of
this fort under the name of vallachian fheep.

The ovis anglica, or hornlefs JJoeep, are very com-
mon in many parts of England; the largeft are in
Lincolnfliire, and the leaft horned flieep are in Wales,
The ovis polycerata, or many-horned peep , are com-
mon in Iceland, and other parts of the North ; they
have ufually three horns, fometirrfes four, and even five.
Horned fheep are alfo very common in Siberia, among
the Tartarian flocks, about the river Jenefei. The
ram of this breed hath generally two upright and two
lateral horns, the body covered with wool, the fore-
part

F^Uihta Am iA/ -<<•* Mrt^u. Jt^ . ' / //v«f

OF Q^U A D RU PED S. loi

part of the neck with yellowifh hairs, about 14 inches
in length. They are very mifchievous and pugna-
cious. M. Buifon has given the defcription of one of
the fame kind, but with only two horns, under the
name of le morvant de la chine.

There was a moft elegant fpecies, brought from
Guinea, in the pofTeffion of Richard Wilding, lifq. of
Llanrhaidr, in Dcnbighfhire. It was fmail of ftatune,
but moft beautifully limbed. The hair of a filvery
whitenefs, and quite filky; on the fore and hind part
of the neck it was of a great length, efpecially in front i
half of the nofe was of a jetty blacknefs j on each knee
and on each ham was a black fpot ; the footiock and
feet black. In the month of November it began to
afiume a foft v/oolly coat, like that of the Englifh
fheep: fo fcnfibly was it influenced by clim.ate. This
animal was at firft extremely gentle, and attended its
mafter in all his walks, and leaped over every ftilein its
way. It afterwards, on being introduced to fome fe-
males, grew fo vicious as to become dangerous, fo that
it was fent to a mountain inclofure, where it died.

The aries guineenfis, or African Jljeep^ are meagre,
very Icng legged and tall, ihort horns, and pendent
ears, covered with hair inftead of wool; ihort hair;
with wattles on the neck. Perhaps the Adimain of
Leo Africanus, which he fays furnifhes the-' Ly-
bians v/ith milk and cheefe, is of this fpecies, which is
of the fize of an afs, and the fhape of a ram, with pen-
dent ears. Delia V^alle tells us, that at Goa he has
.' feen a wether bridled and faddled, which carried a boy
twelve years old. The Portuguefe call them cahritto^
and breed them ; but they are very bad eating.

The ovis arabicay or broad- tailed jheepy are common
in Syria, Barbary, and -Ethiopia. Some of their tails
end in a point, but often fquareor round. They arc
fo long as to trail on the ground, and the fhepherds
are obliged to put boards with fmall wheels under the
tails to keep them from galling. Thefe tails arc

efteemed

I02 NATURAL HISTORY

elteemed a great delicacy, are of a fubftance between
fat and marrow, and are eaten with the lean of the mut-
ton. Some of thefe tails weigh fifty pounds each.
The fhort thick-tailed fheep are common among the
Tartars. The broad- tailed are found in the kingdom
of Thibet; and their fleeces, in finenefs, beauty, and
length, are equal even to thofe of Caramania. The
Cachemirians engrofs this article, and have fadlors m
all parts of Thibet for buying up the wool, which is
(ent into Cachemir, and worked into (hauls, fuperior
in elegance to thofe woven even from the fleeces of
their own country. This manufacture is a confider-
able fource of wealth. Bernier relates, that in his days,
(hauls made exprefsly for the great omrahs, of the
Thibetian wool, coft a hundred and fifty rupees :
whereas thofe made of the wool of their own country
never coft more than fifty. Thefe articles of luxury
have, till of late, been fuppofed to have been made with
the hair of a goat, till we were undeceived by Mr.
Bogle, a gentleman fent by Mr. Haftings on a com-
miflion to the Tayfhoo Lama of Thibet. His account
of that diftant country is inftruftive and entertaining.
We have fufficient in the Philofophical Tranfaftions
to make us regret that we have not the whole of that
jmemorable miflion. Both the broad-tailed and long-
tailed fheep were known to the antients. Ariftotls
takes notice of the firfl, Pliny of the fecond. One fays
the tails were a cubit broad j the other a cubit in
length.

The fat-rumped fheep without tails, have arched
nofes, wattles, pendulous ears, and with curled horns,
like the common fheep. The wool is coarfe, long, and
in flocks; the legs flender, and the head black. The
ears are of the fame colour, with a bed of white in the
middle. The wool is generally white, fometimes black
or reddifn, and often fpotted. The buttocks appear
like two hemifpheres, quite naked and fmooth, with
the OS ccccjzis between fcarcely fenfible to the touch.
I ^ Thefe

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. loj

Thefe are compofed only of fuetj whence Dr. Pallas
properly ftyles this variety ovis Jieatopyges. Thefe
fheep grow very large, even to two hundred pounds
weight, of which the pofteriors weigh forty. Their
bleating is {hort and deep, more like that of a calf than
ilieep. They aboun:! in all the deferts of Tartary,
from the Volga to rhe Irtis, and the Altaic chain ; but
are more or lefs fat according to the nature of the paf-
ture, but moft fo where the vernal plants are found ;
and, in the fummer, where there are herbs replete with
juice and falts, and where fait fprings and lakes im-
pregnate the vegetation of the country. Thefe mon-
ftrous varieties are fuppofed to originate from difeafe,
arifing from an excefs of fat in the hind parts, which
involved, and at length deftroyed, the tail. By breed-
ing between animals fimilarly affeAed, the breed was
probably continued in thofe parts where food and cli-
mate have concurred to fupport the fame appearances.
Thofe with fat tails, are rather in the way to exhibit
fuch a fingular variety, or a mixed breed between the
common and tail-lefs kind. All abound fo greatly in
Tartary, that one hundred and fifty thoufand have
been fold annually at the Orenburg fairs, and a much
greater number at Troinkaja, in the Irkutz govern-
ment, bought from the Kirgifian Tartars, and difper-
fed through RufTia. They are very prolific i ufually
bring two at a time, and often three.

The argaliy ca-pra amnion of Linnasus, or Siberian
fheep, hath horns placed on the fummit of the head,
clofe at their bafes, rifing at firfl upright, then bend-
ing down and twii1:ing outward, like thofe of the com-
mon ram J angular, and wrinkled tranfverfelv. In the
females they are lefs and more upright, bending back-
wards : the head like a ram, ears lefs than in that
animal, neck (lender, body large, limbs flenJer but
ftrong, tail very li.tle more than three inches long ;
hoofs fmall, and li.ce thofe of a common fheep. The
hair in fummer is very ihort and fmooth, like that of a

104 NATURAL HISTORY

ftag; the head grey, the neck and body brownifli, mix-
ed with afh -colour; at the back of the neck, and be-
hind each fhoulder, is a duflcy fpot, with the fpace
about the tail yellowifh. In the winter, the end of the
nofe is white, the face cinereous, the back ferruginous,
mixed with grey, growing yellowlfh towards the rump j
the rump, tail, and belly, white; the coat in this fea-
fon rough, waved, and a little curling; an inch and a
half long ; about the neck two inches, and beneath the
throat ftill longer. The ufual fize of the male is that
of a fmaller hind ; the female fomewhat lefs; the form
ftrong and nervous.

The next animal related to this fpecles, is the
Ucva-y-oy of Strabo, ^nd mu/mon of Pliny i perhaps al-
fo the opbicn of the latter, and the wild ram of Op-
pian, which with its horns often laid proftrate even
the wild boar. Thefe were natives of Spain, Sardinia,
and Corfica, and are ftill exifting in thofe countries.
The remains of a male animal of this kind, imported
from Corfica by the illuftrious defender of the liber-
ties of his country. General Paoli, is now preferved in
the Leverian Mufeum. It was at the age of four years
at the time of its deceafe. Its horns are twenty-two
inches long ; the fpace between tip and tip near eleven ;
the girth near the bafe the fame. This poor animal
had the ill fortune to fall, in our land of freedom, into
heavy flavery, and hard ufage, in the latter part of his
life, which ftinted his growth, and prevented the luxu-
riancy of its horns; which ought, at its age, to have
had the volutes of a large-horned ram, to have been
fifteen inches round at the bafe. On the front of the
neck is a large fpot of white. The fhoulders were
covered with black hairs ; bright and glofly in a ftate
of vigour. On each fide of the back, near the loins,
is a large bed of white. The male, in its native coun-
try, is called mufro, the female mufra. They inhabit
the higheft parts of the Corfican alps, unlefs forced
down by the fnows iuto rather lower regions. They

32^e

0 F QJJ A D R U P E D S. lo^

are Co wild, and ib fearful of mankind, that the old
ones are never taken alive: but are fhot by the chaf-
feurs, \vho lie in wait for them. The females brin^r
forth in the beginning of May, and the young are
often caught after their dam is fliot. They inilantly
grow tame, familiar, and attach themfelves to their
mafler. They will copulate with the common iheep:
there is now an inftance in England of a breed between
the ram of this fpecies, and a common ewe. They are
likewife very fond of the company of goats. In a wild
ftate, they feed on the moft acrid plants : and when '
tame will eat tobacco, and drink wine. Their flefli is
favoury, but always Jean. The horns are ufed for
powder- flaiks, flung in a belt, by the Corfican pea-
iiints ; and fome are large enough tc hold four or five
pounds. The Sardinians make ufe of the ikins dref-
fed, and wear them under their fkirts, under the notion
of preferving them againft bad air : they alio wear a
furtout without fleeves made of the fame materials,
which falls below the knees, and wraps clofe about
their bodies. The flcin is very thick, and might have
htsn proof againft arrov/s, when thofe miffile weapons
Vere in ufe. At prefent thefe furtouts are worn to de-
fend them againft the briars and thorns, in paiTmff
through thickets. In all probability they are the very
fame kind of garment as the maftruca fardorum, which
the commentators on Cicero fuppofe to have been
3Tiade of the fkins of the mufro: and the Maftrucati
Lantrunculi the people who wore them. This is in a
jnanner confirmed, as they are ftill in ufe with the latre
or banditti of the ifland; who find the benefit of them
In their impetuous fallies out of the brakes of the coun-
try, on the objeds of their rapine. The race is ftill
found in Sardinia and Corfica: whether it exifts ftill
in Macedonia, we are ignorant. It is found in thefe
days in great abundance, but confined to the north-
eaft of Afia, beyond the lake Baikal, between the
Onon and Argun, and on the Cvift of the Lena to the
Vol. III. No. 23* O height

io6 NATURAL HISTORY

height of lat. 60 ; and from the Lena to Kamtfchatka;
and perhaps the Kurili iflands. It abounds on the de-
fert mountains of Mongalia, Songaria, and Tartary. It
inhabits the mountains of Perfia, and the north of
Indoftan. The breed once extended further weft,
even to the Irtisi but, as population increafed, they
have retired to their prefent obfcure haunts, fhunning
thofe of mankind.

It is probable that thefe animals are alfo found in
California. The Jefuits who vifited that country in
1697, fay, that they found a fpecies of (heep as big as
a calf of a year or two old, with a head like that of a
flag, and enormous horns like thofe of a ram ; and
with tail and hair fhorter than that of a ftag. This is
very likely, as the migration from Kamtfchatka to A-
merica is far from being difficult. They were once
inhabitants of the Britifh ifles. Boethius mentions a
fpecies of (beep in St. Kilda, larger than the biggeft
he-goat, with tails hanging to the ground, and horns
longer, and as thick as thofe of an ox. " This ac-
count," fays Mr. Pennant, " like the reft of his hif-
tory, is a mixture of truth and fable: I fhould have
been filent on this head, had I not better authority :
for I find the figure of this animal on a Roman fculp-
ture, taken out of Antoninus's wall near Glafgow. It
accompanies a recumbent female figure, with a rota or
wheel, expreflive of a via or way, cut poftibly into Ca-
ledonia, where thefe animals might, in that early age,
have been found. Whether they were the objeds of
worfliip, as among the ancient Tartars, I will not pre-
tend to fay J for among the graves of thofe diftant A-
fiatics, brazen images and ftone figures of their argali,
or wild fheep, are frequently found."

Their prefent habitations, in Siberia, are the fum-
mits of the higheft mountains, expofed to the fun, an(J
free from woods: they go in fmall flocks; copulate
in autumn, and bring forth in the middle of March,
•ne, aiid fometimes two, young. At that feafon the

females

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 107

females feparate from the males, and educate their
lambs J which when firft dropped are covered with a
foft grey curling fleece, which changes into hair late in.
the fummer. At two months age the horns appear,
are broad, and like the face of an ax. In the old rams
they grow to a vafl: fize : they are fometimes found of
the length of two Ruffian yards, meafured along the
Ipires ; vveigh fifteen pounds apiece : and are fo capa-
cious as to give fhelter to the little foxes, who tind
them accidentally fallen in the wildernefs. Father Ru-
bruquis, the traveller of 1 253, firfl takes notice of thefe
animals, under the name of artak. He fays he had
feen fome of the horns fo large, that he could fcarcely
lift a pair with one hand ; and the Tartars made great
drinking-cups with them.

They feed from fpring to autumn in the little val-
!ies among the tops of the mountains, on young fhoots
and Alpine plants, and grow very fat. Towards win-
ter they defcend lower, eat either the dry grafs, peren-
nial plants, moffes, or lichens; and are found very lean
in the fpring : they are then purged by early pulfatillas,
and other fharp anemonoid plants, of which the tame
iheep are alfo exceffively fond : they, befides, at all
times of the year, frequent the places abundant in fait,
as is frequent in every part of Siberia, and excavate
the ground, in order to get more readily at it. Thefe
anfwer to the licking- places in America, and are the
haunts of deer as well as argali. They are very fear-
ful of mankind ; when clofely purfued, they do not run
in a progrefTive courfe, but obliquely from fide to fide,
in which they ihew the nature of fheep: they flrive as
foon as poffible to reach the rocky mountains, which
they afcend with great agility j and tread the narroweft
paths over the molt dangerous precipices with the
greatefl fafety. The old rams are very quarrelfome,
and have fierce combats among themfelves, fighting
with their head like the common kind : thej» often
ftrike their aiitagonift down the iteep precipices -, and

O 2 their

Jo8 NATURAL HISTORY

their herns and bones are frequently found at the bot-»
torn i a mark of the fatal effefts of their feuds : they
will often entangle their horns accidentally, and, thus
locked, fail down and perifh. They are important ob-
je(5ts of the chace with the northern Afiatics, for their
ufcs are confiderable. The fle{h and fat are efteemcd
by the natives among the greateft delicacies. Dodor
Pallas thought the lamb excellent; but the flefh, and
efpecially the fat, of the old ones lefs agreeable, when
boiled; but if roailed exceedingly good. The fkins,
with their v/inter coat, ferve as warm raiments and co-
verlets; the horns for variety of neceffaries.

The chace of thefe animals is both dangerous and
difficult. As foon as they fee a man, they afcend to
the higheft peaks of the rocks ; and are fhot with the
utmolt ftratagem, by winding round the rocks, and
coming on them unaware. At other times they are
taken in pit-falls made in the paths which lead to their
favourite fait or licking-places. Elks, flags, and roes,
and other wild hearts, are taken in thefe pits : they are
often times fhot with crofs-bows, placed in the way of
their haunts, which difcharges its arrow whenever the
beall: treads on a ttring faftened for that purpofe to the
trigger. The Mongols and Tungufi ufe frequently a
nobier method of chace, and furround them with hor-
fes and dogs. The Kamtfchatkans pafs the latter part
of the fummer to December, with all their families,
amidft the mountains, in purfuit of thefe animals.
The old rams are of vaft ftrength : ten men can
fcarcely hold one : the young are very eafily made
tame. The firit trial probably gave origin, among a
gentle race of mankind, to the domefticating thefe
moft ufeful of quadrupeds; which the rude Kamt-
fchatkans to this moment confider only as objed-s of
the chace, while every other part of the world enjoy
their various benefits, reclaimed from a ftate of na-
ture. Dr. Pallas calls it th^cvis fera, and fays it is the.
* parent

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 109

parent animal, from whence all the domedic fheep ori^
ginally fprung.

The ancients did not negle<5t experiments to Im-
prove the breed of fhecp. Columt;lla fays, that his
uncle, Columella, a man of itrong {aifcy and an ex-
cellent farmer, procured fome wild rams, which had
been brought among other cattle to Cales from Afri-
ca, by way of tribute, which were of a very fingulir
colour : thcfe he turned to his common fheep. The
firft produce was lambs with a rough coat, but of the
fame colour with the rams. Thefe af2;aln produced, from
the Tarentinc ev/es, lambs with finer fleeces; and, in
the third generation, the fleeces were as fine as thofe
of the ev/es, but the colour the fatne with that of the
father and grandfather : this breed was the iame which
the old Romans called umbri; or fpurious. But there
had been once a notion, that the animal itfelf was no
more than an hybridous produdion.

Tityrus ex oyibus oritur, hircoque parente:
Mufimonem capra ex vervegno femine gignit.

The trcgelaphus^ or bearded fheep, hath hairs en the
lower part of the cheeks and upper jaws extremely
long, forming a divided or double beard; the hair on
the fides, and body, fhort; on the top of the neck
longer, and a little ered: the whole under-part of the
neck and fhoulders covered with coarie hair, not lefs
than fourteen inches long. Beneath the hair, in every
part, is a fliort genuine wool, the rudiments of a fiecicy
cloathing : the colour of the hreaft, neck, back, and
iide, IS of a pale ferruginous colour, and the tail very
fliort : the herns are dofe at the bafe, recurvated,
twenty- five inches long, eleven In circumference in the
thickeft place, diverging, and bending outwards ; their
points being nineteen inches difiant from each other.
One of thefe animals was brought into England from
Barbary In 1561, by Dodlor Caius. Ele fays, that it
i;jliabited the mountainous and rocky parts of Mauri-
tania 5

no NATURAL HISTORY

tania j and Teemed in confinement to be very gentle,
full of play, and frolickfome, like a goat : the horns
were like thofe of a ram. This appears to be the tra-
gelaphus of Pliny, not only on account of its beard,
and the great length of hair on its fhoulders j but like-
wife of the place where that Roman naturalift fays it
was found, near the river Phafis ; for Do(5>.or Pallas
fays, that an animal with a divided beard, probably the
fame, has lately been difcovered by ProfefTor Guilden-
ftaedt, on the mountains of Caucafusj from whofe
foot arifes the very river, on whofe banks were its an-
cient haunts. This fpecies and the former agree great-
ly together, the beard excepted, and great length of
hair on the breaft. In all probability it is one and the
fame fpecies.

Of all the animals with which Divine Providence
has ftored the world for the ufe of man, none is to be
found more innocent, more ufeful, or more valuable,
than the fheep. The fheep fupplies us with food and
cloathing, and finds ample employment for our poor
at all times and feafons of the year, whereby a variety
of manufadures of woollen cloth is carried on without
interruption to domeftic comfort and lofs to friendly
ibciety or injury to health, as is the cafe with many
other occupations. Every lock of wool that grows on
its back becomes the means of fupport to the ftaplers,
dyers, pickers, fcourers, fcriblers, carders, combers,
fpinners, fpoolers, warpers, queelers, weavers, fullers,
tuckers, burlers, fhearmen, prefiers, clothiers, and
packers, who, one after another, tumble and tofs, and
twift, and bake, and boil, this raw material, till they
have each extraded a livelihood out of it j and then,
comes the merchant, who, in his turn, fhips it (in its
higheft ftate of improvement) to all quarters of tlie
globe, from whence he brings back every kind of riches
to his country, in return for this valuable commodity
which the fheep affords.

Befides

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. m

Befides this, the ufeful animal, after being deprived
of his coat, produces another againft the next year^
and when we are hungry, and kill him for food, he
gives us his fkin to employ the fell-mongers and parch-
ment-makers, who fupply us with a durable material for
fecuring our eftates, rights, and poiTefTionS; and if our
enemies take the field againft us, fupplies us with a
powerful inftruraent for roufing our courage to repel
their attacks. When the parchment-maker has taken
as much of the fkin as he can ufe, the glue-maker comes
after and picks up every morfel that is left, and there-
with fupplies a material for the carpenter and cabi-
net-maker, which they cannot do without, and >vhich
is eflentially neceffary before we can have elegant fur-
niture in our houfes; tables, chairs, looking-glaffes, ^.nd
a hundred other articles of convenience: and when the
winter nights come on, while we are deprived of the
cheering light of the fun, the flieep fupplies us with an
artificial mode of light, whereby we preferve every plea-
fure of domeflic fociety, and with whofe afliftance we
can continue our work, or write or read, and improve
our minds, or enjoy the focial mirth of our tables. A-
nother part of the flaughtered animal fupplies us with
an ingredient neceffary for making good common foap,
a ufeful (lore for producing cleanlinefs in every family,
rich or poor. Neither need the horns be thrown a-
way ; for they are converted by the button-makers and
turners into a cheap kind of buttons, tips for bows,
and many ufeful ornaments. From the very trotters
an oil is extrac^led ufeful for many purpofes, and they
afford good food when baked in an oven. Even the
hones are ufeful alfo ; for by a late invention of Dr.
Higgins, they are found, when reduced to afhes, to be
an ufeful and effential ingredient in the compofition of
the fineft artificial ftone in ornamental work for chim-
ney-pieces, cornices of rooms, houfes, &:c. which ren-
<iers the compofition more durable by eifeduaJJy pre-
venting its cracking.

u

112 Natural HISTORY

If it is objedled to the meek inofFenfive creature, that
he is expenfive while living, in eating up our grafs,
&c. it may be anfvvered that it is quite the contrary ;
for he can feed where every other animal has been be-
fore him and grazed all they could find; and that if he
takes a little grafs on our downs or in our fields, he
amply repays us for every blade of grafs in the richnefs
of the manure which he leaves behind him. He pro-
teds the hand from the cold wintry blaft, by providing
them with the fofteft leather gloves. Every gentle-
man's library is alfo more or lefs indebted to him for
the binding of his books, for the fheath of his fword,
and for cafes for his inftruments; in fhort, not to be
tedious in mentioning the various ufes of leather, there
is hardly any furniture or utenfil of life but the fheep
contributes to render either more ufeful, convenient,
or ornamental. As the fheep is fo valuable an ani-
mal, every piece of information concerning the proper
method of managing it muft be of importance. It will
rot therefore be ufelefs nor unentertaining to give fome
account of the manner of managing fheep in Spain, a
country famous for producing the beft wool.

In Spain there are two kinds of Iheep : the coarfe-
woolled fheep, which always remain in their native
country, and are houfed every night in winter; and the
fine-wool!ed fheep, which are always in the open air,
and travel every fummer from the cool mountains of
the northern parts of Spain, to feed in winter on the
fouthern plains of Andalufia, Mancha, and Eflrama-
dura. Of thefe latter, it appears from accurate com-
putations, that there are about fi.ve millions ; and that
the v/ool and flefh of a flock often thoufand fheep pro-
duce yearly about twenty- four reals a- head, or about
the value of twelve Engliih fixpences, one of which
belongs to the owner, three to the king, and the other
eight are allowed for the exp^nces of pafture, tythes,
flicpherds, dogs, fait, fhearing, &c. Ten thoufand
flicep form a^ock, which is divided into ten tribes,

under

OF QUADRUPEDS. 113

under the management of one perfoii, ^vho has abfo-
Jute dominion over fifty fnepherds and fifty dogs. In
the 1 6th century the travelling {heep were eftimated at
{Qven millions: under Philip 111. the number was di-
minifhed to two millions and a half. Ullariz, who
wrote at the beginning of this century, made it amount
to four millions. The general opinion is, that at pre-
fent it does not exceed five millions. If to this num-
ber the eight millions of ftationary fheep be added, it
will make nearly thirteen millions of animals, all ma-
naged contrary to the true interefts of Spain, for the
advantage of a few individuals. For the proprietors
of ftationary flocks alfo have privileges which greatly
refemble thofe of the members of the Mefts. Ac-
cording to Arrlquebar, Spain contains eight millions
of fine-woolled fheep, ten millions of coarfe-wooUed,
and five hundred thoufand bulls, oxen, and cows.

M. Bourgoanne, a French gentleman, who refided
many years in Spain, and direcfted his inquiries chiefly
to the civil government, trade, and manufactures, of
that country, gives the following account of the wan-
dering flieep of Segovia. " It Is (fays he) In the
neighbouring mountains that a part of the wandering
flieep feed during the fine feafon. They leave them in
the month of October, pafs over thofe which feparate
the two Caftiles, crofs Nev/ Caftile, and difperfe them-
felves in the plains of Eflramadura and Andalufia. For
fome years palt thofe of the two Cal-tiles, which are
within reach of the Sierra- Morena, go thither to pafs
the winter; which. In that part of Spain, is more
mild: the length of their day's journey is in propor-
tion to the parture they meet with. They travel in
flocks from one thoufand to twelve hundred In num-
ber, under the conduct of two (liepherds; one of whom
is called the mayoral, the other the zagal. When ar-
rived at the place of their deftinatlon, they are diftri-
buted in the paflures previoufly afligned them. They
return in the month of April; and, whether it be habit

Vol. III. No. jj. P or

114 NATURAL HISTORY

or natural inflindl that draws them towards the cli-
mate, which at this fea(cn becomes moil: proper for
them, the inquietude which they manifcft might, in
cafe of need, lerve as an almanac to their conduflors."
Mr. Arthur Young, in that patriotic work which he
condufled with great induftry and judgment, the An-
nals of Agriculture, gives us a very accurate and inte-
refting account of the Pyrenean or Catalonian fheep.

" On the northern ridge, bearing to the weft, are
the pallures of the Spanifh flocks. This ridge is not,
however, the whole ; there are two other mountains,
quite in a different fituation, and" the fheep travel from
one to another as the pafturage is fhort or plentiful. I
examined the foil of thefe mountain pallures, and found
it in general ftony ; what in the weft of England would.
be called a ftone brafh, with fome mixture of loam,
and in a few places a little peaty. The plants arc many
of them untouched by the fheep; many ferns, narcif-
fus, violets, &c. but burnet and the narrow- leaved
plantain were eaten, as may be fuppofed, clofe. I
looked for trefoils, but found fcarcely any : it was ap-
parent that foil and peculiarity of herbage had little to
do in rendering thefe heights proper for fheep. In the
northern parts of Europe, the tops of mountains half
the height of thefe (for we were above fnow in July)
are bogs, all are fo which I have {^en in our iflands, or
at leaft the proportion of dry land is very trifling to
that which is extremely wst: here they are in general
very dry. Now a great range of dry land, let the
plants be what they may, will in every country fuit
fheep. The flock is every night brought toonefpot,
which is fituate^ at the end of the valky on the river
I have mentioned, and near the port or paflage of Pi-
cada: it is a level fpot flieltered from all winds. The
foil is eight or nine inches deep of old dung, not at all
inclofed: from the freedom from wood all around, it
feems to be chofen partly for fafety againft v/olves and
bears. Near it is a very large ftone, or rather rock,

fallen

O FQJJ AD RUPE D S. 115

fallen from the mountain. This the fliepherds have
taken for a Ihclter, and have built a hut again ft it ;
their beds are fheep-fkins, and their door fo fmall that
they crawl in. I law no place tor fire; but they have
it, fince they dref> here the flefh of their fheep, and
in the night fometimes keep off the bears, by whirling
fire-brands : four of them belonging to the flock men-
tioned above lie here. I viewed their flock very care-
fully, and by means of our guide and interpreter, made
fome inquiries of the fhepherds, which they aniwered
readily, and very civilly. A Spaniard at Venafque, a
city in the Pyrenees, gives fix hundred livres French
(the livre Is tenpence halfpenny Englifh) a year for
the palturage of his flock of two thoufand fheep. In
the winter he fends them into the lower parts of Cata-
lonia, a journey of twelve or thirteen days, and when
the fnow is melted in the fpring, they are conducted
back again. They are the whole year kept In motion,
and moving from I'pot to fpot, which is owing to the
great range they every where have of pafture. They
are always in the open air, never houfed or under co-
ver, and never tafte of any food but what they can find
on the hills.

" Four fhepherds, and from four to fix large Spa-
nifh dogs, have the care of this flock : the latter are In
France called of the Pyrenees breed ; they are black
and white, of the fize of a large wolf, a large head and
neck, armed with collars ftuck: with iron fpikes. No
wolf can ftand againft them; but bears are more po-
tent adverfaries: if a bear can reach a tree, he is fafe;
he rifes on his hind legs, with his back to the tree, and
fets the dogs at defiance. In the nighcthe fhepherds
rely entirely on their dogs; but on hearing them bark
are ready with fire-arms, as the dogs rarely bark if a
bear is not at hand. I was furprifed to find that they
are fed only with bread and milk. The head ihepherd
is paid a hunared and tvvcnty livres a- year wages and
bread i the otners eigaty livres and bread. But they

P 2 art

ii6 NATURAL HISTORY

are allowed to keep goats, of which they have mzny^
which they millc every day. Their food is milk and
Bread, except the fleih of fuch fheep or lambs as acci-
dents give them. The head fliepherd keeps on the
mountain top, or an elevated fpot, from whence he can
the better fee around while the flock traverfes the de-
clivities. In doing this the fheep are expofed to great
dangers in places that are flony ; for by walking am.ong
the rocks, and efpecially the goats, they move the
jftones, which, rolling down the hills, acquire an acce-
lerated force enough to knock a man down, and fheep
are often killed by them j yet we faw how alert they
were to avoid fuch ftones, and cautioufly on their guard
againft them. I examined the flieep attentively. They
are in general polled, but fome have horns; which in
the rams turn backwards behind the ears and projec5t
half a circle forward ; the ewes horns turn alfo behind
the ears, but do not projed: : the legs white or reddifh ;
fpeckled faces, fome white, fome reddifh ; they would
weigh fat, I reckon, on an average, from fifteen to
eighteen pounds a quarter. Some tails fhort, fome long.
A few black fheep among them: fome with a very
little tuft of wool on their foreheads. On the whole
they refemble thofe on our South Dov/ns; their legs
are as fhort as thofe of that breed j a point which me-
rits obfeivation, as they travel fo much and fo well.
Their fhape is very goodj round ribs and flat ftrait
backs i and would with us be reckoned handfome
fheep i all in good order and flefh. In order to be fkill
better acquainted v/ith them, I defiredone of the fhep-
herds to catch a ram for me to feel, and examine the
wool, which I found very thick and good of the card-
ing foit, as may be fuppofed. I took a fpecimen of it,
and alfo of a noggit, or lamb of laft year. In regard
to the mellow loftnefs under the fkin, which, in Mr.
Bakewell's opinion, is a ftrong indication of a good
breed, with a difpofltion to fatten, he had it in a much
fuperior degree to many of our Enslifn breeds, to the

3 ^ fuU

OF QUADRUPEDS. 117

full as much fo as the South Downs, which are for that
point the bcft fhort-woolled fheep in England, llie
fieece was on his back, and weighed, as I guefied, about
eight pounds Englifli ; but the average, they fay, of
the flock is from four to five, as I calculated by redu- ■
cing the Catalonian pound of twelve ounces to ours of
fixtcen. This ram had the wool of the back part of
his neck tied clofe, and the upper tuft tied a fecond
knot by way of ornament; nor do they ever fhear this
part of the fleece for that reafon: we faw feveral in the
flock with this fpecies of decoration. They faid that
this ram would fell in Catalonia for twenty livres. A
circumftance v\'hich c;mnot be too much commended,
and deferves univerfal imitation, is the extreme doci-
lity they accuftom them to. When I defired the flbejv
herd to catch one of his ram=:, I fuppofed he would do
it with his crook, or probably not be able to do it at
all J but he walked into the flock, and Angling out a
ram and a goat, bid them follow him, which they did
immediately ; and he talked to them while they were
obeying him, holding out his hand as if to give them
fomething. By this method he brought me the ram,
which I caught, and held without difficulty."

The beft fort of Englifli flieep for fine wool arc
thofe bred in Herefordfliire, Devonfliire, and Worcef-
terfliire; but they are fmall, and black-faced, and bear
butafmall quantity. Warwick, Leicefterfliire, Buck-
ingham, and Northamptonfliire, breed a large-boned -
fheep, of the befl: fliape and deepefl: wool we have.
The marihes of Linco'nfliire breed a very large kind
of flieep, but their wool is not good, unlefs the breed
be mended by bringing in the flieep of other counties
among them, which is a fcheme of late very profitably
followed there. In this county it is no uncommoa
thing to give fifty guineas for a ram, and a guinea for
the admiflion of a ewe to one of thefe valuable males,
or twenty guineas for the ufe of it for a certain number
ot ewes during one feafon. Suflx)lk alfo breeds a very

yaluabls

i!8 NATURAL HISTORY.

valuable kind of fheep. The northern counties in ge-
neral breed fheep with long but hairy wool: however,
the wool which is taken from the neck and flioulders
of the York/hire iTieep is ufed for mixing with Spanifh
■wool in fome of their fined: cloths.

Wales bears a frnall hardy kind of fheep, which has
the befi: tafted flefh, but the worfl wool of all. Never-
thelefsit is of more extenfive ufe than the fineil Sego-
vian fleeces J for the benefit of the flannel manufac^lure
iS univerfally known. The fheep of Ireland vary like
thofe of Great Britain : thofe of the fouth and eafl be-
ing large and their flefh rank : thofe of the north and
the mountainous parts fmall and their flefh fweet. The
fleeces in the fame manner differ in degrees of value.
Scotland breeds a fmall kind, and their fleeces are
coarfe.

But the new Leicefterfhire breed is the mofl fafhion-
able, and of courfe the rnoft profitable breed, in Eng-
land. Jofeph Altom of Chfton, who raifed himfelf
from a plough-boy, was the firfl who diftinguifhed him-
felf in the midland counties for a fuperior breed of
fheep. How he improved his breed is not known |
but it was cuflomary for eminent farmers in his time
to go to Clifton in fummer to choofe and purchafe
ram- lambs, for which they paid two or three guineas.
This man was fucceeded by the celebrated Mr. Bake-
well, of Difhlsy; and it may reafonably be fuppofed
that the breed, by means of Altom's ftock, had pafled
the firlt ftage of improvement before Mr. Bakewell's
time. Still, however, it muft be acknowledged, that
the Leicefterfhire breed of fheep owes its prefent high
flate of improvement to the ability and care of Mr.
Bakewell.

" The manner in which Mr. Bakewell raifed his
fheep to the degree of celebrity in which they deferv-
cdly ftand, is, notvvithftanding the recentnefs of the
improvement, and its being done in the day of thou-
fands now living, a thing in difputej even among

OF (i_U AD RUPEDS. iig

;jnen high in the profeflion, and living in the very di-
ftrid in which the improvement has been carried on !
Some are of opinion that he effeded it by a crofs with
the Wiltfhire breed; an improbable idea, as their form
altogether contradifts it: others, that the Ryeknd
breed were ufed for this purpofe ; and with fome {how
of probability. If any crofs whatever was ufed, the
Ryciand-breed, whether we view the form, the fize,
the wool, the jflefh, or the fatting quality, is the moft
probable inftrument of improvement. It is however
probable, that no crofs with any alien breed whatever
has been ufed ; but that the improvement has been ef-
feded by fele(5ting individuals from kindred breeds ;
from the feveral breeds or varieties of Iano;-\voolled
ineep, with which Mr. Bakewell was furrounded on
almoft every fide, and by breeding from the fame fa-
mily, with this feledion: folicitoufly feizing the fi;pe-
rior accidental varieties produced; aflbciating thef^
varieties; and ftill continuing to feled, with judg--
ment, the fuperior individuals.

" It now remains to give a defcription of the fiipe-
rior clafs of individuals of this breed, efpecially ewes
and wedders, in full condition, but not immoderately-
fat. The rams will require to be diftinguifhed after-
wards. The head is long, fmall, and hornlefs, with
ears fomewhat long, and {landing backward, and with
the nofe fhooting forward. The neck thin, and clean
toward the head; but taking a conical form; ftanding
low, and enlarging every way at the bafe; the fore-end
altogether fhort. The bofom broad, with the flioulders,
ribs, and chine, extraordinary full. The loin broad,
and the back level. The haunches comparatively full
toward the hips, but light downward; being altorre-
ther fmall in proportion to the fore-parts. The leers,
at prefent, of a moderate length; with the bone ex-
tremely fine. The bone throughout remarkably light.
The carcafe, when fully fat, takes a remarkable fonn :
ciuch wider than it is deep, and almoft ^s broad as it is

lonjT.

?20 NATURAL HISTORY

long. Full on the fhoulder, wideft on the ribs, nnr-»
rowing with a regular curve towards the tail; ap-
proaching the form of the turtle nearer perhaps than
any other animal. The pelt is thin, and the tail fmall.
The wool is fhorter than long wools in general, but
much longer than the middle wools ; the ordinary
Jength of ftaple five to feven ijiches, varying much in
finenefs and weight."

This breed furpafies every other In beauty of form;
they are full and weighty In the fore quarters ; and are
remarkable for fmallnefs of bone. Mr. Marfhall, who
has been of fo much benefit to agriculture and his
country by his publications, informs us, in his Rural
Economy of the Midland Counties, that he has feen a
rib of a fheep of this breed contrafted with one of a
Norfolk fheep : the difparity was ftrlking; the latter
nearly twice the fize ; while the meat which covered the
former vvas three times the thicknefs: confequently the
proportion of meat to bone was In the one incompara-
bly greater than in the other. Therefore, in this point
of view, the improved breed has a decided preference:
for furely while mankind continue to eat flefh and throw
away bone, the former mull be, to the confumer at
leaft, the more valuable.

The criterlons of good and bad flefh while the ani-
mal is alive differ in different fpecies, and are not pro-
perly fettled In the fame fpecies. One fuperlor breeder
is of opinion, that If the flelli Is not loofe. It is of courfe
good i holding, that the fiefh of fheep is never found
m a ftate of hardnefs, like that of Ill-fiefhed cattle:
while others make a fourfold dilHndion of the flefh of
fheep ; as ioofenefs, mellownefs, firmnefs, hardnefs :
confidering the firit and the laft equally exceptionable,
and the fecond and third equally defirablej a happy mix-
ture of the two being deemed the point of perfedlon.
The flefli of flieep when flaughtered. Is well known
to be of various qualities. Some is compofed of large
coarfe grains, interfperied with wide empty pores like

a fponge :

OF CLUADRUPEDS. 121

a fponge: others, of large grains, with wide pores fill-
ed with fat } others, of fine dole grains, with fmaller
pores filled with fat: and a fourth, of cloft' grains,
without any intermixture of fatnefs. The flefh of
flieep, whsn drefied, is equally well known to poflefs a
variety of qualities: fome mutton is coarfe, dry, and
infipid J a dry fponge, affording little or no gravy of any
colour. Another fort is fomewhat firmer, imparting a
light coloured gravy only. A third plump, fliort, a:)d
palatable; affording a mixture of white and red gravy.
A fourth hkewife plump and well-flavoured, but dif-
charging red gravy, and this in various quantities. It
is likewife obfervable, that fome mutton, when dreffed,
appea;s covered with a thick, tough, parchment-like
integument j others with a membrane comparatively
fine and flexible. But thefe, and fome of the other
qualities of mutton, may not be wholly owing to breed,
but in part to the age and the ftate of fatnefs at the
time of flaughter. Examined in this light, whether we
confider the degree of fatnefs, or their natural propen-
fity to a ftate of fatnefs, even at an early age, the im-
proved breed of Leicefterfhire fheep appear with many
fuperior advantages.

The degree of fatnefs to which the individuals of this
breed are capable of being raifed, will perhaps appear
incredible to thofe who have not had an opportunity of
being convinced by their own obfervation. " I have
(ten wcdders (fays Mr. JMarflial!) of only two (hear,
two to three years old, fo loaded with fat as to be ^
fcarcely able to make a run; and whofe fat lay fo much
without the bone, it feemed ready to be fhaken from
the ribs on thefmalleft acritation. It is common for the
fheep ot this breed to have fGch aprojeclion of f^.t up-
on the ribs, immediately .behind the fhoulder, that it
may eafiJy be gathercvi up in the liand, as the flank of
a fat bullock. Plence it has g;iined, in techi^ical lan-
guage, the name of the fore-iiank ; a point which a
modern breeder never fails to touch in judging of the

Vol. III. No. 33. Q^ quality

122 NATURAL HISTORY

quality of this breed of fheep. What is, perhaps, dill more
extraordinary, it is not rare for the rams, at leaft of this
breed, to be 'cracked on the back;' that is, to be
cloven along the top of the chine, in the manner fat
fheep generally are upon the rump. This mark is con-
fidered as an evidence of the beft blood. Extraordi-
nary, however, as are thefe appearances while the ani-
mals are living, the fads are ftill fhore ftriking after
they are flaughtered. At Litchfield, in February 1785,
I faw a fore-quarter of mutton, fatted by Mr. Princep
of Croxall, and which meafured upon the ribs four
inches of fat. It muft be acknowledged, however, that
the Leicefterfhire breed do not produce fo much wool
as moft other long-wooUed flieep."

As the praftice of letting rams by the feafon is now
become profitable, it may be ufeful to mention the me-
thod of rearing them. " The principal ram-breeders
fave annually twenty, thirty, or perhaps forty, ram-
lambs •, caftration being feldom apphed, in the firft in-
fiance, to the produce of a valuable ram ; for in the
choice of thefe lambs they are led more by blood, or
parentage, than by form ; on which, at an early age,
little dependence can be placed. Their treatment from
the time they are weaned, in July or Auguil, until the
time of {hearing, the firft week in June, confifts in
gtvuig them every indulgence of keep, in order to pufh
them forward for the (how ; it being the common prac-
tice to let fuch as are fit to be let the firft feafon, while
they are yet yearlings. Their firft pafture, after wean-
ing, is pretty generally clover, that has been mown
early, and has got a fecond time into head ; the heads
of clover being confidered as a moft forcing food of
fheep. After this goes oft, turnips, cabbages, colewort,
with hay, and (report fays) v;ith corn. But the ufe
of this the breeders feverally deny, though colledively
they may be liable to the charge. Be this as it may,
fomething confiderahle depends on the art of making
upj not lambs only, but rams of all ages. Far, like

charity.

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 123

cfiar'ty, covers a multitudes of faults ; and befidcs, is
the beft evidence of their fatting quality which their
owners can produce (i. e. their natural propenlity to a
ftate of fatnefs), while in the fatnefs of the fharhogs,
or yearlinp-s, is ken their degree of inclination to fat at
an early age. Fatting quality being the one thing need-
ful in grazing ftock, and being found, in fome confi-
derable degree at leaft, to be hereditary, the fatteft rams
are of courfe the beft ; though other attachments, well
or ill placed, as to form or fafhionable points, will per-
haps have equal or greater weight in the minds of fome
men, even in this enlightened age. Such fhearlings as
will not make up fufficiently as to form and fatnefs,
are either kept on to another year to give them a fair
chance, or are caftrated, or butchered while yearlings."
From the firft letting, about forty years ago, to the
year 1780, the prices kept gradually rifing from fifteen
/hillings to a guinea, and from one to ten. In 1780
Mr. Bakewell let fe veral at ten guineas each; and, what
is rather inexplicable, Mr. Parkinfon, of Quarndon, let
one the fame year for twenty-five guineas; a price
which then aftonifhed the whole country. From that
time to 1786, Mr. Bakewell's ftock rofe rapidly from
ten to a hundred guineas; and that year he let two-
thirds of one ram (referving one-third of the ufual
number of ewes to himfelf) to two principal breeders,
for a hundred guineas each, the entire fervices of the
ram being rated at three hundred guineas ! Mr. Bake-
well making that year, by letting 20 rams only, more
than a thoufand pounds ! Atter that time the prices
ftill kept rifing. Four hundred guineas were repeat-
edly given. Mr. Bakewell, in 1789, made twelve
hundred guineas by three rams, (brothers, we believe);
two thoufand of feven ; and of his whole letting, full
three thoufand guineas I Indeed the progrefs Mr.
Bakewell was making, not only in the breea of Iheep,
but in that of lorig horned cattle, and black drafc-hor-
fcs, promifed tho moil; extenfive advantages to himfelf

0^2 aad

124 NATURAL HISTORY

and the pul) ic. He exhibited his famous black horfc
to the king and many of the nobiHty, in the court-
ya-d at St. James's j but death intervened, and put an
tn\ to his exLenfive views, on the ift of Odober,
1795. Beiiies this extraordinary fum made by Mr.
Bakewell, there are fix or feven other breeders who
rrake from five hundred to a thoufand guineas each.
The whole amount of monies produced that year in
the Midland Counties, by letting rams of the modem
breed for one feafon only, is eftimated, by thofe who
are adequate to the fubjecl, at the almoft incredible fum
often thoufand pounds.

Rams previous to this feafon are reduced from the
cumbrous fat ftate in which they are fhewn. The ufual
time of fending them out is the middle of September.
They are conveyed in carriages of two wheels with
fprings, or hung in flings, twenty or thirty miles a-
dav, fometimes to the difcance of two or three hun-
dred miles. They are not turned loofe among the
ewes, but kept apart in a fmall enclofure, where a
couple of ewes only are admitted at once. When the fea-
, fon is over, every care is taken to make the rams look as
fat and handfome as pofTible. In the choice of ewes
the breeder is led by the fame criterions as in the choice
of rams. Breed is the firft objedlof confideration. Ex-
cellency, in any fpecies or variety of live-ffcock, cannot
be attained with any degree of certainty, let the male
be ever fo excellent, unlefs the females employed like-
wife inherit a large proportion of the genuine blood,
be the fpecies or variety what it may. Hence no pru-
dent man ventures to give the higher prices for Mr.
Bakewell's, or the Difhley, rams, unlefs his ewes are
deeply tindured with the Difhley blood. Next to
breed is fiefh, fat, form, and wool.

After the lambs are wearied, the ewes are kept In
common feeding-places, without any alteration of paf-
ture, previous to their taking the ram. In winter they
are kept on grafs, hay, turnips, and cabbages. As the

heads

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. 125

heads of the modern breed are much finer than moft
others, the ewes lamb with lefs difficulty. The female
lambs, on being weaned, are put to good keep, but
have not fuch high indulgence fhewn them as the males,
the prevailing pradice being to keep them from the
ram the firft autumn. At weaning time, or previoufly
to the admifTion of the ram, the ewes are culled, to
make room for the thavcs or fhearlings, whofe fuperior
blood and fafhion intitle them to a place in the breed-
ing flock. In the work of culling, the ram-breeder
and the mere grazier go by fomewhat different guides.
The grazier's guide is principally age, feldom giving .
his ewes the ram after they are four (hear. The ram-'
breeder, on the contrary, goes chiefly by merit j an
ewe that has brought him a good ram or two. is con-
tinued in the flock fo long as fhe will breed. There are
inftances of ewes havina; been prolific to the tenth or
twelfth year; but in general the ewes of this breed go
off at fix or (tven fhear. In the practice of fome of
the principal ram-breeders, the culling ewes are never
fuitered to go out of their hands until after they are
flaughtered, the breeders not only fatting them, but
having them butchered, on their premifes. There are
others, however, who fell themj and fometimes at ex-
traordinary prices. Three, four, and even fo high as
ten, guineas each have been given for thefe outcafts.
In purchafing fheep in general, the farmer fhould
always buy from a worfe land than his own, and they
fhould be big- boned, and have a long greafy wool,
curling clofe and well. Thefe fiisep always breed the
fineft wool, ai)d are alfo the moll approved of by the
butcher for fale in the market. For the choice of fheep
to breed, the ram mufi: be young, and his flcin of the
fame colour with his wool, for the lambs will be of the
fame colour with his flvin. He fhould have a larpe
long body ; a broad forehead, round and well rifing ;
large eyes; and flrait and lliort noftrils. The polled
ihcep, that is, thofe which have no horns, are found to

be

\.

126 NATURAL HISTORY

be the beft breeders. The ewe fhould have a broad
back ; a large bending neck ; fmall, but fhort, clean,
and nimble, legs ; and a thick deep wool rovering her ■
all over. To know whether they be found or not, the
farmer fhould examine the v/ool that none of it be
wanting, and fee that the gums be red, theterth white
and even, and the bri/ket-ikin red, the wool iirm, the
breath fweet, and the feet not hot. Two years old is
the beft time for beginning to breed; and the-r f.rft
lambs fhould not be kept too long, to weaken them
by fuckling, but be fold as foon as conveniently may be.
They will breed advantageoufly till they are (even
years old. The farmers have a method of knov/ing
the age of a fheep, as a horfe is known, by the mouth.
When a fheep is one fhear, as they exprefs it, it has
two broad teeth before ; when it is two fhear, it will
have four; when three, fix; and when four eight.
After this their mouths begin to break. The differ-
ence of land makes a very great difference in the fheep.
The fat paflures breed flraight tall fheep, and the bar-
ren hills and downs breed fquare fhort ones ; woods
and mountains breed tall and flender fheep ; but the
beft of all are thofe bred upon new-ploughed land and
dry grounds. On the contrary, all wet and moift lands
are bad for fheep, efpecially fuch as are fubjeft to be
overflowed, and to have fand and dirt left in them.
The fait marfhes are, however, an exception to this
general rule, for their faltnefs makes amends for their
moifture; fait, by reafon of its drying quality, being of
great advantage to fheep.

As to the time of putting the rams to the ewes, the
farmer muft confiuer at what time of the fpring his
grafs will be fit to maintain them and their lambs, and
whether he has turnips to do it till the grafs comes j
for very often both the ewes and lambs are deiiroyed
by the want of food ; or if this does not happen, if the
iambs are only flinted in their growth by it, it is an
accident that they never recover. The ewe goes twenty

weeks

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 127

weeks with lamb, and according to this it is eafy to
calculate the proper time. The beft time for them to
yean is in April, unlefs the owner has very forward
grafs or turnips, or thefliecp are field -{beep. Where
you have net inclofures to keep them in, then it may be
proper they fbould yean in January, that the lambs
may be ftrong by May -day, and be able to follow the
dam over the fallows and water-furrows j but then the
lambs that come fo early muft have a great deal of care
taken of them, and fo indeed fhould all other lambs at
their firft fallhig, elfe while they are weak the crows
and magpies will pick their eyes out.

When the fheep are turned into fields of wheat or
rye to feed, it muft not be too rank at firft, for if it be,
it generally throws them into fcourings. Ewes that are
big fhould be kept but bare, for it is very dangerous
to them to be fat at the time of their bringing forth
their young. They may be well fed, indeed, like cows,
a fortnight beforehand, to put them in heart. The
feeding fheep with turnips is one great advantage to
the farmers. When they are made to eat turnips they
foon fatten, but there is fome difficulty in bringing this
about. The old ones always refufe them at firft, and
will fometimes faft three or four days, till almoft fa-
mifhed ; but the young lambs fall to .at once. The
common way, in fome places, of turning a flock of
iheep at large into a field of turnips, is very difadvan-
tageous, for they will thus deftroy as many in a fort-
night as would keep them a whole winter. There are
three other ways of feeding them on this food, all of
which have their feveral advantages. The firft way is
to divide the land by hurdles, and allow the fheep to
come upon fuch a portion only at a time as they can
eat in one day, and (o advance the hurdles farther into
the ground daily till all be eaten. This is infinitely
better than the former random method ; but they ne-
ver eat them clean even this way, but leave the bot-
toms and outfides fcooped in the ground : the people

pull

128 NATURAL HISTORY

pull up thefe indeed with iron crooks, and lay them
before the fheep again, but they are commonly fo foul-
ed with the creature's dung and urine, and with the
dirt from their feet, that they do not care for them;
they eat but little of them, and what they do eat does
not nourifli them like the frefli roots.

The fecond way is by inclofing the fheep in hurdles,
as in the former: but in this they pull up all the tur-
nips which they fuppofe the fheep can eat in one day,
and daily remove the hurdles over the ground whence
they have pulled up the turnips: by this means there is
no v/afle, and lefs expence, for a perfon may in two
hours pull Dp all thofe turnips ; the remaining fhells
of which would have employed three or four labourers
a-day to get up wirh their crooks out of the ground
trodden hard by the feet of the fheep ; and the worfl
is, that as in the method of pulling up firfl, the tur-
nips are eaten up cleans in this way, by the hook,
they are wafted, the fheep do not eat any great part of
them, and when the ground comes to be tilled after-
wards for a crop of corn, the fragments of the tur-
nips are {etn in fuch quantities on the furface, that half
the crop at leaft feems to have been wafted.

The third manner is to pull up the turnips, and re-
move them in a cart or waggon to fome other place,
fpreading them on a frefn place every day ; by this
method the iheep will eat them up clean, both root and
leaves. The great advantage of this method is, when
there is a piece of land not far off which wants dung
more than that where rhe turnips grew, which perhaps
is alfo too wet for the fheep in winter, and then the tur-
nips will, by the too great nioifture and dirt of the foil,
fometimes fpoil the fheep and give them the rot. Yet
fuch ground will often bring forth more and larger
turnips than dry land, and when they are carried off,
and eaten by the fheep on ploughed land, in dry wea-
ther, and on green fward in wet weather, the fneep will
fUcceed much better ; and the moifl foil where the

turnips

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 129

turnips grew, not being trodden by the fheep, will be
much fitter for a crop of com than if they had been
fed with turnips on it. The expence of hurdles, and
the trouble of moving them, are faved in this cafe,
which will counterbalance at leaft the expence of pull-
ing the turnips and carrying them to the places where
they are to be eaten. They muft always be carried off
for oxen.

The difeafes to which fheep are fubjed are thefe,
rot, red-water, foot-rot and hoving, fcab, dunt, rick-
ets, fly -fir Lick, flux, and burfting. Of each of thefe
we fhall give the befl defcription in our power, with
the moft approved remedies.

The rot, which is a very pernicious difeafe, has of
late engaged the attention of fcientific farmers. Some
valuable and judicious obfervations have been made
upon it, v/hich ought to be circulated, as they may
perhaps, in many cafes, furnifh an antidote for this
malignant diftemper. Some have fuppofed the rot
owing to the quick growth of grafs or herbs that grow
in wet places. Without premifing, that all-bounteous
Providence has given to every animal its peculiar tafle,
by which it diflinguifhes the food proper for its pre-
fervation and fupport, if not vitiated by fortuitous cir-
cumltances, it feems very difficult to difcover on phi-
lofophical principles why the quick growth of grafs
fnould render it noxious, or why any herb fnould at
one feafon produce fatal effeds, by the admilfion of
pure water only into its component parts, v;hich at
other times is perfedly innocent, although brought to
its utmofl strength and maturity by the genial influ-
ence of the fun. Befides, the conflant practice of moffc
farmers in the kingdom, who with the greateft fecurity
feed their meadows in the fpring, when the grafs
fhoots quick and is full of juices, militates diredly
againit this opinion. Mr. Arthur Young, to whom
agriculture is fo much indebted, afcribes ttiis difeafe to
inoifture. In confirmation of this opinion, which has
Vol. hi. No. 34. R been

f^o NATURAL HISTORY

been generally adopted, we are informed, in the Bath
Society papers, that there was a paddock adjoining to
a park, which had for feveral years caufed the rot in
moft of the fheep which was put into it. In 1769 it
was drained, and from that time the fheep were free
from this malady. But there are fadls which render it
doubtful that moifture is the fole caufe. We are told,
the dry limed land in Derby (hire will produce the rot
as well as w.:'ter meadows and flagnant marfhes j and
that in fome wet grounds fheep fuftain no injury for
many weeks.

On difledting {heep that die of this diforder, a great
number of infers called flukes are found in the liver.
That thefe flukes are the caufe of the rot, therefore, is
evider.t; but to explain how they come into the liver
is not fo eafy. It is probable that they are fwallowed
by the fheep along with their food while in the egg
ftate. The eggs depofited in the tender germ are con-
veyed with the food into the fliomach and inteftines of
the animals, whence they are received into the ladeal
veflrls, carried off in the chyle, and pafs into the
blood i nor do they meet with any obftrucftion until
they arrive at the capillary vefTels of the liver. Here,
ss the blood filtrates through the extreme branches,
anfwering to thofe of the vena porta in the human
body, the fecerning veflels are too minute to admit the
impregnated ova, which, adhering to the membrane,
produce thofe animalcula; that feed upon the liver and
defiroy the fheep. They much refemble the flat-fiih
called plaice, are fomctimes as large as a fllver two-
pence, and are found both in the liver and in the pipe
(anfwering to that of the vena cava) which conveys
the blood from the liver to the heart.

The common and moil obvious obje^ftion to that
opinion is, that this infe6t is never found but in the
liver, or in fome parts of the vifcera, of fheep that are
dikafed more or Icfs i and that they muil therefore be

bred

OF QUADRUPEDS. 131

bred there. But this objeiflion will lofe its force, when
we confider that many infeds undergo feveral changes,
and exiil under forms extremely different from each
other. Some of them may therefore appear and be well
known under one (hape, and not known to be the
fame under a fecond or third. The fluke may be the
laft ftate of feme aquatic animal which we at prefent
very well know under one or other of its previous
forms. If this be admitted, it is eafy to conceive that
fheep mav, en wet ground efpccially, take multitudes
of thefe ova or eggs in with their foodj and that, the
ftomach.-.nd vifccraof the fheep being a propernidus for
them, they of courfe hatch, and, appearing in their fluke
or laft (late, feed on the liver of the animal, and occa-
iion this diforder. It is a Angular faift, " that no ewe
ever has the rot while fne has a lamb by her fide." The
rtafon of this may be, that the impregnated ovum paf-
fes into the milk, and never arrives at the liver. The
rot is fatal to flieep, hares, and rabbits, and fometimes
to calves; but never infefts animals of a lander iize.

Miller fays that parfley is a good remedy for the rot
in fheep. Perhaps a ftrong decodion ot this plant, or
the oil extra6led from its feeds, might be of fervice.
Salt is alio a ufeful remedy. It fecms to be an ac-
knowledged fad that fait marflies never produce the
rot. Salt indeed b pernicious to moft infedls. Com-
mon fait and water expel v/orms from the human body ;
and fea-weed, if laid in a garden, will drive away in-
fects ; but, if the fait is feparated by fteeping it in the
pureft fprihg-water for a few days, it abounds with a-
nimalculcE of various fpecies. Lifls, in his book of
h'Jlb»andry, informs us of a farmer who cured his
wauk flock of the rot by giving each .fheep a handful
of 5panilh fait five or fix mornings fucceiiively. The
hint was probably taken from the Spaniards, who fre- .
quently give their fiieep fait to keep them healthy. Oa
(ome farms perhaps the utmoft caution cannot always
i^revent this diforder. In wet and warm fealbns the

R 2 pri^d^A^

132 NATURAL HIS TOR Y.

prudent farmer will remove his fheep from the lands
liable to rot. Thofe who have it not in their power
to do this may give each flieep a fpoonful of common
fait, with the fame quantity of flour, in a quarter of a
pint of water, once or twice a- week. When the rot
is recently taken, the fame remedy piven four or five
mornings fuccefTively will in all probability eiFed a
cure. The addition of the flour and water (in the
opinion of Mr. Price of Sahlbury, to whofe excellent
paper in the Bath Society's Tranfaftions the public
are much indebted) will not only abate the pungency
of the fait, but difpofe it to mix with the chyle in a
more gentle and efficacious manner. A farmer of a
confiderable lordfhip in Bohemia, vifiting the hot- wells
of Carlfbad, related how he preferved his flocks of
fheep from the mortal diftemper which raged in the
wet year 1769, of which fo many perifhed. His pre-
fervative was very Ample and very cheap: '' He fed
them every night, when turned under a flied, cover,
or ftables, with ha/hed fodder ftrawj and, by eating it
greedily, they all efcaped."

A remedy for the rot in flieep, faid to be infallible,
hath been lately offered to the public under fandion of
letters patent, by Mr. Thomas Fleer, an eminent
farmer, near Bafingftoke, in Hampfhire. He calls it
a " medicine for preventing the rot in fheep, and
checking the farther progrefs of the faid difeafe in thofe
already infedted with it ^ and alfo to render them ca-
pable of being fatted on the herbage of the fame land
which produced or occafioned the difeafe !" The in-
gredients of which the medicine is compounded, he
declares on oath to be, turpentine, bole-armoniac,
J turmeric, quickfilver, brimfl:one, fait, opium, alkanet-
root, bark, antimony, and camphor, mixed up in dif-
tilled water. What progrefs has been made in the pre-
vention and cure of the rot in fheep by this medicine,
we have not yet been able to learn.

*^ The

O F Q,U A D R U P E D S. 133

** The red water is a diforder mod prevalent on
wet grounds. I have heard (fays Mr. Arthur Young)
that it has fometimes been cured by tapping, as for a
dropfy. This operation is done on one fide of the
beJly towards the flank, juft be!ow the wool.

** The foot- rot and hoving, which is very common
on low fenny grounds, is cured by keeping the part
clean, and lying at reft in a dry pafture."

Thefcab is a cutaneous difeafe owing to an impuri-
ty of the blood, and is mod prevalent in wet lands or
in rainy feafons. It is cured by tobacco- water, brim-
ftome, and alum, boiled together, and then rubbed
over the iheep. If only partial, tar and greafe may be
fufficient. But the fimpleA and mod efficacious re-
medy for this difeafe was communicated to the Society
for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. by Sir Jofeph
Banks. " Take one pound of quickfilver, half a
pound of Venice turpentine, half a pint of oil of tur-
pentine, and four pounds oi hogs lard. Let them be
rubbed in a mortar till the quickfilver is thoroughly
incorporated Vv'ith the other ingredients j for the pro-
per mode of doing which, it may be proper to take
the advice, or even the affiilance, of fome apothecary
or other perfon ufed to make fuch mixtures. The
method of ufing the ointment is this : beginning at the
head of the fheep, and proceeding from between the
ears along the back to the end of the tail, the wool is
to be divided in a furrow till the fkin can be touched;
and, as the furrov/ is made, the finger flightJy dipped
in the ointment is to be drawn along the bottom of it,
where it will leave a blue ftain on the ikin and a 1join-
ing wool : from this furrow (imilar ones muft be drawn
down the fhoulders and thighs to the legs, as far as
they are woolly ; and if the animal is much infcifted,
two more fhou'd be drawn along each Cide parallel to
that on the back, and one down each fide between the
fore and hind legs. Immediately after being dreffed,
it is ufual to turn the iheep among other dock, with-
out

134 NATURAL HISTORY

out any fear of the infedlion being communicated ; and
there is fcarcely an inftance of a fheep fulfering any in-
jury from the application. In a few days the blotches
dry up, the itching ceafes, and the animal is com.plete-
ly cured: it is generally, however, thotJght proper not
to delay the operation beyond Michaelmas. 'Thcbip-
fcbojca ovinay called in Lincoinfliire fhcep-f.igg, an ani-
mal well known to all fhepherds, which lives among
the v7oo1, and is hurtful to the thriving of Ibeep both
by the pain its bite occafions and the blood it fucks,
is deftroyed by this application, and the wool is not at
all injured. Our wool- buyers purchafe the fleeces on
which the (lain of the ointment is vilible, rather in pre-
ference to others, from an opinion that, the ufe of it
having preferved the animal from being vexed either
with the fcab or faggs, the vvool is lefs liable to the de-
fers of joints or knots; a fault obferved to proceed
from every fudden flop in the thriving of the animal,
either from want of food or from difeafe. This mode
of curirig was brought into Lincolnfnire by M-r. Ste-
phenfon of Mareham, and is (o generally received, that
the fcab, which ufed to be the terror of the farmers, and
which frequently deterred the hiore careful of them
from taking the advantage of pafturing their fheep in
the fertile and extenfive commons, is no longer re-
garded with any appreheniion: by far the mod of
them have their flock anointed in autumn, when they
return from the common, whether they fhew any fymp-
toms of fcab or notj and, having done fo, conclude
them fafe for fome time from either giving or receiv-
ing infedion."

The dunt is a diRemper caufed by a bladder of wa-
ter gathering in the head. No cure for this has yet
been difcovered.

The rickets is an here-^.itary difeafe for which no an-
tidote is known. The firft fymptom is a kind or iight-
headednefs, which makes the afiedled fheep appear
wilder than ufual when the fnepherd or any perfon ap-.

proache

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 135.

proaches him. Me bounces up fudJenly from his Ir.re,
and runs to a diftance, as though he were purfued by-
dogs. In the fecond ftage the principal fymptom is
the (heep rubbing himlelf againO trees, &c. with fuch
fury as to pull off his wool and tear away his fiefn.
*' The diftreii'ed animal has now a violent itching in
his ikin, the effedl of an highly inflamed blood; but
it does not appear that there is ever any cutaneous
eruption or falutary critical difcharge. In fhort, from
all circumitances, ihe fever appears now to be at its
height." — The laft ilage of this difeafe " feems only
to be the progrefs of diliblution, after an unfavourable
cniis. The poor animal, as condemned by nature,
appears flupi I, walks irregularly, (whence probably
the name rickets,) generally H'-S, and eats little; thefe
fymptoms increafe in degree till death, which fol-
lovvs a general confumption, as appears upon diflec-
tion of tne carcafc j the iuices and even folids havinfT
luf.cred a general difiblution." In order to difcover
the feat and nature of this difeafe, flieep that die of it
ought to be diiiected. This is faid to have been done
by one gentleinan, Mr. Beal; and he found in the
brain or membranes adjoining a maggot about a quar-
ter of an inch long, and of a brownirh colour. A few
experiments might eafily determine this fad.

The fiy-ffruck is cured by clipping the v/ool off as
far as infccT;ed, and rubbing the parts dry with lime or
w'ood-afnes ; curriers oil will heal the wounds, and pre-
vent their bei.!g ftruck any more; or they may be cured
with care, witnout clipping, with oil of tui-pentine,
which will kill all the vermin where it goes ; but the
former is the fureft way.

The flux is another difeafe to which flieep are fub-
je6l. The befl: remedy is faid to be, to houfe the fheep
immediately when the difliemper appears, to keep them
very warm, and feed them on dry hay, giving them
frequent glifters of warm milk and water. The caufe
of that dilicmper is either their feeding on wet lands,
1 or

136 NATURAL HISTORY

or on grafs that is become mofly by the lands having
been fed many years without being ploughed. When
the farmer perceives his fheep-walks to become mofly,
or to produce bad grafs, he fhould either plough or
manure with hot lime, making kilns either very near
or in the fheep-walks, becaufe the hotter the lime is
put on, the fweeter the grafs conies up, and that early
in the year.

Burfting, or blaft, attacks fheep when driven into
frefh grafs or young clover. They over-eat them-
felves, foam at the mouth, fwell exceedingly, breathe
very quick and fhort, then jump up, and inftantly fall
down dead. In this cafe, the only chance of faving
their life is by ftabbing them in the maw with an in-
ilrument made for that purpofe. The inftrument is
a hollow tube, with a pointed weapon paffing through
it. A hole is made with the pointed weapon; which
is immediately withdrawn, and the hole is kept open
by inferting the tube till the wind is difcharged.

Sheep are infefted with worms in their nofe called
^ejirus oveSy and produced from the egg of a large two-
winged fly. The frontal finufes above the nofe in fheep
and other animals are the places where thefe worms live
and attain their full growth. Thefe finufes are always
full of a foft white matter, which furniihes thefe worms
with a proper nourifliment, and are fufiiciently large
for their habitation; and when they have here acquired
their deftined growth, in which they are fit to undergo
the-ir changes for the fly-ilate, they leave their old habi-
tation, and, falling to the earth, bury themfelves there;
and, when thefe are hatched into flies, the female, when
Ihe has been impregnated by the male, knows that the
nofe of a flieep or other animal is the only place for her
to depoflt her eggs, in order to their coming to matu-
rity. Mr. Vallifnieri, to w^hom the world owes fo many
difcoveries in the infeft clafs, is the firll v/ho has given
any true account of the origin of thefe worms. But,
though their true hiftory had been till that time un-
known.

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 137

known, the creatures themfelves were very early dlfco-
vcred, and many ages fincc were efteemed great medi-
cines in epilepfies.

CAPRA, the GOAT, of the Order PECORA.

THE charaderiftics of this genus of quadrupeds
are, horns bending backwards, and almoft join-
ing at their bafes; eight cutting teeth in the under
jaw, but none in the upper ; and they have no dog-
teeth. The males are diltinguifhed by a beard on the
chin. The following are the different fpecies of this
animal recorded by naturalifts :

The ibex, or WILD GOAT.

THIS animal is fuperior in fize to the largefl: of the
common goats ; its form refembles the ftag ; its body
is covered with fhaggy hair ; and, for the greateft part,
of a grey or yellowifli ruft-colour; a bhick line runs
along the backj its chin is furnifhed with a great
beard, the colour of which is between a dun and a
chefnut ; its head is of a thick form, and remarkably
hard ; its horns rife almoft out of one bafe ; diverge
and bend backwards as they advance towards the ex-
tremities ; but approach nearer each other, and are
hooked at the points. They are fmooth and black,
with {harp ridges on the upper parts, which are hol-
low on the exterior fides. The tail is very fhort and
black: the neck and joints are remarkably ftcut : the
belly affords a bezoar. The females are generally de-
ftitute of hornsj and, when they happen to be furnifh-
ed with them, they are very fmall in comparifon with
thofe of the males. The horns of the males are com-
monly three teet in length, and often eight pounds in
weight. The ibex difplays amazing agility i it often
leaps headlong down precipices, and efcapes uninjured
by falling on its horns. The moment it reaches the

Vol. III. No. 34. S ground.

1^8 NATURAL HISTORY

ground, it fprings up upon its legs, and bounds nim-
biy awav.

The lower mountains oFCaucafus and Taurus, the
hills of Lciar and Khorazan in Perlia, the ifland of
Crete, and the Alps in Euro:^e, are all habitations of
this animal. Bell, a tra'/eller of qood fen fe and vera-
city, relates, that he faw one of tlieie an;ma!s in the
province of Kiirdiilan, and defcribes it as larger than
the common goat, and funifhed with horns of a pro-
diiiious fize.

There is a different wild goat, befide that above de-
fcribed, an inhabitant of both Europe and Afia. This
is the ibex of Pliny, Pennant, Linnasus, and feveral
other naturalifts ; and is by the Germans confounded
with the laft-mentioned fpecies, under the common
name of fteinboc. It is diftmguifhed by large knot-
ted horns, reclining backwards, nearly of the fame fize
with thoie of the lail fpecies; a fmall head; large eyes;
a thick, fhort, llrong, body ; ftronglegs; very fhort
hoofs ; and a fl^rt tail. Its body is of a deep brown
colour, with a mixture of hoary hairs; its belly is of
a tawny white colour; its legs are partly black, partly
white ; the fpace under the tail is, in fonie individuals,
tawny, in others white. Its hair is rough; and the
male is furnifhed with a dufky beard. The females
are fmaller in (ize than the males; and, like the com-
mon fhe-goat, have fmaller horns than the males ; —
and thofe with fewer knobs on the upper furface.

The favourite haunts of this'animal are the moft
precipitous and inacceffible heights of lofty mountains.
It is remarkably fwift; and difplays amazing agility
and dexterity in leaping. It is a gregarious animal :
and though, by chooling fuch places for its habitation,
i: feems averfe to all intercourfe with mankind; yet,
when caught young, it is not incapable of domefti-
cation. The female is fcarcely ever known to produce
above one or two young ones at a birth. When the
fCi-iod of parturition comes on, fhe ledres from the

company

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 139

company of the males. The ibex Is ftid to be natu-
rally a lliort-lived animal. Its flefK is efteemed good
eating. Its blood was once much valued for its vir-
tues, as ?. remedy in cafes of pleurify.

The ibex is an object of the chafe ; but it is danger-
ous to purfue thefe goats, and exceedingly difficult to
take or kill them. The inaccefTible nature of the
places to which they generally refort, their dexterity
in leaping, and even their cunning in attacking the
huntfman, are the principal circumftances that render
this chafe fo difficult. They fometimes tumble the
huntfman over thofe precipices, among which they
themfelves leap about without any danger. They
often fling themfelves down the precipices; a.n,d, like
the former ibex, falling on their horns, efcape unhurt.
It is faid,---but the {lory favours too much of the
wonderful,' --that, to efcape the hunter, they fometimes
hang themfelves by the horns from trees projeding
over precipices. Thefe animals inhabit the rude fum-
mirs of the chain of mountains extending from Mount
Taurus between eaftern Tartary ana Siberia. A few
are alfo found in the eaft of the Jenefei. The province
of Hedsjces in Arabia, and the loftiefi: mountains in
Crete, are alfo known to afford the fame fpecies. In
Europe, this ibex appears on the Carpathian and the
Pyrer^.asan mountains; in the country of the Grifons ;
and amidft the higheft points of the Rhcetian Alps.

Thefe two fpecies, both exifling chiefly, if not en-
tirely, in a wild ftate, and principally diftinguifhcd from
each othef by the appearance of their horns, are con-
fidered as the only diftindt fpecies which this genus of
animals aflords. The other breed of goats, fcattered
over different parts of the world, are viewed only as
fo many varierit-s of the fame animal. Ihefe varieties
have been all thought to originate either from the one
or the other of the fpecies defcribed, or perhaps from
the intermixture of the two together.

S 2 Tiiv,

140 NATURAL HISTORY

The common DOMESTIC GOAT.

THE coramon goat, believed by fome naturalifls
to be nea.'rft allied to the ibex with knotted horns, and
by others reprefented as a delcendant of the ibex with
fmooth, black, horns. Is difHnguifhed by horns which
incline gently backwards as they rife from their bafes,
increaiing the curve towards the upper extremity. This
animal is feldom fo large as either of the wild goats
above defcribed. The fineft bucks have pendent ears,
thick th;ghs, black thick foft hair, a long bufliy beard,
a fliort ficfliy neck, and a light head. The bed fhe-
goa^s have hirge bodies, thick thighs, long capacious
udders, and foft bufhy hair^ and wulk v.ith a light
lively ftep.

The charader of the goat is much lefs amiable than
that of the fheep. Vicioufnefs, fubtlety, and leachery,
are the predominant qualities of this animal. Even in
his ordinary motions he betrays the caprice of his cha-
radler : he walks, runs, leaps, retires, approaches, in
the moft irregular manner imaginable. Our domeftic
goat, like the ibex, is amazingly fwift and a^ile. He
mounts the moft rugged mountains, and fearlefsly ap-
proaches the fteepeft precipices: and, though he appears
thus rafhly to expofe himfelf to certain danger, yet
fuch is his addrefs in running, climbing, leaping,
and balancing his body in difficult fituations, that he
fcarceiy ever meets v/ith any unfortunate accident. The
plants which the goat prefers for food are chiefly fuch
as are defpifed by the fheep, the cow, the horfe, and
moft other domeftic animals -, and indeed grow in fitu-
ations where few other animals can approach them.
Hemlock, euphorbium, and feveral moffes, are abfo-
luteiy delicacies to the goat. He devours, with great
avidity, the bark, leaves, and branches, of moft trees.
Many proprietors of fheep keep a few goats among
their flocks to clear the pafture of thofe herbs, which,
though delicacies to the goatj ars noxious to the fheep.

Goat-

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 141

Goat-herds pretend that their goats eat up adders very
voracioiifly.

The ("he-goat goes five months with young, and
brings commonlv one or two, but fomerimes even three
or four, at a birth. The kids are ufually produced be-
tween the end of February and the beginning of May.
The male is capable of engendering when a year old ;
and the female ready to receive his embraces at the aire
of fcven months: but it is better to reRrain bothfcxes
from venery till they attain the age of ei^jhtcen months
or two years. The ardour of the male is remarkable ;
but in the fpace of three or four years his vigour is
wafted; and at the age of five or C)x, he feels prema-
turely all the languid feeblenefs of old age. The biick.
has a rank naufeous fmell ; proceeding; not from his
fiefhj however, but from his ildn. Though fond of
the fummits of bleak and lofty mountains, the r;oat is
but ill qua^ined to bear extreme co'd. In France,
goats are fhelrcred under roofs in winter, as well as
black cattle, and hd with branches of 'trees gathered
for the purpofe in autumn, and with cahbai^es, tur-
nips, and other fimilar plants. But heat, however in-
ttnCzy is fcirce'y ever injtirious to the he^dth of gloats ;
they bafic in the rays of the fun, withou*- feelina them-
felves fcorched, or in any other way difagreeably af-
feded.

The domedic goat is well known through Europe,
and even in the othi:r regions of the globe. Conii-
derable numbers are kept iii the mountainous parrs of
Wales. The Welch goats are greatly fuperior in f.ze
to anv of the breeds cultivated in other niountainous
councries, and are commonly ot a wh.te col Air. In
Carnaivonfnire, they are generally fuffcred to run
wild on the rocks, in i>oth wmtcr and fumm^r. if we
may judge (rom the exprelfions oF the an^iint pafloral
poets, goats were in their diys tended in Greece and
Itidy with not lea, care tiian ihcep. In Norway, goats
are numerous, notwithitanding their inaliiit; to fufrer

extreme

142 NATURAL HISTORY

extreme cold. Nay, in that northern climate, they
thrive fo prodigioufly, that, as Pontoppidan relates,
not lefs than feventy or eighty thoufand raw hides are
annually exported from Bergen. ' F.ven Iceland is not
<ieftitute of goats ; but that ifland is fo fcantily fupplied
with trees, fhrubs, and the other plants on which thefe
animals delight to broufe, that they are not numerous
nor thriving there. Attempts have been made to in-
troduce this animal into Greenland; and as the goat,
when it cannot obtain its favourite vegetable food, re-
fufes not to eat dried fifli, it is found capable of fub-
filling even in that barren and dreary region. Our
common domeftic goat is not, indeed, a native of A-
merica ; but, with the other chief domeftic animals of
the Old World, has been conveyed thither by the {ct-
tiers from Europe. In South America, thefe animals
have multiplied prodigioufly ; but the chmate of Ca-
nada has been found too fcvere. Africa, India, Ma-
dagafcar, and theOriental iflands, all afford this animal.
Our voyagers to the South-Seas found abundance of
goats in the ifland of Juan Fernandez; which, —
though in confequence of living in regions where they
are almofl totally fequeftered from hum.an intercourfe,
they were become in their chara<5ter and difpofitions
abfolutely wild, — yet were of the fame variety with
the conimon domeflic goat of Europe. In Batavia,
the Dutch colonifls have, among their other domeflic
animals, herds of goats.

A fmall ifland between Bonavifla and Mayo is re-
lated by an Englifn voyager who vifited thefe, the
Cape-de-Verd iflands, and the coafl of Guinea, in the
year 1566, to have contained at that time fuch num-
bers of goats, that the Portuguefe v/ho inhabited it
ufed annually to export to Europe about forty thou-
fand fkins. The few inhabitants of the ifland valued
the flefn fo little, that they cheerfully fupplied our
voyager and his company with as many carcafes as
they could ufe, without exped;ing any price.

The.

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 143

The goat, though lefs friendly and lefs ferviceable
to mankind than the fheep, afTords, however, a variety
of articles of no fmall utility to human life. The flefh
of this animal is wholefome food. That of a fpayed
goat, fix or feven years old, is remarkably fweet and
fat. The haunches, {lilted and dried, make excellent
hams. The dried blood of the he-goat is, with fome
perfons, a fpecihc for the plcurify and inflammatory
diforders. The milk is of the beft kind ; much more
agreeable than that of the fheep, and pofTefTed of fome
valuable medicinal qualities : the cheefe prepared from
it is much efteemed in fome places : the cream is
fcarcely ever feparated for butter: the milk and the
whey are both eagerly drunk, as powerful remedies in
cafes of confumption. In the fummer months, peoplr
of confumptive habits, through Scotland and Ireland,
refort in confiderable numbers to places where goat s
milk is obtained.

The horns of the goat are materials of ma nufa<fru re,
as well as thofe of the cow and the fheep. Even the difa-
greeable odour of the he-goat js thought to operate out
the human frame as a cure for nervous and hyfterical
diftempers, and as a good preventive againft m>any
others. Horfes, it is imagined, find it very refrelh-
ing; and many perfons of fkill in the management of
horfes keep a he-goat in their ituds or flables, for this
very purpofe. But the fkin is perhaps the moft va-
luable part of the goat. It is prepared for a great
many purpofes, either with or without the hair. It
covers the foldier's knapfack, and is manufactured in-
to bolfters and hangings. When drefTed without the
hair, the fkin of the kid efpecially, becomes a foft and
pliant fpecies of leather, -excellent for gloves, and fit to
be made into ftockings, bed-ticks, Iheets, and fhirts.
It takes a dye better than any other fkin^ is fufcept-
ible of the richeft colours j and when it ufed formerly
to be flowered, and ornamented with gold and filver,
became an elegant and fuperb article of furniture. The

1 hair

144 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

hair feparated from the hide, is a valuable material to
the wigmaker : the vvhiteft wigs are made of goats hair:
that on the haunches is brighter, longer, and thicker,
than that on the other parts of the body. A flvin well
furnillied with hair of a good quality, is frequently fold
at no lefs a price than a guinea. PJiny relates, that ia
Cilicia, and either in Syria or in the country adjacent
to the African Syrtes,---for there are different read-
ings of this pafiage, — the hair of the goat ufed an-
ciently to be (horn in the fame manner as in other places
the fieece of the llieep. The tallow of this animal is
aifo an article of confiderab'e value. It is much pu-
rer, and approaches in its nature much nearer to butter,
than the tallow of either the ox or the fheep. Where
goats are numerous, it is often ufed by the poorer
people in the preparation of food. Candles made of
it are far fuperior in whitenefs to thofe made of other
tallow, and burn better.

The angora GOAT.

THIS fpecies is fhorter in the form of its body than
our common domeftic goat. Its fides are broader and
more flat ; its legs fhorter ; and its horns ftraighter.
Its hair is foft and gloffy like filk, and of a filver white
colour, and hangs down in curling locks, eight or nine
inches long. Its horns are wreathed in a fpiral form,
and extend towards its fides. Its ears are plain and
pendulous. Thefe goats are confined within the trad:
of country around the towns of Angora and Beibazar
in Afiatic Turkey. The goats of Cougna, the old
Iconium, are probably nearly allied in their character to
thofe of Angora. Tournefort, in mentioning the goats
of thefe two different diftrit^s, reprefents thofe of An-
gora as diftinguiflied from thofe of Cougna only by di-
vcrfity of colour; the latter being all either black or
brown. Baron Alftroemer attempted to introduce this
breed into Sweden, for the fake of the hair. It is re-
markable

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 14^

markable, that not only the goat, but even the flieep
and the hare, of Angora, have longer and fofter hair
than the fame animals in any other part of the globe.
The length, the finenefs, the curling foftnefs, and the
beautiful white colour, of the hair of the Angora goat,
render it a very valuable commodity. It is fpun into
thread; of which the fineft camblets are wrought.
The Turkifh adminlftration, with a wife policy, pro-
hibit this hair from being exported raw ; becaufe the
fpinning of it affords employment and fuftenance to a
number of their fubjeds. An animal furnifhed with
fuch precious hair would furely be a valuable acquifi-
tion to Britain, if we might hope that it would thrive
in our climate. Perhaps fome patriot may one day
inake the experiment.

Syria affords a peculiar variety of the goat, with
large pendulous ears and ffiort black horns j which is
the capra mamhrica of Linnasus. The ears are ufually
between one and two feet In length, and fometlmes {':i
troublefome to the animal, that the owners find it pro-
per to cut off one of them for its convenience. This
^oat is rather larger in fize than our common domef-
tic goat ; its hair is ufually yellow : this variety a-
bounds through the eaft, and is found alfo among the
K irghifi an Tartars : the city of Aleppo is plentifully
fupplied with their milk: they appear, from the rela-
tion of Ariftotle, to have been known to the ancients.

Africa affords a variety of the goat, diftingulfhed
chiefly by their dwarfifh fize: the horns of the male
are fhort, thick, and triangular, and lie flat upon the
ikull : the male is covered with rough hair ; and two
long hairy wattles hang beneath his chin : the female
has fmaller horns, a fmooth coat, and no wattles.

Whidaw, or Juda in Africa, affords a peculiar va-
riety of a fmall fize, with fhort fmooth horns, turning
g little forwards at the points. Some natural hlflorians
reprefent this animal as a native of America; others
ftrenuoufly contend, that neither the goat nor any

Vol. III. No. 34. T pthey

14^ NATURAL HISTORY

other domeftic animal was known in Ameiica before
its difcovery by the Spaniards. It would be difficult
for us to decide. This goat is not confined to Whi-
daw ; hut is common alfo in Guinea, Angola, and
fome other parts of Africa.

The Capricorn is another variety; the chara(5terif-
tic marks of which are, fhort horns turning forwards
at the ends, marked on the fides with rings j and
thofe more" prominent before than behind. M. Buf-
fon'confiders thefe as an intermediate race between the
donieftic and the wild goat. A breed of tame goats
refembling the common kind, but without horns, alfo
inhabit the country of the Cabonas, north of the Cape
of Good Hope.

Mr. Marfden, in his hiftory of Sumatra, defcribes
an animal which feems to have been unknown to form-
er writers in natural hiftory,- and which I am at a lofs
whether to rank among the goats or the antelopes. It
is about three feet in height and four in length. Its
horns are about fix inches long, and turned back with
an archi Its hinder parts refemble thofe of the bear in
iliape, being rounded into a femicircle from the back.
Its tail is fmajl, and terminates in a point. Its legs
are clumfy. Along the ridge of the back, the hair rifes
almoit as coarfe and ftrong as the briftles of a boar. A
large tuft of greyirti hair fpreads over the Ihoulders ;
the reft of the body is all over black. It has no beard.
The natives of Sumatra denonvinate this animal Cam-
bing Cotan, or the wild goat of the woods ; and re-
present it as remarkably fwift. It is certainly wild
and ferocious in its dlfpofitions.

The ANTELOPE.

THE generic charaflers of the antelope are, hollow
liorns directed backwards, and either annulated or fpi-
fal; eight cutting teeth in the inferior, but none in the
uppor^ jaw J three feathered lines of liair, marking the

infidc

OF QJU AD RUPED S. 147

infide of the ears longitudinally j limbs of a flender,
elegant, form j and commonly fmall holes, fcri cenfe--
rij under the eyes, but not connefted with them,
through which cozes a wax-like matter. TJie genus
of antelopes feem to occupy an intermediate place be-
tween the goat and. the deer : they are almoit confined
to the regions of Afia and Africa j fev/- of them inha-
bit Europe ; and none are found in America. The
form of their limbs renders them amazingly fwift and
agile: they never fhed their horns: they are {o re^
ir.arkable for beautiful eyes, that in the Eaft, the moil:
flattering compliment which can be paid ,to a fine wo-
man, is to fay, "She has the eyes of an antelope."
They feed rather upon fhriibby than upon graiTy paf-
tures : their fize refembles that of th$ roebuck; and
they affociate in large herds. There are a great many
fpecies, which we fnall corredly enumerate.

The G N U.

THE form of tliis animal refembles^ partly the
horfe, partly the ox, and partiv the frag'. It is as
large as a middle-iized horfe; the length, of its body
between five and fix feet; its height between four and
five. Its neck, though neither lb long nor fo llender as
the neck of a horfe, is however longer and more flen-
dtr than that of the ox, and adorned with a ftiit erecl
mane. Its body difplays the elegant proportions of the
horfe ; and ics tail, though fomewhat longer, is like
that of the horfe, .copiouily furnifljied with long hair :
but the head of the gnu is thick and large, and horned
like the head of an ox. On the forehead, between the
nofe and the fiexures of tlie horns, the facp is covered
v/ith an oblong fquate brulb of ftiff black hairs, turned
upv;ards : on the inferior jaw too, it has a heard of
thick fliaggy hair. Its legs are long, and elegantly
ilender, like the legs of the Aag ; the fpace between the
Fore legs is covered with long buihy hair. Its horns

T 2 Jire

14» NATURAL HISTORY

are rough ; they rife on the hinder part of the head j
and, bending their diredtion forwat-d for a fhort way,
almoft clofe to the fkin, then turn fuddenly upwards,
and run back for a confiderable length, fo as to bear a
near refemblance in form to the fickles commonly
ufed in cutting corn. The females are horned as well
as the males; nor are the two fexes diftinguifhed from
each other by any difference of the horns. The horns
of the young gnu are perfedly ftrait; they acquire
their flexure as the animal grows older, and tbey long-
er and thicker.

The pori ceriferi with which it is furnifheii under
the eyes, are what chiefly entitles it to the charader
of an antelope. The tail and mane are of a light
grey colour ; the fliag on its chin and its breaft, and
the fl:iflF brufli on its forehead, black; and the reft of
the body uniformly dark brown.

The gnu is a lively capricious animal. When irri-
tated, even though at a diftance from its enemy, it ex-
prefles its refentment by plunging, curveting, flinging
out its legs behind, and butting with its head againft
molehills, bars, and other flmilar objefts : thefe ani-
mals feed in large herds ; and it is only when a ftrag-
gler has been accidentally feparated from the herd, that
any of them is found in a folitary ftate. The voice of
this fpecies has obtained it from the Hottentots the
name of gnu j they fometimes utter a found like the
bellowing of an ox, and fometimes a clearer note. The
gnu is an inhabitant of the fouth of Africa. It is
found chiefly in the diftridls of Camdebo and Agter
Bruntjes-hoogte. Dr. Sparrman feems even to think
that it is confined within thofe regions. The flefli of
the gnu is very juicy, and more agreeable and nourifli-
ing than beef.

Thje

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 149

The chamois.

THE chamois is nearly of the fame fize with the
domeftic goat. Its neck is flender; its forehead ele-
vated ; its horns flender, black, and upright, with the
points hooked backwards : its tail is fhort : its hoofs
are much divided : its legs are long and agile j but
not remarkably {lender: its ears are long, ered:, and
pointed. Behind each of the horns, it has a large ori-
fice in the fkin of the head. The hair is rather (hort
on the upper part of the body ; but, upon the fides,
the haunches, the neck, and the belly, long, like the
hair of the common goat. The body of the chamois
is, commonly, in fpring, of adunorafli colour, which
changes, in fummer, to a yellowifh brown, mixed wirh
black j and in winter, aflliming a darker fliade, be-
comes deep brown. Its forehead is brown : its cheeks,
chin, and throat, with the inner fides of the ears, are
white : a black line runs along the back : the belly is
yellowifh.

The chamois is one of the moil fprightly of ani-
mals. His fight, fmelling, and hearing, are amazingly
acute: his voice is hifling: he is eminently fwifr ; and
his fprightlinefs and timidity very often prompt him to
exercife his velocity. When a perfon approaches in
the direClion in which the wind blows, he diftinguifhes
him by the fcent even at the diftance of half a league.
He expreffes his fenfe of the danger by hifnng or whif-
tling with great violence, flriking the ground with his
feet, leaping, and looking eagerly about to difcover
the objed ot his fears i and at lafl: running off with all
the fpeed he can exert. The chamois are Ibcial ani-
mals, and feed together ; fometimes in pairs, and
fometimes in little flocks of from three to twenty in
number. A chamois, when affrighted, communicates
tl^e alarm to his fellows by whirling, with the biffing
voice peculiar to the fpecies. The males and females
feed in feparate parties, except in the rutting feafon.

The

I50 NATURAL H 1 S '1^ O RT

The chamois felecfts theliighefl flavoured herbs; and
even culls, with the nice appetite of an epicure, the
flowers and the tendereft buds of his fay'ourite plants.
He eats the carline thiftie and the genipay with great
eagernefs. Though rocks and precipices, and the fum-
mits of the loftieft mountains that aiford the ihrubs
and herbage in which he delights, are his favourite
haunts j yet in winter he often finds it neceiTary to de-
scend into the lower forefts, and to content himfelf with
pine-leaves, and fuch green or dry herb:s as be .can pro-
cure by fcratching away the fnow v/ith his feet.

The female chamois receives the male at the age o£
eighteen months : the feafon of love is in Odoberand
November; and the period of parturition confequent-
ly In March and April. The venerea! ardour of the
male chamois exceeds even that of the ibex : he bleats
eagerly, and runs wildly about fiom mountain to
mountain in queft of a miftrefs. Generally two, but
feldom three, young ones are produced by the female
at a birth.

The Alpine hunters carry on conftant war againft
the chamois. The chace is however dangerous ; as
the anirnal climbs over rocks, fprings from cliif to clifF,
runs.along the edges of precipices, and even leaps down
their faces with the greateft fafety and facility. The
horns of the chamois are ufed as heads to canes. His
fkin, when drefied, forms a firong fupple leather, ex-
cellent for riding-breeches, gloves, and v efts: his fleili
is a valuable article of food : his blood is efteemed a
fpeciiic againft pleurifies ; and the qualities of purifying
the blood and promoting perfpiration are afcribed to it.

The Alps of Dauphiny, Switzerland, and Italy; the
Pyren^ran mountains, Greece, Crete, and the moun-
tains of Caucafus and Taurus ; are all inhabited by the
cham.ois. The numbers of this fpecies are more con-
fidenible than thofe of the ibex fpecies. The chamois
docs not afcend fo near the fummits of the lofty m-oun-
tains which it inhabits as the ibex,

Ths

OF Q^UADRUPEDS, 15^

The blue ANTELOPE.

THIS animal, cknominated by fome the. blue goar,
and bv the Dutch colonifls in the fouth of Africa,
BJawe Bock> feems to occupy a fort of middle rank
between the goats and the antelopes. It is larger in
fize than any ordinary buck j its horns are fharp-
pointed, taper, arcuated, and reclined backwards : they
are twenty inches in length, and marked vith twenty
prominent rings, but fmooth tov/ards the points. The
hair of the body is long : the tail is i^y^w inches \\\
length ; and the hairs at the end of it {Q,ytr\ inches :
the colour of the hair, when the animal is alive, is a
beautiful glofTy. blue ; when dead, it takes a bluei/h
grey colour : the belly is white ; and, under each eye,
the face is marked with a large white fpot. This ani-
mal is a native of Africa, in the neighbourhood of the
Cape ; but feems to be confined within fome diftrids
at a confiderable diftance from that promontory.

The EGYPTIAN ANTELOPE.

THIS is the antelope oryx of Linnsus, the oryx: of
the ancients, the pafan of Buifon, and the gemfe bok
or chamois of the Dutch colonifts at the Cape of
Good Hope. The animals of this fpecies are of the
fame fize as our common domeftic he-goat 5 but in
figiu-e, colour, and agility, chiefly referable the flag.
The length of a fkin which Mr. Pennant examined,
was more than fix feet fix inches : the tail, which is
covered with long black hair, is, between the rump
and the end of the hairs, two feet fix inches long.

The belly, the rump, and the legs, are white ; but
each \tq^ is marked below the knee with a dufky fpot :
the reii of the body is grey or reddifh; except that a
black line runs alon^ the back : the horns are almofl
jperfedtly fbrait; of a biackifh colour; each about an
iucii and a half in diameter at the bafe, and diftiii-

I guillied

152 NATURAL HISTORY

gulfhed on the lower half by twenty or more promi-
nent wavy rings, the upper half fmooth, and tapering
into a iliarp point : the diftance between the points of
the horns is fourteen inches.

This animal is found in the neighbourhood of the
Cape. Sparman fuppofes it peculiar to the north-
weftern parts of the trad of country inhabited by the
Dutch colonifts. It is alfo an inhabitant of Syria,
Arabia, Perfia, India, Egypt, and Ethiopia. ]t is
fuppofed to be the zebi of the Holy Scriptures. Pliny
relates that the Egyptians had obferved this animal to
be particularly aii-eeted by the appearance of the dog-
frar. Another circunil-tance which he relates concern-
ing the oryx, fhews that his knowledge of it was very
imperfeft : he gravely tells us, that its hair, inilead
of pointing, like that of other animals, towards the tail,
lay in the contrary diredion. Mr. Paterfon informs
lis, from his own obiervation, that the horns of this
antelope are remarkably long and fharp ; and that,
when attacked by dogs, it defends itfelf fitting on its
hinder quarters.

The LEUCORYX.

TFIE leucoryx is of the fame (ize with a fmall ox
from Wales or the Highlands of Scotland. Its body
is thick and clumfy j its limbs rather more elegantly
formed ; its nofe thick and broad, like a cow's -, its
ears foniewhat douching j its horns long, ilender,
{lightly incurvated, annulated for a part of their length,
black, aiid terminating with iharp points. Its tail
reaches to the firlt joint, and ends with a tuft. The
body of this animal is almoft all over of a milk-white
colour j only the middle of the face, the fides of the
cheeks, and the limbs, are tinged with red. The ifland
of Gow Bahrein, in the gulph of Baflbra, is the native
region of the leucoryx. Mr. Pennant relates, from a
paper which he found in the Britifh muleum, that Shah

Sultahft

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 153

Sultahn Hoiifiein kept fome of this fpecies as curiofi-
ties, in a park, at the diflance of eight leagues from
his capital. A foflil horn from Siberia has beeii fuf-
pe(5ted by Dr. Pallas to have been produced on the
head of a leucoryx:. Oppian, as quoted by Pennant,
defcribes an animal under the name of oryx, which
feems to be no other but this antelope ; though his
defcription is more particular than any that the works
of modern naturalifts aiford of the leucoryx.

The ALGAZEL.

THIS is the antelope gazella of Linnaeus ; and
fome other naturalifts have charadcrifed it, by adding
to its name, an epithet, iignifying that it bears a be- ;
zoar. There appears to be a conliderable refemblance
both in fize and other particulars bet^veen the algazel
and leucoryx : but, the horns of the algazel, though
long, flender, and nearly upright, as well as the honis
of the leucoryx, differ from thofe of the latter animal,-
in being gently arched, not backwards, but towards
each other : they are always annulated ; but the ine-
qualities produced by the rings on the furface of the.
horn are lefs remarkable in fome than in others : the
breaft and the buttocks of this animal are wliite ; the
reft of its body is red.

India, Perfia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, are tlie countries
which produce the algazel. It is a gregarious animal.
Along a plain it moves ilowly 5 but climbs the fides of
hills with great vigour and velocity : it is e^ctremely.
Ihy and timid j yet, when taken alive, is eaftly tamed.
Autumn is its fcafon of love, and fpring Oi parturi-
tion. The oriental bezoar, a concretion once hignly
valued for its fuppofed medical qualities, ftrongly odo-
rous, and highly aromatic, was formerly thought to be
obtained only from this animal.. The bez,oar> how-,
ever, is at prefent regarded as a concretion, not pccuiia
Vol. Ui. No. 34. U ta

154 NATURAL HISTORY

to any one animal, but formed within many other ani-
mals of the Eaft, and even of Europe.

The elk -ANTELOPE.

THIS is the Indian antelope of Pennant; the cou-
dou of Buffon; and the eland of the Dutch colonifts
at the Cape of Good Hi.pe. From Sparrman we alfo
learn, that it is denominated by the Caffres, empofos
or poffo, and, by the Hottentots, t'pann. In fize and
fhape this animal bears fome refemblance to the elk.
The forehead of the elk- antelope is flat, and broad a-
bove the eyes j but from the eyes to the tip of the
nofe, becomes gradually narrower, till it terminates in
a Iharp point : the breall is furnifhed with a dewlap
covered with long hair : on the upper part of the fore-
head ftands a tuft of ered hairs : a thin ere6t mane
runs along the back, from the nape of the neck to the
origin of the tail : the ears are long and pointed :
though the body is of a thick robuft form, the legs are
Ilender and elegant: the height of the animal is com-
monly between five and fix feet : the horns are gene-
rally about two feQt long, of a dark brown colour,
having, each, from the bafe, for one- third of its length,
three fides, and three ridges or ribs feparating the
fides, with a fpiral wreath running over both the rid-
ges and the fides : from the termination of the ridges
and the fpiral wreath, the reft of the horn is round and
fmooth; both horns rife almoft in an upright diredion,
only their tops are flightly bent forwards : the hoofs
are ftiort, and furrounded, at their jun6l!on with the leg,
with a circle of black hairs : the tail does not reach to
the firfi: joint of the leg, but is t^^rminated with a tuft
of long black hairs j the fliort hair covering it is of an
afh-colour. The whole body, indeed, except the tuft
at the end of the tail, the flcin between the fetlocks
and hoofs, and the thin erev5t mane, is of a blueifh aih-
colour, tinged with red,

India^^

OF CtUADRUPEDS. 155

India, Congo, and the fouthern parts of Africa, are
the countries which afford thefe animals. Before
Sparrman, no natural hiftorian had given a defcription
of the elk- antelope from perfonal obfervation. That
enthufiaftic ftudent of nature had various opportuni-
ties, in his journey from the Cape into the interior
parts of Africa, both of examining the form and ap-
pearance, and of obferving the manners, of this fpecies.
They are gregarious j and are often (e^n in immenfe
herds in the extenfive plains on the confines of Caf-
fraria, norrh-weft from the Cape. The induftry of
the Dutch colonifts, who were accuftomed to hunt
them eagerly for their flefh, hides, and tallow, has al-
moft exterminated them from the diftri6ls lying nearer
that promontory. Though the elk- antelope affords
always a confiderable quantity of tallow, and is gene-
rally fat and bulky ; yet he is content with fuch a
moderate quantity of food as he can crop from jfhrubs
and bufhes, without requiring large quantities of grain
or grafs. When hunted, thefe animals always run, if
poffible, againfl: the wind, and will even face the hunter
rather than flee in a different diredion : their fatnefs
and heavinefs render it difficult for them to run long,
if hard purfued ; and, it is probable that they turn
their faces againfl the wind, when purfued, from find-
ing that in this diredion they become not fo foon in-
fufferably hot and breathlefs, as when their progrefs is
affifled by the force of the wind. Some of the hunters
pretend that they have ieen the elk-antelope, vvhen
fleeing with all fpeed before a purfuer, exfude from his
neck a bloody froth. Sometimes a mixture of melted
fat and blood is feen to gufh, on fimilar occafions,
from the noftrils of the panting anima^l. At other
times, even the younger and fleeter bucks are {qqii
to drop down dead, when their flrength is exhauiled
in flicrht.

The flefh of the elk- antelope is excellent food : it
is of a fine grain, very juicy, and talles deliciouAy :

U 2 tH

ts'6 NAT URAL H I ST OR Y

the breaft efpeciallvj is confiderecl as a great delicacy :
the fat of the heart is not only very copious, but fo
fine and tender as to be no bad fubftitute for butter:
the hide on the neck of the elk-antelope is very thick
Tind tough; and, next after that of the buffalo, makes
the beft traces for waggons, halters for oxen, field-
fh'oes, &c. Both the Hottentots and the Bofhies-
men ufe the horn of the elk, with wooden ftalks fitted
to them, for tobacco pipes 3 from which they gulp up
iarge draughts of fmoke with the moft eager avidity.

The harnessed ANTELOPE.

THIS fpecics is fcarcely inferior in fize to the elk-
antelope, though of a different fliape. Its legs, like
thofe of the other antelopes, are long and (lender ; its
neck rather long and round -, its forehead broad, and
fomewhat prominent; its ears broad ; its horns fitu-
ated almoft on the hinder part of the head, ilrait,
fpiral, and flattened fo as to have two angular fides ; its
tail ten inches in length, and covered with long fhaggy
•hair : the length of this animal, from the top of the
iiofe to the root of the tail, is about four teet and an
half; the height, from the heels of the hinder feet to
to the back, two feet eight inches : the hair, over the
whole body, is fhort and fmooth : the ears are bare
within.: the females have no horns.

The ground colour of tht body of this arimal is a
deep tawny. Beneath each eye, the face is marked
with a white fpot : on each fide the body difplays fix
tranfverfe and tvv-o longitudinal ftlij^es or bands, fo re-
gularly difpoled as to have the appearance of harnef-
ihyg : the thighs are marked with white fpots : the
<»heeks and the under part of the neck are white. This
-animal is v-ery common in Senegal. It is gregarious.
Lvirge herds ot harneiled ant. lopes are feen fpread
through the plains and woods of the country of Podor.
■It inhabits the South of Africa, in Zwellendam iu-vd

the

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. 157

the adjoining diftri(5ls nerr the Cape; but appears not
farther eaft than Zwellendam, in thofe regions, till you
reach the country of the Tambuki. The fiefli of the
harnelTed antelope is neither tender nor delicate.

The guinea ANTELOPE.

THIS name has been affixed by Mr. Pennant to
the animal which Buffon and Linnaeus diitinguifh by
the name of grimm, in honour of the gentleman who
firft defcribed it. It is of a more diminutive fize than
molt of thofe a-ntelopes which we have hitherto been
defcnbincT. It is about eighteen inches high: with
{lender legs j a confiderable length ot neck : rather a
fha^-p fnout ; its forehead fomewhat prominent ; large
ears ; dufky eyes, and under each a cavity into which
a ftrong-icented oily fluid is conftantly fecreted, and
there becomes concrete ; its horns, not three inches
long, {lightly annulated at the bafe, and tapering gra-
dually till they terminate each in a {harp point ; and be-
tween the horns a tuft of black hairs, which ferves as
one of the. moil: ilriking charaderiftics of the animal.
The females are deilitute of horns. The belly of this
•elegant animal is white ; its tail, wliich is fliort, white
beneath, atjd black above 3 the reft of the body of a
yellowiili brown colour.

Guinea is confidered as the country of this fpecics.
Jt is chiefly from Guinea that the few individuals which
•have been feen in Europe have been procured. But
Dr. Sparrman, in his voyage to the Cape, mentions
•three different animals; the il:eenbok, the gryfbok,
and the kjipfpringer, ail bearing fom.e refem.blance
of charader to the grimm, or Guinea antelope: and,
it they are not. all varieties of this fpecies, fome one of
them may probably be the very fame. But. Dr. Sparr-
nian did not find it convenient to examine thefe ani-
i7iaLs with fuch accuracy as could enable him to deciJe
•tonccrmng their character, or to defcribe them with fuf-

I flcient

158 NATURAL HISTORY

ficient exaftneis : they abound, however, in the neigh-
bourhood of the Cape.

The royal ANTELOPE.

THIS little creature, denominated by BufFon, le
chevrotain de Guinea, and by Bofman, king of the
harts, muil: furely have received the latter appellation,
as well as that of royal antelope, by way of irony j for
it feems merely an antelope in miniature. It is only
about nine inches high ; its legs are not thicker than a
goofe quill ; the male has fmall, ftrait, black, horns,
fmooth, fhining as jet, and only two inches long; but
the female is hornlefs : the ears are broad ; the legs
are long in proportion to the lize of the body, and
very (lender : the hoofs are divided ; the horns are
annulated -, and the number of rings on a horn denotes
the years of the age of the individual to which it be-
longs. The colour of this little creature is chiefly a
reddifli brown; but the belly is w^hite: and the tail,
which, though fhort, is covered with pretty long hair,
partly yellow, partly red, and partly white.

It is amazingly fwift; it fprings readily over walls
twelve feet high, climbs the lofrieft mountains, and is
never caught without the greateft difficulty ; yet, when
taken, and familiarized to mankind, it becomes very
tame and mild. It is a native of Senegal, and the
other hot regions of Africa; and {iich is the tender-
nefs of its conftitution, that it can fcarcely bear tran-
sportation, and does not thrive in our cold European
climates. It is called by the Hottentots noumetjes ;
it utters a long, Ihrill, warbling, cry, amazingly loud
for fo diminutive an animal. Its flefh is one of the
mofl: exquifite dehcacies that can appear on the table of
the epicure.

The

OF QUADRUPEDS. 159

The INDOSTAN ANTELOPE.

THE moft remarkable peculiarities of this antelope
are horns bending forwards, a mane on the neck, a
bunch on the back, and a long bufhy tail. It is the
biggel of Mandelfloe in his travels, and is defcribed by
Dr. Parfcns in the Phiiofophical Tranfadions, as a
quadruped brought from Bengal. It is about five feet
high : the hair covering the body is fliort, foft, and of
an a{h colour : the tail is two and twenty, and the
horns feven, inches in length. It is furnifned with a
dewlap on the lov/er part of the breaft, like a bull :
the legs are of an elegant flender form : the neck re-
fembles that of the camel. This animal is an inha-
bitant of the moft remote parts of the Mogul's domi-
nions in India: it is a ruminating animal. It lies
down and rifes like the camel. Its voice is of a harfh
croaking found.

The WHITE-FOOTED ANTELOPE.

THE horns of this animal are fhort, and inclined
forwards j it is furnifhed with a mane extending along
the neck, and half way dawn the backj its tail is long
and bufhy ; the male is marked immediately above
the hoofs with one white fpot on each of the fore, and
two on each of the hinder, feet : the body is of a dark
grey colour j the ears are large, and ftriped with black j
the mane is black, and a tuft of long black hairs hangs
down the fore part of the neck : the female of this
fpecies is deftitute of horns, and has her feet marked
immediately above the hoors, with three black, and
two white, bands. This antelope meafures, at the top
of the fhoulders, four feet and one inch in height, and,
from the lower end of the neck to the anusj four feet
id length.

This

i6o NATURAL FIISTORY

This fpecies, like the preceding, are native inJiabr-
tants only of the remote parts of India : they exift
both in a wild and tame ftate. In a domeftic ftafe,
they refufe not oats, but prefer grals and hay, and eat
wheaten bread with great fondnefs. Even in confine-
ment, however, their manners are not aniformlv mild:
they fometimes run with fudden fury againft fich as
approach them, and often attack each other wfth ama-
zing cunning and impetuoilty. The males, in fighting,
are accuilomed to drop on their knees at a diftance ;
to approach in that attitude; and, when near, to fpring
on each other with the utmoft violence. In the reism
of Aureng Zebe, they were numerous between Delit
and Labor, on the way to Cachemire. That monarch
ufed frequently to purfue them in the chafe. An army
of hunters furrounded the fpace in which the animals
-were feeding, with nets j Vv'hich were drawn ftfl! clofer
nnd clofrr, till they were at length confined within a
narrow precinft. The monarch and his coortiers thert
entered the circle, and, attacking the ajitelopes with
arrov/s, fpears, or niufkets, ni-ade o-ffen fo prodigious
a fiaughter,^ that the carcafes were (cnt as prefents ta
t'he great men throaghoiit all parts of the empire. la
confeqnence of our connexions with India, animals of
this fpecies have been often ' imported' into England,
and have even copulated and produced young here.
Two young ones are fometime produced at a birth ;
and the period of geftation is believed to be nine
months.

The swift ANTELOPE.

THIS animal is chiefly diitinguifbed by having the
extremities of its horns bent forwards in the fame man-
ner as thofe of the cba iiois Bend backward. -The
ground 'colour cf its body is tawny ; but the belly, the
lower part of the fides, the rump, and the thighs, are
of a pure white : the fore part of the neck is alia

mark;ed

Batf ttalp

nnN

FuiTi^hsd ^4prt/i^ 1 8ffO .

OF QJJADRUPEDS. i6i

marked with a milk-white fpot. The individuals of
the fpecies, however, are not all uniformly coloured.
The horns are eight inches in length, black and round :
the length of the body is commonly about four feet ;
and its height approaches to three : both fexes have
horns. Senegal is the native country of this fpecies :
they are timid and gentle, eafily tamed, but fo ama-
.zingly fwift, that they feem to need neither defenfive
weapons nor ferocity of manners to proted them from
the tyranny of mankind. The velocity of their flight
has been compared by iElian to the awful impetuofity
of a whirlwind.

The red ANTELOPE.

THIS animal refembles the roebuck in fize. It is
•about four feet in length, and in height two feet three
inches : it horns are five inches and a half long, almofl:
fmooth, — only with one or two flight rings at the bafe,
and bent forwards at the point, but not fo much as
thofe of the Nanguer : its body is all over of a pale
red colour ; its ears are longer than its horns. This
fpecies is peculiar to Africa. They abound In the
country of Senegal, and in the neighbourhood of the
Cape. Sparrman confiders the fteenbock as a variety
balonging to this fpecies, diftinguiflied by a white fpot
over the eyes.

The STRIPED ANTELOPE.

THIS animal, the koedoe of the Dutch colonifts
at the Cape of Good Hope, the condoma of M. de
Buffbn, and, from the form of its horns, the ftrepfl-
ceros of fome other writers, is of a beautiful tall
figure, with long flender flianks ; and, though of a
lefs clumfy and heavy form, larger than the elk ante-
lope. The male koedoe is diftinguiflied by large fpi-
ral horns, with a ridge following the wreath, compref-
fed fideways, confifting of three flexures, and nieafu-

VoL. III. No. 2^, X ring

i62 NATURAL HI S T O R'Y

rtng often between four and five feet : the female Is
deftltute of horns. The body of the animal is com-
monly nine feet long, and four in height: its predo-
minant colour is a rufty brown ; the face Is marked
"with two white lines originating one from the corner of
each eye : a browni/h white ftripe extends along the
ridge of the back : eight or nine white ftripes run
down the fides : the pofterior part of the belly, with
the fore part of the hinder leg,, are alfo white : a fliort
mane adorns the upper part of the neck : a few long
hairs hangs between the throat and the breaft : the tail
is brown above, white beneath, and two feet in length.
The mouth of the koedoe is furnifiied with cartilagi-
nous procefies refembling tufks.

This fpecies inhabit the fouth of Africa : they are
well known to the Dutch colonifts at the Cape of Good
Hope, and have not efcaped the notice of the curious
travellers from'Europe who have vlfited that region.
Shrubs and low bufhes afford their favourite food.
Though their fornf feems to promlfe agility and fpeed,
yet they are faid to run flowly, and to become foon fa-
tigued. No other antelope is fo eafily overtaken by
the hounds : but, when the foe approaches, the male
turns, and bravely defends himfelf with his horns :
the female, though not furnlfiied with thefe weapons
of defence, is not fwlfter than the male. The fiefh is
excellent food, the marrow delicious.

The common ANTELOPE.

THIS denomination is adopted from Pennant for
the antilope cervica-pra of Llnnieus, and the antelope of
•Buffon; becaufe this fpecies has been mo ft frequently,
and for the longeft fpace of time, diftlnguifhed by na-
turalifts, at leaft in Britain, as belonging to the genus
of antelopes. The animals of this fpecies are fome-
what Inferior In fize to the fallow-deer. The general
colour of their body is a duflvy brown, mixed with red :

the

IhU tUtin.'

.V/^' r> '//^/rA>///' ^

Zfn./.'ti liiH'.'llr<t- Its- th-t Act ^,'rrr/j- l'.' IVrr '. i / t) l^ .

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 163

the belly and the infide of the thighs are white : the
orbits of the eye are likewife white /and a white fpot
marks each fide of the forhead : the horns are about
fourteen inches long, marked with diftind rings nearly
to the points, and bended, by a double flexure, into a
form refembling that of the ancient lyre. The females
are without horns-

Barbary and India are the regions which this fpecies
is known chiefly to inhabit. The female goes nine
months with young, and produces only one at a birth.
Bengal, as we learn from travellers, ajfFords a variety
of this fpecies, the horns of which re'fembie thofe of
the common antelope of Barbary -, but its face, back^^
and fides, are of a very deep brown colour; its belly
and the infide of its legs are white ; its tail is black
above and white beneath ; and its fize fuperior to that
of the laft variety. Mr. Pennant diftinguiflies this ani-
mal by the epithet brown, and conjedures that it may
be the fame with the lidmee of Barbary, mentioned by
Dr. Shaw in his travels.

In the cabinet of the Marquis de Marigny, in the
mufeum that was lately Sir Afhton Lever's, and in
Mr. Pennant's cabinet of natural curiofities, there are
feveral horns which appear to have belonged to a third
variety of this fpecies : they are of a fpiral form, but
fmooth and black : two ai:e joined in a parallel direc-
tion, with the points turned different ways ; and wc
iearn, that, joiiied in this manner, thefe horns are car-
ried by the fakirs and fantons in India, as a fort of
weapon, and an enfign of dignity.

This animal loves the fmoke of tobacco; and, when
caught alive, will approach the pipe of the huntfman,
though otherwife more timid than any other animal.
This is perhaps the only creature, befides man, that
delights in the fmeil of a poifonous andftinking plant.
The Arabians hunt it with a falcon. 1 had an excellent
opportunity, fays Haflelquiil:, of feeing this fport near
l^azavcth in Galilee. An Arab, mounted on a fwifc

?^ 2 , qourfer^

i64 NATURAL HISTORY

courfcr, held the falcon in his hand, as huntfmen com-
monly do : when he efpied the rock -goat on the top
of a mountain, he let loofe the falcon, which flew in a
diredt line like an arrow, and attacked the animal ; fix-
ing the talons of one of his feet into the cheek of the
creature, and the other into its throat, extending his
wings obliquely over the animal ; fpreading one to-
wards one of its ears, and the other to the oppofite
hip. The animal, thus attacked, made a leap twice
the height of a man, and freed himfelf from the fal-
con ; but being wounded, and lofing his ftrength and
fpeed, he was again attacked by the falcon ; which
fixed the talons of both its feet into the throat of the
animal, and held it fafl: tJl the huntfman, coming up,
took it alive, and cut its throat j the falcon drinking
the blood as a reward for his labour. A young falcon
which was learning, was likewife put to the throat of
the bleeding animal: by this means are young falcons
taught to fix their talons in the throat of the animal, as
being the propereft part; for fhould the falcon fix
them in the creature's hip, or fome other part of the
body, the huntfman would not only lofe his game, but
his falcon alfo : for the animal, roufed by the wound,
which could not prove mortal, would run to the de-
ferts and the tops of the mountains, whither its enemy,
keeping its hold, would be obliged to follow; and, be-
ing feparated from its mafter, muft of courfe perifli.

The BARBARY ANTELOPE.

THIS fpecies, the gazelle of BufFon, are diftin-
guifhed by horns about a foot in length, fir ft recHning
backwards, then bending in the middle, and revert-
ing forwards, annulated with about thirteen rings, —
of which thofe neared the ba^e encircle the whole horns,
but thofe approaching to the point are only half rings,
and alfo furrowed longitudinally. In fiz^ and figure
thefe animals nearly refemble the roebuck. The co-
lour

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 165

lour of the upper part of the body is a reddifh brown •;
the buttocks and the lov/cr parts are white : a llronar
dufky line divides the brown from the white : each
knee is furnifhed with a tuft of a hair: the tail is black
above, and white beneath. This fpecies are grega-
rious. In Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, and Syria, they
are feen in numerous herds. The Barbary antelope is,
moTi: probably, the dorcas of ^lian, and the difchon
of Mofts.

The K E V E L.

THIS is the flat-horned antelope of Pennant; and
the kevel of mcft other writers. Its horns are, like
thofe of the laft fpecies, marked with rings, from four-
teen to eighteen in number; but, inftead of beincr
round, they are flattened on the fides. It is equal in
fize only to a fmall roebuck. In other refpedls, it
bears an exafl refemblance to the antelope of Barbary.
Both females and males are furnifhed with horns.
Thefe animals are known for inhabitants both of Se-
negal and of Perfia : tliey herd together, and areeafily
domefticated : their flefh is juicy, and of a very ao-iee-
able rehfh. The Perfian name is dfhairan.

The SPRINGER.

THE horns of this fpecies are feven inches lonj?, of
a deep black colour, annulated near the bafe, but
fmooth towards the poijits, for more than one-half
of their length : they rife from the bafe, almoft in an
upright diredlion ; but, as rhey advance, bend gently
towards the fides ; forming, each, with more than the
upper half of its length, a beautiful curve : the horns
of the two fexes are limilar both in fize and fhape : the
ears are flx inches and a half, in length : the whole
length of the animal, from the nofe, is but very little
nioie ihan four feet '.' the tail is fomev/hat lefs than a
foot Ijng, and towards the extremity very flender, an4

covered

i66 NATURAL HISTORY.

covered with a few dark brown hairs, from one to two
inches and an half in length: the eyes of this antelope
are* highly beautiful ; but the face is not marked with
pGri ceriferi under them. Brown is the predominant
colour of the body of this animal : the face, the beily,
and the rump, are white : a white lift, which the ani-
mal can expand at pleafure, extends from the tail half
way up the back : the lighter brown of the neck and
iides is feparated from the white parts of the body by
thrown ilripes of a much deeper fhade: the ears are
aHi-coloured, and partly covered with very fi:jort hairs,
paitly bare.

Thefe antelopes are inhabitants of Africa. In fea-
fbns of extreme drought, they advance from the north-
ern interior parts of that continent towards the Dutch
iettlements, and proceed ftrait forwards till they pene-
trate to the fea. When their progrefs is ftopped by
this barrier, they return by the fame road : they jour-
ney In immenfe herds. Dr. Sparrman fhot ojie of a
Jhei-d of about two thoufand, that came ali to drink at
the fame well. Mr, Vaillant, on his return from vi-
iiting the Gonaquois and thz CafFres, to the Cape, tra-
vel!^ a while m the middle of a herd of thefe animals,
migi-ating m fearch of water and cool fhelter; the
Kumber of which he eilin^ates at much more than fifty
thoufand. He, with his dogs, oxen, caniages, and
attendants, travelled in the midft of the herd, without
c-iviniT them any a!?.rm. He fhot amon? them and
killed three, without (catteri^rg the reft. So peaceable,
fo infeniible to danger, is thefpecies, or {b difficult is it
for individuals wedged into fa immenfe, unwieldy, a
herd, to fave themfelves by flight. Hyasnas, lions,
and other bcalrs of prey, attend them on their march,,
and thin their numbers with eager rapacity. The Hot-
tentots call them the lion's flock of fheep.

The form of the fpringer is remarkably elegant. Its
manners are mild and playful : it runs with confider-
able velocity J and its race is frec^uently interrupted

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 167

by a bound, to the elevation of perhaps two yards.
At that height, the animal feems to fufpend itfelf for
a few moments in the air ; fometimcs expands the
white lift on its back, and by drooping its head, and
gathei-ing its feet together, raifes that part into a con-
vex form ; and, at other times, deprefilng its belly,
finks it back into a concavity, till the rump and the
neck aimoft meet. It would appear that the emigra-
tions of the fprlngers are not regularly periodical.
They forfake traces of country which are deiblated by
drought, or which they have bared of herbage, for
others where they may find water and pafture. Ac-
cording to Dr. Sparrman's account, they are quickly
difperfed before the purfuer, when alTembled in mo-
derate herds. Their fiefh is juicy, and of a good tafte.
It appears that there are different varieties of this
fpecies. Sparrman relates, that the horns are fome-
times reclined backwards, fometimes bent forward^^'.
^r. Pennant's white-faced antelope, which he dc-
•fcribes, from a fpecimen in the Leverian Mufeum, as a
feparate fpecies, differs fo very little from the fpringer
in fize and colours, and refembles it (o exaftly in ihapc:,
that we cannot view it as any other than a variety of
this fpecies.

The CHINESE ANTELOPE.

THIS fpecies, the tzeiran of Buffon, the yellow
goat of Du Halde, in his account of China, caHed by
the Mongals dferen, by the Ghinefe hoang yang, and
v;hang yang, are diftinguifhed by yellow annulated
horns, nine inches long, diverging much near the
points ; but having thefe turned towards each other.
The body is nearly four feet and an half long, and in
heigrht two feet and an half: the head is of a thick

O

form, and the nofe blunt, and convex above: the ears
2.re fmall and fbarp-pointed : the ftrufture of the wind-
pipe forms a remarkable protuberance on the neck ;
I " the

i68 NATURAL HISTORY

the pits in the groin are uncommonly large : the tail is
fnort : the females are deftitute of horns. From the
beginning of May, the period at which the animal
changes its coat, the hair continues, through fummer,
fhort, clofe, and tawny : as winter advances, it be-
comes long, rough, and hoary.

Thefe animals abound in the deferts inhabited by
the Mongal Tartars, and through all the wide tradl of
country between I'hibet and China. They are like-
wife among the animals hunted by the Buratti, and are
fpread through the country between Tangut and the
borders of India : they affociate in herds : low rocky
hills and dry funny plains are their favourite haunts':
they feled the fweeter plants : they avoid woods and
wate'' with the mod fearful folicitude. In running and
leaping they exhibit amazing agility, and are almoft in-
defatigable. When taken young they are eafily tamed:
the young are produced fo late in the feafon as in the
month of June : they are not lefs watchful of thei^
fafety than fwift : but, notwithil^mding their vigilance
and velocity, they efcape not the Mongal hunters.
They fpy out the herd from an eminence, furround
' them fecretly, and eafily fhoot them attempting to
efcape. When one of the herd breaks through, all his
companions follow in a fingle line ; whatever the ob-
ftacles which oppofed their paffage; however certain
the dangers into which they run. The hunters ufe a
ibrt of whizzing arrows with broad heads, and having a
round piece of bone, with holes upon the fliaft; the noife
of which contributes much to ftupify and confound the
animals.

The saiga.

^ SAIGA is a denomination much more frequently
applied to this fpecies than Scythian antelope, the name
adopted by Pennant. Linnasus and Buffon agree in
ufmg it. Tliefe animals have fenii-pellucid horns, of
a pale yellow colour, about eleven inches long, and an-

nulated

OF QUADRUPEDS. 169

nukted for the greater part of their length, but fmo,oth
at the points. In the figure and fize of its body, the
faiga bears a great refemblance to our domeftic goat :
its'head is rather large ; its nofe is very cartilaginous,
thick, and arched, and rifes nearly to the eyes : the ears
are fmall : the neck {lender, but prominent above the
throat. In fummer the hair on the back and (ides is
fhort and clofe; its colour grey mixed with yellow; but
the inferior part of the neck, and the body, white. In
'winter, the hair becomes long, rough, and hoary : the
knees are tufted : the tail is four inches long, and naked
below, but clothed above withered haiys, terminating
in a tuft : the females are without horns: the male has
fometimes three, and fomxCtimes, but very rarely,^ one.

Thefe animals inhabit the regions included in the
ancient Scythia ; from the Danube and Dnieper to the
banks of the Irtiihi through Poland, Moldavia, and
the leiTcr Ruffia ; on the fhores of the Euxine and Caf-
pian feas, on the banks of the lake Aral, and of the
river Volga. They feed in herds ; they copulate in
the end of November ; and, during the feafon of love,
the male is bold and faithful in defence of the female :
the period of parturition is between the beginning and
the middle of May. Never more than one is pro-
duced at a birth. Sunny plains, abounding in fait
fprings and acrid aromatic plants, are their favour-
ite haunts. In fummer they feed in the more
northern parts of that extenfive trafl of country
through which they are fpread. In the rutting feafon,
in the end of autiamn, they migrate fouthward. In
their progrefs into the fouthern defcrts, they join in
vafl: herds. Returning northward in tlie fpring, they
divide into fmall parties. They very feldom h^d
alone ; the males feeding promifcuoufly with the fe-
males and their young: they readily lie down all at.
fame time; but, by a providential inflinft, ibme are
always keeping watch; and, when they are tjred, they
f^emingly give notice to fuch ns have t^ken their rdr.
Vol.. III. No, 35. Y who

170 NATURAL HISTORY

who arife inftantly. and as it were relieve the centl-
neJs of the preceding hours. They thus often pre-
ferve themfelves from the attack of wolves, and from
the furprife of the huntfmen. They are exceffively
fwift, and will outrun the fleeteft horfe or grey-hound ;
yet partly through fear, and partly by the fhortnefs
of their breath, they are very foon taken. If they are
but bit by a dog, they inflantly fall down, nor will
they even offer to rife. In running they feem to in-
cline on one fide, and their courfe is fo rapid that their
feet feem fcarcely to touch the ground. In a wild ftate
they feem to have no voice. When brought up tame,
the young emit a Ihort fort of bleating, hke iheep.
The males are moft libidinous animals : the Tartars,
■who have fufficient time to obferve them, report that
they will copulate twenty times together: and that this
ability arifes from their feeding on a certain herb,
which has moft invigorating powers. When taken
young, they may eafiiy be made tame; but, if caught
when at full age, are fo wild and fo obftinate as to re-
fufe all food. When they die, their nofes are quite
flaccid. They are hunted for the fake of their flefh,
horns, and fkins, which are excellent for gloves, belts,
&c. The huntfmen always approach them againft the
wind, left they ftiould fmell their enemy ; they alfo
avoid putting on red or white clothes, or any colours
which might attrad their notice. They are either ftiot,
or taken by dogs ; or by the black eagle, which is
trained to this fpecies of falconry : their beft feafon is
in September : at other times, the &ins are penetrated
by worms : the fat refembles that of mutton j in tafte,
like that of a buck: the head is reckoned the moft de-
licate part.

The Saiga is fjppofed to be the kolos of Strabo,
which he defcribes as white and fwift, and of an inter-,
mediate fize between a ftacr and a ram.

1 The

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 171

The C O R I N E.

THIS fpecies have very flender horns, not marked
with rings, but with circular rugre. In fize they are
fmaller than the roebuck: the neck, the body, and the
flanks, are tawny ; the belly and the infide of the
thigh white, and feparated from the thighs by a dark
line : the ears are large : a white, and beneath it a
black line, marks each fide of the face : the. knees are
furnifhed with tufts of hairs. Senegal is the country
of this animal. Its colour, its velocity in running, and
agility in leaping, have induced fome naturalifts to
fufpedl that it might be the female of the kevei or
flat-horned antelope. But its horns are remarkably
different from thofe of that fpecies.

The cervine ANTELOPE.

THE animal to which we have adopted from Pen-
nant the name of cervine antelope, is the bubalus of
the ancients, and the hartebeefl: of the Dutch at the
Cape of Good Hope. The horns of this antelope
rife almoft from one bafe, and, widening as they ad-
vance, bend, firft forwards, and then, after rifing for a
confiderable length almoft in an upright direction,
turn their points backward : meafured along the ex-
terior curvature, they are from fix to nine inches in
length : they are annulated nearly to the points ; en-
tirely of a deep black colour ; and common to both
fexes.

The hartebeeft is fomewhat above four feet in
height : a cinnamon colour predominates over its body :
the forehead is covered with black and brown hairs in-
termixed : a broad black ftreak extends over the hinder
parts of the haunch, down the thigh, as far as to the
knee: the anterior parts of both the fore and the hinder
legs are alfo marked with black : two narrow ftripes
of the fame colour rife one behind each ear, and run

Y 2 nearly

\yi N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

neaHy together along the ridge of the back : the^cji
ceriferi under the eyes are exceedingly fmall : the face
exhibits at leaft the rudiments of a beard and whifkers:
the tail reaches nearly to the joint of the leg ; it is co-
vered with long briftly hairs, but does not terminate in
a tuft : the leos are of the fame {lender and eleg-ant
form as thofe of the other antelopes : the buttocks are
finely rounded : the ears are afinine : the head is large,
ahd the forehead high. The animal has no teeth in
the upper, and only eight in the lower, jaw.

This fpecies are natives of Africa, Naturalifts have
become acquainted with them in Barbary, and in the
Jieighboiirhood of the Cape. The ancient Romans,
who ranfacked almoft every foreft and range of moun-
tains through the known world, for wild beafts to ex-
hibit in the Circus, were not ftrangers to this animal.
Pliny mentions the bubalus as an inhabitant of Africa,
and as fbmewhat between a calf and a flag in form.
The fame animal feems to be a native of Arabia. Tra-
vellers tell, that its young are eafily tamed, and affociate
readily with other cattle. The Arabian name is ba-
kar uafch, or bekker el walfh. The inhabitants at the
Cape are familiarly acquainted with thefe antelopes.
They have not indeed attempted to domefticate them;
but they often purfue and ihoot them in the chace.
^erds of hartebeefts range through all the diftrids in
which the Dutch colonics are fettled. Sometimes a
fblitary individual or a fmgle pair are met with. Even
at its full fpeed, the hartebeeft feems to gallop v/ith a
h-avy pace : yet, its motion is not flower than that of
any other of the large antelopes. When purfued, it
o'ten turns and gazes on its purfuer. Fighting, it
drcps on its knees like the gnu, in order to rufh on
it> antagonift with the greater impetuoiity. Its flefh
is fomewhat dry, but of a fine grain, and of an agree-
ab'e high flavour. The Dutch colonics make hand-
iome fpoons of its liorns. The cerumen which oozes

from

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 173

from Its port ceriferi, is efteemed by the Hottentots as
a rare and excellent medicine.

The KOB, or GAMBIAN ANTELOPE.

THIS fpecies bears a confiderable refembiance in
/hapeand colours to what we have coniidcred as a fe-
cond variety oF the laft fpecies. Its horns are thirteen
inches long, and annulated with eight or nine rings,
but Imooth at the points. Its fize is equal to that of the
fallow-deer : its fore legs have the knees prote<^led by
a covering of long hairs. It is an inhabitant of Gam-
bia and Senegal in Africa : one of the moft timid ani-
niaJs of the kind: when purfued, it hefitates not to
throw itfelf down rocks and precipices.

^The BOSCH-BOCK, or WOOD-ANTELOPE.

THIS animal is fomewhat more than two feet and
an half in height ; its body apparently more bulky in
proportion to its height than the bodies of the other
antelopes s its back is ftrait ; its buttocks not round-
ed ; a perpendicular line might be dropped between
the origin of the tail and the hoof of the hinder feet: a
narrow line of long white hairs, forming a flight mane,
extends along the neck, the back, and even the tail :
fhe predominant colour of the body is a dark brown ;
the flioulders and a part of the fore ribs are of a ftill
darker brov^n than the reft of the body : the ears are
five inches long, and without, of a foot-colour, but on
the infide grey : the haunches and the fides are marked
each with about nine or twelve white fpots : the belly
is marked with two large fpots; one immediately be-
hiud the fore, the other immediately before the hinder,
legs : another white fpot diftinguifhes the lower part
of the neck : the fore legs are v/hite from the knees
to the patterns : like other antelopes, the bofch-bock
iias iore-teeth only in the lov/er jaw : its horns are
hlack^ o/a tiiangular yet fpiral form, roughened at the

bottom

174 NATURAL HISTORY

bottom by an infinite number of wavy rings, conical

and fharp at the points,— -and have the extremities

fometimes light coloured and tranfparent : they are a-

bout ten inches in length, extend upwards almoft in a

Hne with the forehead, but recede a little backwards

and from each other at the middle, and then turn the

points gently forwards: the female has no horns: the

ikin of an animal of this fpecies meafured, from the

horns to the rump, four ftct -, and, from the top of the

back to the hoof, thirty-three inches. Thefe animals

are' knovv'n to inhabit the forefts of Groot, Vader-

bofch, Houtniquas-bofch, and perhaps Sitfikamma

near the Cape of Good Hope. They avoid hills and

open plains, and confine themfelves to woods and

groves.

The cry of the bofch-bock refembles the fhort, low,
hoarfe, interrupted, growlings of a dog or tiger. Ic
frequently ravages vineyards and kitchen gardens : it
difcovers great fagacity and addrefs in avoiding the
fnares, traps, and ambufcades, laid for it. Dr. Sparr-
man relates, that he watched a whole night in a vine-
yard which was vifited by bofch-bocks ; but the ani-
mals, though they feemed to have made their ufual
evening meal on the vines, efcaped undifcovered. This
creature runs fo ilowly, that the dogs fometimes over-
take him: but he generally fells his life dear. When
he perceives it impoffible to efcape by flight, he turns
upon his purfuers, kneels down, that he may butt with
greater impetuofity, and generally kills or gores the
heft and boldeft of the dogs. His horns, though his
chief inftrument of defence, are fometimes entangled
among bufhes and low branches of trees, and thus
prove fatal to him, by flopping his flight, till his ene-
mies furround him. To avoid this, he elevates his
nofe as he runs, and reclines his horns on his neck. In
woodlands, however, experience enables him to make
his way with fo much more dexterity and fpeed than
dogs, that they generally lofe fcent of him in a fhort

time.

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 175

time. The female, being deftitute of horns, runs with
more fecurlty in woods and forefts than the male: fhe
never therefore leaves the woods to make her efcape
through the plain ; and, being of a lighter form than
the male, dogs are feldom able to furprife or overtake
her. The bofch-bock is monogamous.

'to'

CERVUS, the DEER, of the Order PECORA.

THE diftinguifhing chara(51erifl:ics of this genus of
quadrupeds are the following ; the horns are
folid, brittle, covered with a hairy /kin, and growing
from the top ; they likewife fall off, and are annually
renewed : they have eight cutting teeth in the infe-
rior, but none in the upper jaw j and they have no
dog-teeth. Did we not confide in the wifdom of the
great Author of nature, we might be tempted to cen-
fure the form of their horns as awkward and inconve-
nient. Sometimes they fpread into broad palms,
which fend out fharp fnags around their outer edcres ;
fometimes thev divide fantaftically into various branch-
es, part of which projedl: over the front, while others
are reared upwards in the air; and fometimes they are
fo reclined backwards, that the animal feems almofi:
forced to bear its head in a ftiff and ered pofture^
yet, they communicate an air of grandeur and magni-
ficence ; appearing like growing trees planted on the
head of a living animal. The cervi^s family are to be
found amid the dreary forces, the eternal fnows, the
bleak mountains, and the barren wilds, of the arclic
world. Tiiey are more numerous in Europe and A-
merica, than in the other diviilons of the globe. A
warm temperature feems equally unpropitious to the
nobler fpecies of the deer, as a cold temperature does
to the antelope. There are a great variety of thefe
animals, ot which the following are the particulars ;

The

176 NATURAL HISTORY

f H E E L K.

THIS animal exhibits a ftately but awkward form;
vuft length of legs ; a fquare body of difproportionate
bulk J a Ihort tailj fhoulders fomewhat elevateds a
long projecfting fnout, furrowed in the middle, with
■wide noftrils; a fhort neck.; a mane almoft ere6t, ex-
tending along the neck and fhoulders j a fmsll excre-
fcence under the throat, with a tuft of hair hanging
from it ; long, touching, afinine, ears ; and horns with
brow antlers, bat v/ith fhort beams fpreading into
broad palms, which are on the inner. fide plain, but,
' on the exterior fide, furnifned with fh.irp fnags : the
female, wanting horns, appears, i^ill more than the
male, though of a fmaller fize, a mere awkward bulk,
without dignity, and without animation •. thegreateft
heightof theeik is feventeen hands ; his greateft weight
one thoufand two hundred and twenty- nine pounds.
Mr. Penqant informs us that hehasfeen, in the houfe
of the Hudfon's-bay company, a pair of elk's horns,
thirty-two inches long, ^nd fifty-fix pounds in weight.
A hoary brown is the general colour of the body
of this animal; his mane is light brown; his tail is
dulky above, white beneath. Europe, Afia, and A-
jnerica, all afford this fpecies : th?y were not unknown
to the ancient Romans. Cssfir mentions the alee as
an inhabitant of the Hercytiian foreit ; larger than the
roebuck; deilitute of horns; without joints in its
legs; and incapable of lying down on the ground, or
of refting in any other manner than by reclining a-
gainft a tree. The hunter, he tells us, ufed to obferve
the haunts to which the alces reforted ; and to cut the
trees againft which they were accuflomed to [e:^..n-^ al-
moft through, leaving them {landing, but infufficient
to fupport any weight. W hen the alee returned to.
reft, the tree gave way ; and he, falling with it to the
ground, became an eafy prey to his artful enemy,

SomQ

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 177

Some of thefe particulars are referable only to the fe-
male elk ; others are abfolutely fibulous : but Ca;far's
opportunities of information were partial 5 and the ac-
tual appearance and real economy of the animal might
eafily enough give rife to the fibulous part of his rela-
tion. Pliny repeats the information communicated by
Ca;far, but renders the hirtory of the animal more per-
plexed by new fables, and by an unneceiTary variety
of names.

On the old continent, the elk is at prefent knov/n
for an inhabitant of Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Po-
land, Rufiia, Siberia, and Tartary, as far as the north
of China. In the new world, this fpecies inhabit the
ide of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the weftern ftdQ of
the bay of Fundy, Canada, and tlie countr}' round the
great lakes, almoll as far as {buth as the river Ohio.
They avoid the plains and open country, and confine
themfelves to the forefls : the length of their legs, tliQ
ihortnefs of their neck, and the difproportionable
largenefs of their upper lip, rendering k extremely dif-
ficult, or perhaps irnpoffible, for them to graze on the
ground, they brouze the boughs of trees, or wade into
lakes and rivers in fearch of water plants.. The ftink-
in or bean trefoil is with them a favourite herb; thev
dig through the fnow with their hoofs to find it. The
ancients tell, thar, to avoid entangling his upper lip
between his teeth, the elk is obliged to move backward
as he feeds. But modern anatomiils have difcovered,
that nature has provided againil his fuffering this in-
convenience, by the largenefs and ftrength of the
mufcies deftined to raife the upper lip. The articula-
tions of his legs are fo clofely embraced with ligaments,
that they cannot be very fupple or pliant : the oltac-
tory nerves in the brain of the elk are larger than in
other animals; and his powers of fmelling are proba-
bly peculiarly exquifite.

The motion of thefe animals is a high Inambling
trot, amazingly fwift: to avoid entangling their horns,

Vot. in. No. 35. Z as

I7S NATURAL HISTORY

as they run through the woods, they point their nofcs
parallel with the horizon : they raife their fore feet
commonly three or four feet high in walking. Mild
and inoffenfive in their general manners,; yet, in the
feafon of autumn, when they feel the influence of the
genialpaiTion, they are quite furious: themalesthenftrike
with both horns and hoofs, the only means of defence
or attack with which nature has furnifhed them ; fwitn
about from iile to ifle in fearch of the females j and
appear plainly to {cdy m all their extravagance, the
tranfports of that impetuous pafTion. If a perfonthen
approach his haunts, he runs upon him at full fpeed, .
and either gores him with his horns, or tramples him
dead under his feet : the female goes with young
through winter; and, in the month of April, produces
commonly two at a birth : the young ones continue to
follow their dam for a whole year. The elk is not an
•unfocial animal. In fummei-, diftindl families feed to-
gether; in winter numbers meet among the deep
pine forefts of the northern regions which they inhabit.
The elk is faid to be fubjed to the epilepfy. The
Polifh name/i9/jr, and the German elandy both fignify-
ing miferable, are faid to have been given it, on ac-
count of the affiiAion which it fufFers from this dif-
eafe. But, if we may truft the tale, the animal is pro-
vided with a fpecific againft this malady, and has only
to fcratch its ear with its hoof.

Elks have been fometimes domeflicated. In old
times, Mr. Pennant relates, that they were yoked in
Sweden to the fledge; but having, from their dexte-
rity in moving through difficult roads, been frequently
accefibry to the efcape of murderers and other crimi-
nals, the ufe of them was prohibited under great pe-.
nalties. Yet a Swedifli writer informs us, that till
the Barons Alftroemer, the fame who imported the
Angora goat, propofed premiums, and employed
other means, for its domeflication, this flrong, {lately,
and fwift- footed, animal was in that country always

wild;

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 17^

wild : from which it feems reafonable to infer, that the
elk is at prcfent a domeftic animal in Sweden. The
arts by which the hunters of ancient Germany invaded
the iafety of the elk, have been already mentioned.
In the north of Europe, he is hunted in the fame man-
ner as the ftag. As he flees before his purfuers, he
often falls fuddenly down, as if ftruck dead, though
neither fhot, nor in any manner wounded : thefe falls
are afcribed to fits of theepilepfyj but are perhaps
rather owing to the ftifFnefs of his joints, the length
of his legs, and the difficulties of the trad through
which he runs. When clofely attacked, he turns upon
his enemies, and makes a vigorous defence with his
horns and hoofs. — The Indians of North America
difplay great addrefs in hunting the elk. Sometimes,
joining in large bodies, they roufe thefe animals
through the woods on each lide of fome great river,
and, iurrounding them oh all quarters, compel them
into the ftream, where a part of the hunters are fta-
tionedin a feries of canoes, forming a crefcent between
the two fides of the river, to intercept the elks, as they
attempt to efcape by fwimming, and kill them with
clubs or lances. At pther times, they, with greater
art, inclofe a triangular fpace with ftakes, hedged with
branches of trees, and opening at the bottom into an-
other triangle, formed in the fame manner: the open-
ing into the fecond triangle is hung round with fnares.
made of flips of raw hides : then ranging the woods in
confiderable parties, and roufing both elks and other
deer, they drive them into the inclofures, where they
are either caught in the fnares, or fliot with the arrows
of tlie hunters. The elk is likewife often fhot with
the gun. When firft roufed, the animal, by fquatting
on his hinder parts, and making water, affords the
hunter an opportunity of fhooting at him. If the hun-
ter mifs his aim, the elk runs off with a rapid trot,
clattering loudly with his hoofs. The happieft feafon
for this purfuit is in winter, when the ground is co-

Z 2 vered

iBo NATURAL HISTORY
vei-ed with deep fnow, but the fnow (o foftened by the
impreffion of the fun as to yield under the weight of
the elk. j it ftiU bears the hunter who travels on broad
rackets or fnow fhoes j and the objed of his purfuit
then falls an eafy prey.

One of the imaginary beings whofe exiftence igno-
rance and wild fuperftition have fuggefted to the In-
dians of North America, is an invulnerable moofe, of
an enormous fiz€, capable of wading with eafe through
eight feet depth of fnow, and with an arm growing on
its fhoulders, fubfervient to the fame purpofes as the
human arms. To this monfler they attribute fove-
reign authority over his fpecies, and reprefent him fur-
rounded with a court, and reigning over faithful and
obedient fubjeds. A moofe is with thefe (imple peo-
ple a beaft of good omen. To dream of him, is
efteemed a flattering token of lonor life. The hoof of
the elk is regarded among the Indians, the Norwegians,
and the other northern nations,' to whom it is well
known, as a fovereign cure for the epilepfy. The per-
ibn afflided muft apply it to his heart, hold it in his
left hand, and rub his ear with it. It is alfo reduced
to a powder, and drunk in water, as a remedy for the
•cholic, pleurify, vertigo, and purple fever. The fiefh
of this animal is fweet and nourifhing : the Indians
imag-ine that it invigorates them more than ^ny other
fpecies of animal food : the tongue is peculiarly excel-
•ient J the nofe perfei5l marrow, and edeemed the great-
eft delicacy that Canada affords : the fkin of the elk
is almoft impenetrable to balls : drefled into buff, it is
ftrong, yet foft and light : in preparing it for ufe, the
Indians ufe a lather of the brains of the animal in hot
water : it is the leather of which their fnow-flioes are
formed, and with it they cover their canoes. The hair
on the neck, fhoulders, and hams, of a full-grown elk,
makes good mattraffes and faddles.' The palmated
parts of the horns are hollowed by the Indians into ca«
pacious ladles.

The

OF QUADRUPEDS. 4?i

The REIN-DEER.

IN (ize the rem-deer is inferior to the elk: he has
Ihorter and thicker limbs, and larger feet : his hair is
a)fa thicker and warmer. A full grown rein-deer is
between four and five feet high, and of proportionate
length. Both fexes of this fpecies have large, flender,
branchy, horns, withpalniated antlers bending over the
brow, and with the upright branches alfo palmated at
the top : thefe horns are commonly from three to four
feet long, and between two and three feet from tip to
tip : the wild is larger than the tame rein-deer : the
female, as well as the male, fheds her horns ; but ne-
ver during the period of conception ; and; what is (in-
gular, even a cafaated rein-deer fneds his horns, though,
ieldom before his ninth year: the female has fix paps;
but only four yield milk. Shaggy hair covers the un-
der part of che neck. The fpace round the eyes is
invariably black. In the earlier part of life, the body
above is of a duiky yellow ; the face and the tail are al-
ways white ; as the animal advances in age, the dun
part of his body becomes iirft hoary, and at laft w^hite.

This Ipecies v/ere not unknown to the civilized na-
tions of antiquity. Ca?far mentions an animal as an
inhabitant of the Hercynian toreft, which can be no
other than the rein-deer. He obferved a palmated
and braiKhy antler to projeft over its forehead j the
iiiaie and the female were cxadly fimilar in manners,
in form, and in the fize of their horns. Pliny too
•fpcaks of it as inhabiting the deferts of Scythla. He
defer! bes its fize ajid figure with tolerable accuracy ; at-
tributing to it branchy horns, cloven hoofs, and fhagay
hairs. But he adds a fable, which (hews the imperfect
Itate of zoology anioirg the ancients. The rein -deer,
he fays, po^'efied the power of varying its colour at
pleafure ; a power iiiil more allonifliing than that a-
jfcrlbed to the cameleon I for the rein-deer had to
change the colour, not m.erely of its fkin, but alfo of
its hair. But the alteration of colour, which this ani-

mal

1^2 NATURAL HISTORY

inal undergoes in the progrefs of life, mufi: have giveir
tife to the tale. The rein-deer is at prefent an inha-
bitant of all the high northern regions of Europe^ Afia,
and America. Greenland, Spitzbergcn, the northern
parts of Canada, approaching to Hudfon's-bay ; Sa-
moidea, Laplai:!d, Norway, Kamfchatka, and Siberia,
all afford animals of this fpecies. Among the Lap-
Janders, the Samoidcs, and the Kamfchatkans, the rein-
deer is a domeftic animal. Lcfs than four hundred
yea; s ago, he was hunted fo far fouth as in the foreflis
of France. But the temperature of the climate in that
country was not then fo mild as it has fince been ren-
' dared, by increafing cultivation, and by cutting down
the foreib.

Few animals are more mild and amiable in their
manners, or more beneficial to man, than the rein-deer.
His familiarity with mankind has aitorded them op-
portunities of iludying his economy. The feafon of
love is in the latter months of autumn. In Lapland,
where there are both tame and wild rein-deer, the fe-
males are often kt ioofe into the woods, in the rutting
feafon, and copulate with v/iid males. The progeny
of fuch parents are fitter for the fledge, but more fe-
tocious and unmanageable than others : the wild rein-
deer of the woods are always larger, flrcnger, and
blacker, than the domeftic kind : in the rutting feafon,
the males emit a difagreeable odour : the females are
ffjmetimes barren : the Laplanders caftrate a great part
of the young males, leaving only one unmutilated
riale for every five or fix females ; they perform the
operation with their teeth : caflration renders the ani-
mal more mild and manageable : the period of preg-
nancy is three-and-thirty weeks ; twins are frequently
produced : the young follow their mothers two or
three years j and attain not their full growth till their
fourth year: the age of the tame rein-deer never ex-
ceeds fixteen years : his favourite food is a peculiar
ipecies of mofs, which is the chief vegetable produc-
tion

OF CLU AD RUPE D S. 1S5

tion of the dreary plains that he inhabits in winter,
and for which he digs, with his hoofs, through the
fnow : in fummer, he eats the leaves and buds of
trees, in preference to grafs. His horns render it dif-
ficult for him to graze on the ground.

Tame rein-deer are kept in herds: it is difficult to
keep a herd together : they are naturally difpofed to
efcape from the hands of man ; and the gnats, which
are peculiarly troublefome to them, greatly increafe
their natural reftleflhefs. Sometimes the Laplanders,
who have been moft fuccefsful in domefticatins: this
animal, take fhelter themfejves, with their rein-deer,
around their cottages, and kindle fires of mofs, that
diffufe a thick fmoke, which keeps oft thofe infedls.
The rein-deer themfeives, to avoid the perfecution of
the gnat, and of a gadfly which they find a no Jefs
formidable enemy, fcale the fummits of the loftiefl
mountains; where they ftarve, rather than expofe
themfeives to their tormentors, if not compelled by the
herdfmen to defcend in queft of food. The gadfly de-
pofits its eggs on the rein-deer; and thefe, fettling into
the fkin of the poor animal, produce worms which
riddle it like a fieve : this happens in winter and fpring,
when the rein-deer are unavoidably confined to the
marlhy plains ; the holes made by the worms clofe in
fummer ; and it is only in autumn, that the fur be-
comes of value. Btfides what they fufFer from thefe
enemies, thev are liable to other caufes of uneaiinefs :
the teats fometimes crack, and yield blood inftead of
milk; a giddinefs fometimes feizes them, in which
they turn round till they drop down dead ; ulcers a-
bout the hoois fometimes incapacitate them for walk-
ing ; and they are, at times, deflroyed by a difeafe
called by the natives of Lapland, fuddataka, by which
they become Vv^ild and furious, ceafe to receive ncu-
rifliment from their food, though ftill eager to eat;
and at laft die of leannefs and through decay of
flrength. In a wild flate^ the rein-deer is hunted by

I man ;

i«4 NATURAL HISTORY

man ; bears make occafional depi-edations on hoth
tame and wild herds ; and the glutton or carcajou of-
ten drops from the thick branches of fome tree on the
unwary rein, faftens with its teeth and claws on the
uppei- part of his neck, and flicks immoveibly, till its
prey, exhaufted with his exertions to efcap^ or (hake it
off, drops down dead of fttigue and lofs of blood.
The deer has no other means of faving himfelf from
the arts of this enemy, but plunging into water; on
which the care of its own fafety makes the gimtort
leave him. The wolf is another of the rapacious ani-
mals that prey on the rein -deer. Wolves diiHi^guifh
them from a diftance, by the fmell, or by the clatter-
ing noiCe Oi their hoofs when they ran. Againft a
fingle wolf, a rein-deer is able to d^icnd himfejf ; but,
•when thofe ravenous animals come in numbers, they
are eafily fuccelsiuL

Nature feems to have defigned the rein-deer as an
ample recompence to the Laplander for her unkind-
r.efs to him in other refpetls. His chief, almoft his
foie, occupation is to maiiage his rein-deer. The rdu
is his horfe, his cow, his iheep, his goat ; the female
is carefully milked; and her milk proves a whole-
fame bevtiragej it yields rich cheefe, and not bad
butter. In travelling, the Laplander mounts on the
back of his rein, or is drawn by the docile animal in
his iledge : tlie rein, as foon as yoked in the (ledge,
runs off with amazing velocity, and conduits the tra-
veller fafely through the moil dangerous and difficult
ways. Sometimes, however, when urged beyond his
ftrength, he turns with fury on his driver, who has no
means to fave himfelf but overturning the fledge, and
hiding under it. Yet he refufes not to run from thirty
to fixty EngliOi miles without reft. As the Tartars
and Arabs live in great faniiliarity with their horfes,
talk to them at times, and treat them as companions,,
fo the Laplander pretends to a (imilar intimacy with
his rein. He whifpers in his ear what road to take,

and

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 185

and with what degree of fpeed to run ; and, as they
hold on their way through the deferts, addrefles to him
his fongs of love, his eft-'ufions of joy or forrow.

After the rein-deer have nourifhed their Lapland
matters with their milk, and conduced them as fub-
miflive {laves, yet faithful companions, on their jour-
nies, they are at laft flain for ether purpofes. In win-
ter, when fed only on mofs, they become very fat : their
llefli is either eaten frefh and newly killed, or falted
and dried, or dried and preferved without fait. It i»
the Laplander's principal article of food. The fivm,
with its fur, is made into garments for both fexes : of
it alfo is made the harnefs by which the deer are yoked
in the fledges. As an article of traffic, the Laplanders
Jikewife difpofe of the furs in confiderable quantities,
to their neighbours. Sails for their flciffs are formed
of the hides by the fimple Samoiedes: the finews, dried
and divided, afford excellent fewing thread : the bones,
the horns, and the hoofs, have alfo their ufes. The.
Laplanders appear by much the mofc ingenious people
of all the tribes of mankind who inhabit the fame re-
gions with the rein-deer. Samoiedes, Kamtfchatkans,
Efquimaux, and Greenlanders, — none of all thefe fa-
vages have fo fkilfully availed themfelves of the ufeful
qualities of this fpecies as the natives of Lapland. The
Samoiedes employ the living rein for no other pur^
pofe but the draught : the rude Koreki of Kamt-
fchatka keep fonietimes not fewen than twenty thou-
fand in a herd, yet kill them only for the fake of the
fkins : the Greenlanders and Efquimaux are unac-
quainted with the rein in any other but a wild ftate j
they purfue him in the chace, eat his flefli rav/, and
often drink his blood warm from the carcafe; they
gorge up the fat with peculiar relifh : the Greenland-
ers furround the wild rein-deer in crowds, alarm and
confound them by various arts, and, driving them into
narrow defiles, there kill them with harpoon darts :
the flefh, the fat, and the (kins, are all important ar-

VoL. III. No. 35. A a , ticlc$

i86 NATURAL PI I S T O R Y

tides to the Indian ; he eats the flefh, and fells the
flcins, and fometimes the fat, to the EngHili -, yet he
has never thought of domefticating thcni, but kills
them only in the chace.

Rein-deer have been generally confidered as inca-
pable of fubiifting even in temperate climates, and as
thriving on no food but the rein-liverwort, their fa-
vourite mofs. Cultivation has exterminated or banifh-
ed them from the forefts of France and Germany.
Such as have been in late times introduced into Hol-
ftein, PrufTia, and the neighbourhood of Dantzick,
whether kept in confinement, or let loofe into the
woods, have periihed, without reproducing their fpe-
cies. Within thefe few years. Sir H. G. Liddel, on
his return from a tour to Lap!and, brought with him
to England five rein-deer i which he placed round
Eilington- cafde, in the north part of Northumberland,
containing feveral large fir plantations, and extenfive
moors plentifully covered with rein-liverwort; th^y at
firft throve well, and produced young ; but, by vari-
ous accidents, both parents and young are now either
dead, or in a very declining flate.

T H E S T A G.

THE flag is an animal of a (lately elegant form.
When full grown he is comm.only between four and
five feet high. Often, when he enjoys abundance of
food, and lives undifturbed by mankind or the beafls
of prey, he attains a much larger fize. His legs are
flender and elegant ; his tail fhort i his ears large and
pointed; his horns lofty and branchy. The hind is
of a fmaller and more flender form, and deflitute of
horns. A reddifh brown colour, which has gained
this fpecies the appellation of red-deer, diltinguifhes
the upper part of the body ; the hinder part of the
neck, and the fpace between the fhoulders, are m.arked
with a black liHj fome part of the face is commonly

black i

^^lijife^^^sij^

#

f

O^

«.

afr^s-y^-ii???^'

9 'yy^c ^y /^r,/.

t/LSi/.V ^rnJf.

3*.,Mi.fh.-/iS.-r'ijf.t~

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 187

black ; the belly and the lower fide of the tail are
white. Sometimes we fee yellow ftags ; and fome-
times, but very feldom, a white one. The ftag lofes
and renews his horns annually ; and for a while each new
fet of horns is adorned with an additional branch. The
calf has no horns, but only iliort, rough, horny, ex-
creicences, covered with a thin, hairy, flcin : in his fe-
cond year, his horns are fingle and ftrait, and, at leafl
till his fixth, the number of antlers continues to in-
creafe. From this period, they are multiplied fo irre-
gularly, th.it the animal's age comes to be eftimated,
not fo much by the number of antlers, as by the fize
and thicknefs of the whole horns. Old ftags caft their
horns in the end of February, or the beginning of
March ; the yoimgeft are the lateft in fuffering this
change ; but, by the end of May, they have all, of
wha^^ever age, laid afide their old, and begin to fhoot
forth new, horns : the horns fall off fpontaneoufly, or
are rubbed off by gentle fridion againft trees. The
ancients fancied, that flags were at great pains to hide
their horns in places where they might not be found ;
the right horn efpecially, was, in their opinion, known
to the animal to be highly valuable for its medicinal
virtues, and was therefore fo induftrioufly concealed,
that it rarely fell into the hands of man. The fhed-
ding of the horns is advanced by a mild, and retarded
by an inclement, winter. After depofiting their horns,
flags forfake their ufual haunts, walk with their heads
low, avoid thick and deep forefts, and retreat among
brufhwood, till the branchy ornaments of their heads
are renewed : the fprouting horns are at firft extremely
tender, and covered with blood-veffels : they grow
not like the horns of the bull, the fheep, or the goat,
by fhooting out new matter at the roots, and moving
forward that which is already formed ; but, like trees
and other vegetative bo-^ies, increafe their length by
additions at the points. Stags have not their horns
uniformly coloured j thofe of the younger flags are

A a 2 whitifli i

i88 NATURAL HISTORY

vvhitifh ; old ftags have fometimes red, fometlme^
black, and fometlmes pale dirty coloured, horn. When
their horns are completed for the feafon, they polifh
them by rubbing againft trees; and, it has been
imagined, that the horns were coloured by the bark
and fap of the trees againft which they were rubbed :
but experiments, made on purpofe, have proved this
opinion to be fanciful. The ancients tell us, that ivy
had been obferved fpreading upon the horns of ftags.
Buffon feems to think them a fort of vegetable : they
fcarce ever acquire more than twenty or two-and-twen-
ty antlers. In the old age of the animal, they become
dry and ftunted. A ftag caftrated W'th his horns on
liis head, never lofes them ; if caftrated when they arc
newly fallen, they are never renewed.

Delicacy and acutenefs ofthefenfes diftingulfh the

Hag in an eminent degree: his powers of fmelling are

exquifite : his eye is fparkling, foft, and glowing with

fexpreflion: he hears diftant and low founds, and is not

Incapable of relifhlng the melody of mufic : he ts fafci-

nated with the ftiepherd's pipe. One mode of hunting

this animal, pradifed in ancient Greece, was for two

perfons to go out together, and one to charm the un-

fufpefcing ftag with the melody of his voice or his pipe,

till the other approached near enough to pierce him

with a dart or arrow. "When he liftens eagerly, lie

ere6ls his ears. The foreft is his favourite haunt j

the leaves and fprouts of trees, the food of which he

is fondeft. In the feafon s, when he is not exhaufted

by the efforts of love, or faint through want of food,

cr timid and difpirired on account of the tendernefs .of

his budding horns, he runs with amazing vigour and

velocity. He is mild and gentle, and views mankind,

Avhen unaccompanied by dcgs, without fear, and even

with a degree of confidence. Reduced to extremity by

the attacks of an enemy, refentment and courage are

raifed in his breaft, and he fells his life dear. He then

kicks with his fore-feet,, and puflies with his horns. A

tiger

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. i8f

tiger has been known to flee before a ftag ; dogs oftefi
fufFer from his fiercenefs : his voice is bold and ftrongj
and, as he advances in age, becomes bolder, ftronger,
and more tremulous : the cry of the hind is not fo
loud as that of the ftag, and is never excited but by ap-
prehenfion for herfelf, or her young : he eats flowly ;
and rumjjiates with difficulty, as the length of his
neck renders him unable to bring up his food for chew-
ing, without a difagreeable belching. In winter and
Spring, the ftag fcarce ever drinks j during thefe fea-
fons, he unavoidably receives enough of moifture with
his food : but, in the heats of fummer, he plunges into
the ftream, and fwims broad rivers, wide lakes, and
even arms of the fea. Pliny tells us, that ftags ufed
in his days to pais commonly enough from Cilicia to
Cyprus. Numbers were obferved to fwim together
in one line; each reclining his horns on his companion
immediately before him. In their ordinary alTocia-
tions, fome one of the old males feems to be invefted
with the fovereignty of the herd.

The ftag feels the paffion which prompts to the pro-
pagation of the fpecies, in all its extravagance and fury.
The rutting period is with him a feafon of madnefs :
it is about the end of Auguft, or in the beginning of
September, when the ftag, after his new horns are
fully grown, wanders from the thickets in v;hich he
had hid himfelf, while they were fprouting, in fearch of
the hind: his neck is then fwollen ; his eyes are wild
and glaring j he forgets his ufuai caution, and wanders
through the open fields, regardlefs of man or other
animals ; he ftrikes his horns with mad impetuofity
againft trees and other obftacles ; he roars with a loud,
rough, and tremulous, voice. When two or more ri^
val ftags court the favours of the fame hind, obftinate
combats enfue : they redouble their roarings, paw the
earth with their feet, and, meeting, ftrike their heads
againft each other with impetuous fury. One is at
length difabied or forced to jflee : but the viftor has

often

igo N A T UR AL HI S T O R Y

often repeatedly to renew the cojifiid with a frefh op-
ponent, before he be left to the undifturbed enjoyment
of his miftrefs. Sometimes, while the other ftags are
contending for the hind, a young one hafli'.y enjoys
the prize for which they contend, and runs ofr". Even,
after conquering his rivals, and obtaining fecure pof-
feffion of his miftrefs, a flag foon difdains thofc fa-
vous which are enjoyed without conteft and without
courtihip. After a few days, he wanders in fearch of
another, facing new dangers, and combating other ri-
vals. While under the impulfe of this powerful ap-
petite, he fcarcely eats, fleeps, or refts, but continues
to fight, and to enjoy. At length, his appetite is fiti-
ated, and his vigour exhaufted ; from ftrong, bold,
plump, and g:ofiy, he becomes feeble, lean, and timid.
Confcious of his imbecility, he retires from the herd,
to recover his flefh and recruit his ftrength in folitude.
Through winter, he continues to live apart from the
hinds ; and it is not till fpi-ing, that his fatnefs and
vigour begin to be renev>^ed. In winter, only the
hinds and young ftags, not above a year old, are to
be found together. A flag become capable of pro-
creation at the age of eighteen months.

The hind goes between eight and nine months with
young, and brings forth, in May, or the beginning of
June, fcarcely ever above one, but never more than
two, at a birth. When the period of parturition comes
on, flie retires from the young flags, in whofe fociety
file fpent the winter. She feels the tendereft affedion
for her calf, and difplays great fagacity in protecting
and bringing it up : ftie carefully hides it in fome dark
thicket, from thofe numerous enemies of whom its life
is in danger i for the eagle, the falcon, the ofprey,
the wolf, the dog, and the rapacious family of the fclis
kind, watch eagerly to difcover her retreat, and rob her
of her charge. Even the flag himfelf is its enemy:
but, between courage and ingenuity, ftie fliews herfelf
a powerful protedrefs. In defence of her young, flie

I ibme-

OF QUADRUPEDS. 191

fometimes boldly oppofes force to force; at other
times, with the fame unconcern for her own fafety, fhe
offers herfclf to the chace to miflead the hunter or
the beaft of prey from the covert where {lie has hid
her calf. Through fummer, the calf continues to fol-
low its dam. In the rutting feafon, the old ftags drive
it to a diitance. In winter, while the ftags wander in
folitude, it aflcciates with the hinds and with the other
young liags of its own age.

Thirty or forty years are the ordinary term of this
animal's life: but, among the ancients, it was com-
monly believed to live, when it did not fall by a vio-
lent death, to a much more advanced age ; and feme
"wonderous inftancesof its longevity have been comme-
morated. Pliny fays, that more than a hundred years
after the death of Alexander the Great, fome ftags were
taken, with golden chains about their necks, which
appeared to have been put upon them by the command
of that hero. Another tale is mentioned of a ftag; taken
in the foreft of Senlis, with a collar on his neck, bear-
ing this infcription, dejar hoc me donavit ; an infcrip-
tion from which it was at firft inferred that the ftag
had been once in the hands of Julius Caefar, or fome
other Roman emperor. But, as the German empe-
rors alfo take the name of Crefar, the ftag has been
lince fuppofed to owe his collar only to fome cotempo-
rary emperor of Germany.

The lize and ftature of the ftag are influenced by
the circumftances of his life, and the nature of the
place which he inhabits. A ftag who feeds in rich vales,
or on hills abounding with corn, is larger and taller
than thofe that inhabit dry rocky mountains. The red-
deer of the mountains are low, thick, fnort, and flow,
but perfevering in flight. A ftag, who paffes his life
undifturbed by men or dogs, grows larger and ftouter,
and fhoots out more branchy horns, than one who
lives m conftant alarm, and is often harrafTed and al-
jnoft run down in the chace. This fpecies are dif-

fufed

192 NATURAL HISTORY.

fufed over all Europe, and through the northern parti
of America and Alia. Yet, though rather a northern
animal, the flag never appears in the extreme north
latitude. He is unknown at Hudfon's Bay, in Kamt-
fchatka, and in almoft all the regions inhabited by the
rein-deer. He is, at the fame time, not impatient of
the heat of fome fouthern climates : Barbary affords
red- deer; and in Mexico the fpecies is well known,
dnd an old inhabitant : they are numerous, and grow
to a vaft fize in the fouthern part of Siberia : they have
been exterminated from Ruflia : they abound in Ca-
nada, and are (ten grazing among the bifons on the
rich plains lying along theMiffi/Iippi,fheMiffouri, and
other American rivers. The mild and peaceful cha-
rader of the hind and flag affords them no protedtion
from thehoftilities of rapacious enemies. "Wolves and
Cther beafts of prey deftroy vaft numbers of this fpe-
cies, and have even exterminated the race from fome
countries where they were once numerous. Man, who
wars with the beafts of prey in his own defence, tyran-
-nizes over the domeftic animals becaufe he finds their
fervices ufeful, and purfues the gentler wild animals,
becaufe they are overcome without danger and without
refiftancej he alfo takes peculiar pleafure in chacing
the ftag. So affiduoufly has this diverfion been culti-
vated among civilized nations, as to be almoft reduced
to an art, and accommodated with a fet of technical
phrafes. The Englifti huntfmen calls the young ani-
mal of this fpecies, in the firft fix months of its life, a
calf or hind-calf i it then becomes a knobber ; then a
pricker, brock, or ftaggard; next a ftag; and after
that an hart: the female, from an hind-calf, becomes
firft a hearfe, and then a hind. The ftag is faid to har-
bour in the place he refides; when he cries, he is laid
to bell; the print of the hoof is the flot; his tail the
fingle ; his excrement the fewmet; his horns are called
his head ; and are, in the firft year, broches ; in the
third year, fpearsj in the fourth year, the part bear-

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 193

Ing the antlers, is called the beam -, he has alio antlers,
fur-antlers, and royal antlers.

The hunting of the flag was a favourite diverfion
with the Greeks and Romans. Diana let loofe her
dogs and emptied her quiver upon ftags; and, as fa-
bulous hirtory informs us, when furprized naked with
her nymphs by Adason, fhe transformed the unhappy
culprit into a ftag, and drove him to be devoured by
his own do9:s. The Romans were accuftomed fome-
times fhoot thefe animals with arrows ; fometimes, to
hunt them down with dogs j or, at leaft, to ufe againft
them dogs, who, by their barking, might fright them
into the fnares ; and fometimes to fcare and perplex
the timid deer by difplaying before them bunches of
red feathers. They were not abfolutely ftrangers to
ftags in a domeftic ftate ; Pliny relates, that Sertorius
had a tame white hind, and perfuaded the nations of
Lufitania, whom he united againft the power of Rome,
that fhe was endowed with fupernatural knowledge,
and gave him intimation of future events.

The nobles of Sicily have, in a later period, employ-
ed bunches of red feathers in attacking the ftag.
Warned of the particular place where a herd of thefe
animals was palling, they ufed to afiemble in a body,
each with a bow, a bundle of ftaves fhod with iron and
bored through the head, a cord pafiing through the
flaves, and a bunch of red feathers. Then, furround-
ing the herd of deer, they formed a fort of hedge or
palifade, to confine the animals, with their ftaves fet
up in the ground, the cords joining them into one
circle, and the bunches of crimfon feathers dangling
from the cords among the ftaves. Thus furrounded
and inclofed, the deer were as eftedually hindered
from efcaping as if confined within a wall of the great-
eft ftrength and height j they durft not face the crim-
fon feathers, and, when attacked, could only run about
in confufion, within the circle. The huntfman rode
in among them, and called on the perfons in the party

Vol. ill. No. ;^6, B b indivi-

194 NATURAL HISTORY

individually, to (hoot as he pointed out, till th** whole
herd was deftroyed.

In France and England, countries in which the
chace has long been a favourite amufement, the hunt-
ing of the ftag is purfued in a much nobler manner;
if the animal falls, he falls not by ftratagem, but by-
open, generous, arts. The huntfman, with his dogs,
feeks out his. haunts, and roufes him before them.
When the flag is unharbourcd, the huntfman traces
his fteps, to didinguiili by the print of his foot, or by
his dung, whether he be worthy of purfuit. He then
lets loofe his whole pack of hounds, winds his horn,
and encourages them alfo by his voice to follow with
fteadinefs and eager f})eed. The ftag flees before them
v,?ith the fwiftnefs of the wind, leaving both dogs and
men miles behind him. The hounds open in full cry,
and trace his footftcps with amazing fagacity and deli-
cacy of fcent. At length, the fleeting aiiimal fo far
outftrips his purfuers, that their noife and cries no
longer reach his ear. He flops,, gazes around, and
fancies himfelf fafe. But the noife approaches ; he is
again alarmed, and renews his flight. He now begins
to pracflife ftratagem and art, returns upon his former
footfleps, attempts to mingle again with tiie herd from
which he Vv'as finglcd out, or, springing afide, fquats
upon his belly, in hopes that his purfuers may pafs
without noticing him. When thefe arts fail, and he
feels his ftrength exhaufted ; his pace becomes ftifF
and fl:iort, and his mouth black and dry ; his tongue
hanging out, and as it were tears ftarting from his
eyes j he betakes himfelf, as his laft hope, to the near-
ell river or lake, and fwimming againft the ftream,
with the moft anxious care to avoid touching the
boughs of any adjoining trees, or the herbage on the
banks, tries thus to elude the quick fcent of the hounds.
When every art has been tried in vain, and all his re-
fources are at length exhaufted, he defperately turns
wpon his enemies, and, ftanding at bay, wath the mofl:

furious

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 195

furious exertions of his remaining ftrength, aims at
both men and dogs, and often dies not unrevenged.
But numbers fiirround and overpower him, the hunt-
man winds a loud blaft with his horn, and the dogs,
with redoubled fury, tear the ftately animal to the
ground.

This fpecies were once numerous through Britain.
The Saxon monarchs of England formed fome uncul-
tivated trafls into forefts for deer. The princes of the
Norman line, animated with the mod: extravagant paf-
fion for the chace, and carelefs of the welfare of their
fubjeds, depopulated their kingdom, razing villages,
and levelling churches and other religious houfes, to
form forefts for the maintenance of thefe and other
wild beafts. But, in the progrefs of liberty and civi-
lization, the number and extent of thofe forefts were
greatly reduced. Our monarchs learned to confult.
the happinefs' of their fubjefts, and the population
of their dominions, in preference to their own diver-
fions. And, though there are ftill feveral royal forefts
in England, thefe are not many, nor are they guarded
by the fame fanguinary laws as formerly. Befides
being a tyrannical encroachment on the liberties of the
fubjeft, and a favage depopulation of the kingdom,
the exiftence of lb many forefts, and the foreft-laws,
were calculated to produce the moft unfavourable ef-
feds on the morals of the lower clafTes of the people.
Deer-ftealing was a crime of which, when they could
efcape detedlion, the youth made very light. But the
parties who engaged in fuch an enterprife were gene-
rally loft to fobriety and induftry, and had their morals
completely corrupted. We indeed owe the dramatic
produftions of our admired Shakefpeare to the profe-
cution for deer-ftealing which drove him from his
original occupation. But the fame circumftances which
excited a Shakefpeare to the exertion of powers of
genius, that otherwife might have lain dormant, would

B b 2 undoubt'

196 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

undoubtedly condud many others to extremities of
guilt and mifery.

The deer-ftealers pratflifed feme fingular arts, and
had often dangerous and furprizing adventures in pur-
fuing their forbidden fports. They would fometimes
watch the pregnant hind to her lair, and, when the calf
was dropped, pare its feet to the quick, to prevent
its efcape till it became large and fat enough to be kil-
led. Sometimes a brother deer-ftealer was by moon-
fhine miftaken for a deer, and fhot at with a bullet.
Some of thofe fellows once advancing, with a dog, to
a place in Woolmer-foreft, where they fufpefted a calf
to have been deposited, the parent hind rufhed out
from the brake, and, making a vaft fpring, with all her
feet clofe together, pitched upon the neck of the dog,
who fell dead to the ground.

In the Highlands of Scotland, there are ftill large
herds of red-deer. Before the hereditary jurifdidion
of the Highland chieftains was abolifhed, and means
employed to weaken the attachment by which their
vaifals were fo abfolutely devoted to their will, thou-
fands ufed to be occafionally aiTembled to hunt the
deer over the wild hills of the north ; the head of a
clan went out to purfue his fports with a parade of at-
tendants, as if he had been a mighty monarch. So
late as in the beginning of the prefent century, there
were deer fcattered over the hills of Galloway. But,
by the eagernefs with which the peafants purfued
them, they have been long fince exterminated from
that dillriel.

Thefe animals afford various articles of utility to
human life. The firm and folid texture of the horns
fits them for handles to knives and other domeftic
utenfils. The ficin is dreffed into excellent leather.
The flefh, though when taken in the rutting feafon is
of a difagreeable tafte and fmell, affords, at other times,
wholefome and pleafaut food. The tallow is made

into

OF QJJADRUPEDS. i0

into very good candles. Spirit of hartfhorn is a well-
known ftimuiant.

The FALLOW-DEER.

IN form, in manners, in fwiftnefs, in timidity, and
in bearing large branchy horns, the fallow-deer flrik-
ingly refembles the ftag ; but is confiderably fmaller,
and has not round but palmated horns. The colours
of this fpecies too, are more various than thofe of the
flag i they are reddifh, dark-brown, fpotted, and often
white; and have a longer tail than the ftag. The fal-
low-deer, like the flag, annually depofits and renews
his horns : the doe is not furnifhed with this ornament :
the fawn does not immediately fhoot out horns ; but,
as he grows up, they are every year improved in (ize
and magnificence, till the buck attains its full growth.

In the organs of fenfation, fallow-deer appear not
more imperfect than flags : they are a gentler and
more delicate fpecies. The elk, the rein, and the flag,
ieeraed deftined to inhabit colder climates, and to live
in a ftate of more independence than the fallow-deer.
Although inhabiting the fame forefts, this fpecies ne-
ver afTociate with the ftag : their charader approaches
fomewhat to that of a domeftic race : they need the
attention and care of mankind : they are generally in-
habitants of parks prepared and appropriated for their
ufe : they feed in herds : a large body feeding in one
park, divides into leparate herds ; and among thcfe
contefts frequently arife, in which the arts of attack
and defence are pradifed with ai'tonilhing order, in-
trepidity, and obftinacy. The buck feels not the vio-
lent emotions of love lo early in the feafon as the ftag,
nor is he fo much infuriated by the impulfe : he leaves
not his ufual ha^mts in fearch of a miftrefs : yet, in
purfuing the gratifications of love, he is often involved
in rivalfnip and fierce combats. The female goes be-
tween eight and nine months with young i and nurfes

and

ipS NATURAL HISTORY

and watches over her fawns with all the tender folici-
tude becoming a mother. The rutting feafon does not
enfeeble and emaciate the buck in fo extreme a degree
as the ftag : but he is equally inconftant, rambling
from doe to doe, till he ceafes to feel the ftings of his
keen appetite. The life of fallow-deer feldom exceeds
twenty years j and they continue capable of procrea-
tion till fifteen or fixteen. They feed on vegetable
fubftances more indifcriminately than the laft fpecies.
Both flags and fallow-deer, when thirfty, hold their
nofes for a confiderable time under water, in drinking ;
and the minute holes with which they, as well as an-
telopes, are provided under the eyes, feem intended by
nature as fpiracula, through which they may breathe
when their noftrils are filled up. Fallow-deer are,
equally with the ftag, objeds of the chace ; they run
with lefs vigour and perfeverance ; but difplay greater
cunning and dexterity in their doublings and ftiifts to
efcape. Hounds reHlh their fiefti fo much more than
that of red-deer, that they inftantly give up the pur-
fuit of a ftag or hind, if they happen on the track of a
doe or buck.

Fallow-deer inhabit through almoft all Europe. In
France and Germany, they are not numerous. Wild
fallow-deer are found in the forefts of Lithuania and
Moldavia, in Greece, and the north of China. They
were not originally natives of America. In Spain, they
grow remarkably large. They are more numerous in
Great Britain than any other part of Europe. In Ruf-
iia they are entirely unknown ; in Sweden, preferved
in parks. One of the breeds which have been propa-
gated in Britain, was originally introduced from Nor-
way by King James I. when he went to bring home
his Dauifh bride. The flcfh of the fallow-deer is per-
haps the moil: agreeable fpecies of animal food, and
greatly preferable to that of the ftag. The ikin ot the
buck and the doe is drefled into the beft leather for
breeches, glovi;s, &c. The horns of thisj as well as

I thofe

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 199

thofe of the fpecies laft defcrlbed, being compad, folid,
and weighty, are wrought into excellent handles for
knives and other utenfils. Spirit of hartfhorn is ex-
traded from them j and, after lofing that fpirit, they
are reduced, by calcination, to what is called burnt
hartfhorn, which conftitutes a valuable material in
fluxes for promoting the fufion of metals.

The roe.

THE roe is inferior in fize to the other fpecies
which have been defcribed as belonging to this genus.
A full grown roe is fcarcely four feet in length, between
the nofe and the origin of the tail, and not above two
feet and a half high. Its form is fprightly and elegant:
its hair in fummer fhort and fmooth ; but grows, a-
gainft winter, to a great length. The fummer-colour
is a deep red at the point of the hair, and a dark grey
beneath. In winter, the general colour is hoary, but on
the back often very dark. The tail is only an inch in
length. Each of the hind legs is furnifiied with a
tuft of long hair, immediately under the firft joint:
the rump and the under fide of the tail are white : the
face is black : the horns of the roe are commonly from
eight to ten inches long, upright, round, and divided
only into three branches : they increafe till the fourth
year, and then appear complete. Its rounded horns,
the paucity of its antlers, its diminutive fize, and its
annually lofing and renewing the ornaments of its head,
fufficiently diftinguifh the roe from all other animals
of the deer or ftag kind.

The favourite haunts of the roe are hilly and wood-
ed trads of country j yet he feldom climbs the lofty
mountain, or plunges into the deep toreft. He is a
jTiOnoo-amous animal. Roes affociate in families, but
not in hfrds. A mal? and a female commonly form
an attachment in infancy, by which they continue uni-
ted through life, producing and fendijig cut annually

fucceifive

200 NATURAL HISTORY

fucceflive families of their progeny. The fexual ap-
petite does not roufe the roe to fuch wild extravagance
as the ftag or fallow-deer. He feels the impulfe of
love in the beginning of November, foon after depo-
fiting his horns. The female, after going with young
between five and fix months, produces in April, com-
monly twins, fometimetimes three, and fometimes only
a fingle fawn. She nurfes and watches over her pro-
geny with tendernefs. The buck is for a while hoftile
to them : and they are at the fame time in danger
from maxii and from the birds and beafts of prey. In
proteding them, fhe pradifes the fame arts as the fe-
male of the fpecies laft defcribed ; hides them in a
thicket } offers herfelf to mifiead an enemy ; and event
exerts herfelf with defperate courage in their defence.
Yet numbers of this fpecies fall in their infancy ; fo-
numerous, fo powerful, and fo vigilant, are their ene-
raies ! They have been by degrees extirpated from fe-
veral countries where they were once plentiful -, and
their numbers are continuing to decline. — In a fhort
time, the buck ceafes to regard the fawn with an un-
friendly eye; and the whole family then feed together.
The fawns, after continuing eight or nine months
under the protedion of their parents, leave them, and
form new families.

in fummer, wild roes feed on grafs, and eat, with
peculiar fondnefs, a plant called, in the Highlands of
Scotland, the roe-buck- berry. In winter, they brouze
on brambles, broom, heath, the tender branches of
fir and birch, and the catkins of the hazel and the
willow. They feledt their favourite plants with fafti-
dious delicacy. Roes thrive not when much difturbed
by the attentions of mankind. The tra(5ls of countries
the moft favourable to them, are thofe which confift of
hills, woods, and cultivated lands, interfperfed. The
roe does not abfolutely refufe familiar intercourfe with
mankind. Yet, no arts have fucceeded fo far as to
render any individuals of this fpecies entirely tame :

they

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 201

they are fubjed to fudden ftarts of caprice, and apt
to take up prejudices againft certain perfons, which
render them diiligrecable and dangerous companions.
Impatience of confinement prompts them, at times, to
leap with fuch violence againft park-walls, even when
they cannot poftibly efcape, that they are dafhed down
in a maimed and lacerated condition. The flefh of
the fawn, when very young, is loofe and foft. Killed
at the age of eighteen months, it is in its higheft per-
fedtion, and truly exquifite food. When the animal
has been fed in plains or vaUies, the flefh is always of
an inferior quality j when on marfhy grounds, abfo-
lutely bad j and, when in a narrow park, infipid.

The roe is a native of both Alia and Europe. Ac-
cording to Charlevoix, the fpecies exifts in great num-
bers in Canada. Although unknown in Ruffia, they
are among the animals in Sweden and Norway. They
are faid to be found in Brazil. In Britain, they exift no
where except in the Highlands of Scotland. Wales
can no lonaer boaft of the roe. The woods on the
fouth fide of Loch-Rannoch in Perthfhiive, thofe of
Langwall, on the fouthern borders of Caithnefs, with
the intermediate trads, are inhabited by this fpecies.
But they are moft numerous in the forefts of Inver-
cauld, in the midft of the Grampian hills.

Although the roe of the Highlands of Scotland be
unknown in Ruflia, another race, allied to that in cha-
rad:er, but marked with fome difcriminations, inhabits
all the temperate parts of Ruflia and Siberia It is the
tail-Iefs roe of Pennant, in his hiftory of quadrupeds
and ar(^ic zoology. It feems to be merely a variety,
not a diftindl fpecies. This animal is larger than our
common roe-buck: but its chief diilindion is the want
of a tail. It is covered with a long thick coat, of a
clay- colour on the under part of the body -, white on
the buttocks ; and on the other parts coloured like
our roe. Its horns divide, like thofe of our roe, into
three branches, and axe tuberculated at the bafe. In

Vol. III. No. 36. Cc fuaimer^

202 NATURAL HISTORY

fummer, thefe tall-lefs roes inhabit the lofty mountains
of Hycania, Siberia, and that part of Ruflia which lies
north-eaft of the river Volga. In winter, they defcend
from the mountains into the adjacent plains.

The axis.

THE axis is an animal nearly of the fize of the
fallow-deer j its horns dividing into three branches,
all pointing upwards, and its tail being of the fame
length as that of the fallow-deer. But of this fpecies
there are feveral varieties, differing in fize and colour.
The fpotted axis is of a light red colour, has its body
beautifully variegated with white fpots, and is marked
on the lower part of its fides, next the belly, with a
line of white : the tail is red above, and white beneath.
Pliny mentions this as an animal of India facred to
Bacchus, characterizing it by the refemblance which it
bears to a fawn, and its being fprinkled over with
white fpots. The fame fpecies ftill abounds in India.
On the banks of the Ganges, and in the ifland of
Ceylon, they are very common. From India they
have been introduced into Europe. Nor is the tem-
perature of our European climates at all unfavourable
to them. In the parks lately belonging to the King
of France, they have multiplied into flocks. In the
Duke of Richmond's parks in England, they are faid
to have propagated with the fallow-deer. In their man-
ners they are mild and peaceable, and refufe not the
familiarity of mankind. Their powers of fmelling are
fo exquifite, that, though they readily eat bread from
the hand, they refufe a piece which has been breathed on.

Nearly of the fame figure, but larger, and never
fpotted, but fometimes varying in colour from light
red to white, is the middle-fized axis of Pennant, an
inhabitant of the dry, hilly, forefts of Borneo, Java,
Celebes, Ceylon, and, probably, Sumatra. Hundreds
are often aflbciated in one herd : they grow very fat,
and are often purfued in Java and Celebes by nume-
rous

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 203

rous hunting parties, who kill multitudes in one ex-
pedition : their flefh, either falted or frelh, is excellent
food : the tongue is a delicacy : the hides are articles
of traffic. A pair of horns, fimilar in fhape to thofe
of the above varieties of the axis, but confiderably
larger and ftronger, not lefs than two feet nine inches
long, and two feet four inches from tip to tip, are to
be {qqw m the Britifh Mufeum. They are conjedured
to belong to a ftill larger variety of this fame fpecies j
a variety, which, as Mr. Pennant was informed by
Mr. Loten, are as tall as a horfe, and inhabit the low,
inarfhy, grounds in the ifland of Borneo.

VIRGINIAN-DEER.

THE Virginian-deer are a diitinft fpecies, common
to all the provinces of North America fouth of Cana-
da, but more numerous in the more fouthern. Their
horns are {lender, with numerous branches on the in-
terior fides, and much bent forwards, but without brow
antlers : they are nearly of the f.ime fize as the Engliih
fallow-deer,— -only fometimes rather larger: their co-
lour is a light cinereous brown; the length of the tail
ten inches. They are numerous on the extenfive plains
lying along the Mifliflippi and the rivers that run into
it: they are very probably likewife natives of Guiana:
their rutting feafon is in September : from September
till March, the bucks and does herd together : the
does then retire to bring forth, and live apart till, with
the return of autumn, both they and the bucks again
feel the influence of the genial pafTion : they are wan-
dering reftlefs animals : near the fhores, they are in-
fefled by infefls, which depofit their eggs on the head
and throat of the deer i and worms are of confequence
generated in thefe parts. From this and other caufes,
they are, in fuch paftures, always lean, and in a bad
condition. On the hills and inland plains, they are
not expofed to the fame annoyances, and accordingly

C c 2 thjive

204 NATURAL HISTORY

thrive better : they are fond of fait, and refort eagerly
to places impregnated with it : their /kins have been
an important article of commerce to the ftates, parti-
cularly of New York and Pennfylvania.

They are objeds of great confequence to the Sa-
vages. War and the chace are the two great employ-
ments which occupy thofe fimple people. The chace
is a noble and interefting diveriion. It not only affords
the means of fubliftence, but prepares the hunter for
enduring the fatigues, and pradlifing the arts and ftra-
tagems, of war. Vaft numbers of thofe deer are an-
nually destroyed by the Indian hunters j who either
furround them, fire the woods in which they are {hd-
tered, and, driving them into feme pei:infula or narrow
defile, f laughter crowds at once, without difficulty j
or, with greater artifice, difguife themfelves in the fkins
of deer formerly killed, having the heads and horns flill
appended to theni, and thus, deceiving the unwary
animals to approach familiarly, flay them befpre they
can fufpedl their danger,

MEXICAN-DEER,
•

THIS animal, in colour and figure, refembling our
European roe, but of a larger fize, and furnifhed with
horns of a different form, is confined, perhaps, to the
fouthern regions of the new world i to Mexico, Gui-
nea, and Brazil. Its head is large ; its neck thick ;
jts eyes large and bright. The fkin of the young is
marked with white rays. Its horns are ftrong, thick,
rugged, and bent forwards j trifurcated at the upper
part, and furnifhed befides with a fharp ered fnagg,
feparating from the trunk of the horn, about an inch
and an half above the root. It does not live always
retired in the interior parts of the country j but ven-
tures put, at times, upon the borders of the planta-
tions. Its flefh is not equal to that of our European
yoes, The fceenootung, an animal that has been ob*

^ ferved

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 205

ferved in the countries weft of Hudfon's bay, is fup-
pofed to belong to the fame fpecies.

The PORCINE-DEER.

THE porcine- deer is an oriental animal, about
three feet fix inches long, and nearly two feet and a
half in height: the figure of its body is thick and'
clumfy, like that of a hog : its legs are flender and
elegant: its horns are thirteen inches longj its tail
eight i its head ten and a half: the upper part of the
neck, body, and fides, is brown j the body and fides
are lighter coloured. They are natives of Borneo ;
and the late Lord Clive brought one to England from
Bengal: they are entrapped in pit-falls dug in the
ground, and covered over with flight materials, on
which they heedlefsly truft themfelves : their feet are
iifed for tobacco-ftoppers.

The MUNTJAC, or RIB-FACED DEER.

THIS deer is peculiarly characterized by three lon-
gitudinal ribs extending between the horns and eyes :
Its horns are fupported on a boney procefs, cover»;d
with hair, and rifing three inches above the fcull: they
are trifurcated, and have the upper fork hooked: the
upper jaw is, on each fide, armed with a tufk. The
muntjac is (haped like the porcine deer, but inferior in
iize to the Bntifh roebuck. Like the roe, this fpecies
afibciate only in families. They are inhabitants of
Java and Ceylon.

The grey or GUINEA DEER.

THIS deer is of the fize of a cat ; with lono- ears :
grey on the upper part of its body, but black below ;
and marked between the eyes with a black line. This
is m obfcure ipecies. The only defcription of it was

furnifhed

2o6 NATURAL HISTORY

furnifhed by Linnaeus : and, as the horns were \!^ant-
ing in the fpecimen which he examined, he could not
determine certainly whether it were a deer, d mufk, or
a female antelope.

The MOSCHUS, or MUSK, of the Order

P E C O R A.

THE diftinguifhing characfVeriftics of this animal
are as follow : they have no horns j there are
eight fmall cutting teeth in the lower jaw j in the up-
per, no cutting or fore teeth j but two long tufks, one
on each fide, projecting out of the mouth. An odo-
riferous fubftance produced by fome of thefe animals,
and which has long been ufed in perfumery and medi-.
cine, is what has chiefly recommended them to notice.
That fubftance was long known and valued in Europe
before any authentic information could be obtained
concerning the circumftances, form, and manners, of
the animals that afforded it.

TheMOSCHIFERUS, or MUSK of THIBET.

"IN form, this animal refembles a fmall roebuck. It
meafures three feet three inches in length, and in
height between two and three feet. Its upper jaw is
confiderably longer than the lower : its tulks are near-
ly two inches long, and projed, naked, beyond the
lower jaw : its ears are long and narrow, within of a
pale yellow, and without of a deep brown colour : the
hair of the body is very long, and ftands ere6l j each
hair is marked from tip to root with fhort waves ; the
colour at the root of the hair is black, in the middle
cinereous, and at the tips ferruginous. Each jaw is
armed with fix grinders : the hoofs are black, long,
and divided for a co.ifiderable length : the tail is only
im" inch long, and hid in the hair : the female is fmaller
than the male, has a fharper nofe, wants the two tufks,
ar.d has two fmall teats, bjt no mufk-bag : the male

is

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 207

is furniflied with a ftnall bag, of the fize nearly of aa
hen's egg, fituated under the prepuce, near the extre-
mity of the genital organ, and containing the celebra-
ted muik. It has the appearance of a brown fat fri-
able matter, and may be fqueezed out bv the orifice of
the bag. Before the animal attains its full growth, the
bag is 'empty. In adult males it contains ufually a
drachm and a half or two drachms of mufk. This ani-
mal is a native of Afia, and is found between 44 or 45
degrees and 60 degrees of north latitude. It inhabits
the kingdom of Thibet, the province of Mohang Meng
in China, Tonquin, and Bontan. In the Ruffian do-
minions, and on the confines between Ruilia and Chi-
na, it is found in the country around the lake Baikal,
and near the rivers Jenefea and Argun.

Naturally a mild and timid animal, the Thibet
mufk, in the rutting feafon, in the months of Nov^jm-
ber and December, acquires new courage from the im-
pulfe of love. Rival males then combat fiercely with
their tufks. As it is naturally timid, fo it is alfo foli-
tary and unfocial. It feeks the cliffs and pine- clad
fummits of fleep and lofty mountains ; defcending at
times into the deep vales by which thofe are feparated.
In running, leaping, climbing, fwimming, it difplays
aftonifhing agility .° Few animals that the hunter pur-
fues, lead him through greater dangers, or require him
to exert fuch addrefs and adivity in the chace. But the
value of the mufk caufes danger to be overlooked ;
and the animal is fhot with arrows, or taken in fnares,
or fometimes falls by a fudden difcharge from a crofs-
bow placed in its tracks. Among the many fabulous
tales which were formerly related of this fpecies, and
the manner in which the mufk was obtained from them,
one fadt appears not improbable, that they often empty
the mulk-bag, and leave it, in rubbing themfelves upon
the rocks. What they depofit in this manner is faid to
be fuperior in quality to that which is taken from the
bag. The befl mufk is obtained diredly fiom Thibet.

That

2o8 NATURAL HISTORY

That of Mofcow and of China is for the mofl: part
adulterated : the flefh, though infeded, efpecially a-
bout the rutting time, with the mulk, is tolerable food:
the fkin and hair are not without their ufes.

The INDIAN MUSK.

THIS fpecies are inhabitants of India ; fomewhat
]ar6;er in fize than the former; and diftinguifhed by
flender legs, oblong, eredt, ears, and the refemblance
which their head bears, in fhape, to that of a horfe :
the hair is fhort, and of a tawny colour on the upper
part, and whitifh on the under part of the body; and,
like the former fpecies, the feet have fpurious hoofs.

The BRAZILIAN MUSK.

IN fize, this animal approaches to an equality with
European roebuck. Its back, fides, cheft, and thighs,
are of a bright ruft colour ; but the lower part of the
belly, and the infide of the thighs, white: its eyes are
large and black j its ears four inches long ; the tail
fix inches long; the legs flender, yet mufcular. Thefe
creatures, peculiar to Guinea and Brazil, are remark-
able for their timidity, and for a correfpondent light-
nefs of form, and agility of motion. Like goats, they
are fometimes iGtn {landing with their four legs toge-
ther on the point of a rock. The delicacy of their
flefh draws upon them a number of enemies. The
Indians, tygers, and other beads of prey, all eagerly
purfue them : their fafety is moft endangered when
they attempt to fwim ; for their legs are but very ill
adapted to that exercife. They are ranked in this ge-
nus, not as affording mufk, but as wanting horns.

Thi MEMINNA, or CEYLON CHEVROTIN.

THIS animal, an inhabitant of Java and Ceylon,
pofTefTes alfo the generic charaderiftics of the mufk.

Its

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. aop

Its form is diminutive: it is not more than one foot
five inches in length : its whole weight is only five
pounds and a half: its ears are large and open j its
tail very fhort ; its fides and haunches are variegated
with fpots, and tranfveiTe bars of white on a cinereous
olive ground : the reft of the upper part of its body
is a cinereous olive, without fpots : its throat, bread,
and belly, are white.

The JAVA, or PIGMY MUSK.

PECULIAR to Java is another animal of this ge-
nus, no larger than a rabbit, with remarkably {lender,
puny, legs; its fnout and ears bare, without pits in
the groin, or under the eye ; having tufts on its knees ;
and under its throat two long divergent hairs : the
neck is hoary, with an intermixture of yellow j a black
line marks the crown of the headj the general colour
of the body is ferruginous ; the neck and belly are
white, but the neck variegated with tv^'o duiky fpots :
the tail is of a moderate length, and terminates in a
white tuft. It has no fpurious hoofs.

The guinea MUSK.

THIS animal, notvvithftanding its name, is an in-
habitant of the continent of India, and the Oriental
iflands, rather than of Guinea. It is only nine inches
and a half in length j has two fmall hufks in its upper
jaw J large ears ; and a tail an inch long : its belly is
white, and the reft of its body tawny ; but the fpeci-
mens vary in colour. Among the Malays, they are
caught in great numbers, carried to market in cages,
and fold at a very i^oderate price.

Vol. hi. No. 36, D d The

2IO NATURAL HISTORY

The CAMELUS, or CAMEL, of the Order

P E C O R A.

^TpHIS genus of quadrupeds are characfberized, by
■*- wanting cutting teeth in the upper jaw ; having
the upper lip divided in the fame manner as hares ;
having fix cutting teeth in the lower jaw ; fmall hoofs ;
and neither fpurious hoofs nor horns. The fpecies
are as follow :

The ARABIAN CAMEL, or DROMEDARY,

with only one Bunch on the Back.

THE height of this animal, from the top of its
bunch to the ground, is fix feet fix inches : its head
is fmall ; its ears fhort ; its neck long, flender, and
bending : the hoofs are, in part, but not thoroughly,
divided : the bottom of the foot is tough and pliant :
the tail is long, and terminates in a tuft, alfo of confi-
derable length. On the legs this animal has fix callo-
lities ; four on the fore legs, and two on the hinder ;
befides another on the lower part of the breaft. Thefe
are the parts on which it rells. Its hair is fine, foft,
and of confiderable length j longefl, indeed, upon the
bunch, the neck, and thQ throat : in the middle of the
the tuft terminating the tail, the hair is foft and fine:
on the exterior parts, coarfe, and often black : on the
protuberance it is dufky j over the reft of the body, of
a reddifh afh colour. Befides the fame internal flruc-
ture as other ruminating animals, the camel is fur-
nifhed with an additional bag, which ferves as a refer-
voir, to contain a quantity of water, frefh and pure,
till it become necefTary to quench his thirft, and mace-
rate his food.

The Arabian camel po^efles the powers of fenfa-
tlon in a high degree. His e/e is fufficiently acute :
he is faid to fmell water at half a league's diftance:
his tafte indeed is not very refined i for he eats with

high

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 211

high fatisfadlion, thiftles, acacia fhrubs, and other infi-
, pid plants of a fimilar nature: his ear is not infenfible
to the power of mufic : even in his native climute, and
in the beft condition, he has a pitiful complaining af-
ped: : his manners are gentle, peaceable, and fubmif-
five. The unruly horfe fubmits to reftraint, and re-
ceives a rider or a burdi'n, with indignant impatience;
but the camel kneels obligingly for his mafter to load
him, or mount upon his back. Thou ..h of a heavy and
apparently unwieldy form; this animal aioves with con-
fiderable fpeed. With a hale of goods on his back,^an
ordinary camel will travel a journey of many days, at
the rate of feven or eight leagues a-day. Dromedaries
of a fuperior breed, and trained, not for beafts of bur-
then, but folely for the purpofes of travelling and war,
have been known to travel at the rate of thirty leagues
a-day J though bearing, each, two or three foldiers,
with their war equipage : yet it is not the quicknefs
of his motions, but the length of his legs, his travelling
with a fteady, equal, pace, and his feldom needing to
flop for reft or refrefhment, that enables this animal to
perform fuch journies. The paflion of love exerts the
fame infuriating influence on this as on the other fpecies
of the animal creation. His negligence of food, his
wild cries, the foam ifTuing from his mouth, and the
reftleffnefs of his motions, all indicate the violence of
impulfe he then feels. Becoming a ftranger even to
the perfon of his mafter ; his jaws muft be confined
with a ftrong muzzle, otherwife lie bites furioufly and
indifcriminately. The female kneels to receive the
male, who crouches behind to cover her. After going
nearly a year with her young, ftie brings only one at a
birth; which fhe fuckles and rears with due tender-
nefs : it is left under her care for twelve months. They
live at leaft for forty or fifty years.

The dromedary is an inhabitant of the warmer re-
gions of the globe : the fandy deferts of Arabia are
his favourite abode : but the fpecies wander northward

D d 2 to

212 NAT, URAL HISTORY

to the confines of Siberia : they are numerous in Per-
fia : they liave, in all ages, been known in Syria and
Paleftine : they have penetrated even into Barbary and
Morocco, and the burning regions near the line : they
al^ound in Indoftan and China, and other countries in
the Eaft Indies. Not only the negroes, but alfo the
camels, of Africa have been introduced by the Euro-
pean planters into the Weft-India iflands. Attempts
have been made to enrich Europe with this fpecies. But
thofe which have been imported, have all either died
without procreating their fpecies, or produced a p-jny,
fickly, progeny, that fcarcely furvived their birth. Yet
in the drier and more mountainous parts of 1 artary,
Periia, and Turkey, where the temperature of rhe air
is not milder than in thefouthern countries of Europe,
camels thrive even better than in hotter climates j a
circumftance which affords a prefumption, that judi-
cious treatment might preferve and multiply the fpe-
cies, at leaft in Italy, France, or Spain.

Were it not for the camel, the wilds of Arabia
would fcarcely be habitable by mankind. Its iandy
plains muft have hitherto remained unexplored, did
not this animal prefent itfelf to condud: the traveller
through thofe dreary regions. He who is by any un-
fortunate accident deprived of his camel in that jour-
ney, inevitably peridies. In vain might the Arab ex-
ped his horfe to convey him through a country where
he mud travel, perhaps, for along feries of days, with-
out approaching atiy human habitation ; without find-
ing a brook, a well, or even a puddle, from which he
might quench his thirit, or a few tufts of grafs to allay
his hunger. The graceful form, the keen fpirit, the
generous magnanimity, of that animal, qualify him not
for fuch a tafk. But the camel, patient, fubmiffive,
and indefatigable ; unfubdued by toil, by heat, by
hunger, or by thirfl ; content with little food, and that
little of the fimpleft kind -, carrying in his belly a ca-
pacious refervoir, from which he caii quench his thirft;

an4

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 213:

and having his feet armed by nature with a tough and
yieklino- fubftance on which flipping fand or pointed
ftones can make no impreffion ; this animal is deftined
to enlarge the abilities of man, and to afliil him to tri-
umph over the aufterity and barrennefs of nature. His
fize and ftrength enable the camel to bear without dif-
ficulty, not only a rider, but the baggage and provi-
fions which his rider may need in a long journey : for
himfelf but little provifion is neceffiiry. A few balls
of flour preDared from beans or barley, or a fmall
quantity of thefe fubfliances in their natural ftate, are
all that he needs, in addition to the fhrubs of the de-
fert. The milk of the female diluted with water, or
even drunk without dilution, affords a pleafant and
"wholefome beverage. In cafes of extreme diftrefs,
when his provifions are all confumed, anJ his leathern
bottles entirely emptied of water, the traveller, before
finking in defpair to perifh of third and hunger, kills
his camel, drinks the water remaining in the refervoir
in his fiomach, and makes a meal on his flelh. Few
travellers have ever had greater occafion to try the per-
feverance of the camel, and receive all the fervices
which this animal is capable of affording, than Mr.
Bruce, on his return from the court of Abyffinnia to
Cairo ; on his way between Sennaar and Seyne, in
the deferts eaft of the Nile, after a long and dreary
journey, in which he and his attendants had exhaufted
their provifions, to the lafl remains of " their miferable
iiock of black bread and dirty watery" the flrength of
his cameis was fo far overcome, or fo- much v/ere they
benumbed by cold, that no arts nor efforts could raife
them from the ground ; or, at leaR, prevail with them
to ftand but two minutes, without kneeling down a-
gain. In this hopelefs fituation, his only refource was,
to kill two of thoie fainting; animals, to draw out the
water that remained in their flomachs for drink, each
affording about four gallons, and take a part of their
a^Cn. for food. The fame traveller relates, that the

3 camels

at4 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

camels of the caravans, which travel from the Niger
acrofs the defert of Selima, are faid [to take at once as
much water as they need for forty days. He aflerts,
as an unqueftionable fadt, that even an ordinary camel
will live, upon occafion, fourteen or fifteen days with-
out water.

Mankind owe alfo other benefits to this animal. The
Arabs, and other nations among whom they are com-
mon, ufe their flefh and milk, not merely in cafes of
extreme neceffity, but even for their ordinary food.
The flefh is dry, but of an agreeable tafte j though,
except for feafts, none are ever killed but the old, and
thofe without any pains being taken to fatten them.
The milk is wholefome, nourifhing, and antifeptic;
but always faintly acid in its tafte. In the more tem-
perate latitudes of Afia and Africa, the hair is of a filky
finenefs, and fells at a confiderable price. It is wrought
into feme valuable fluffs. His fkin is another article
of great value. Camel's dung is the only fuel which
travellers ufe to kindle their fires with in the defert. If
dry, it kindles inftantaneoufly, and affords a ftrong
heat, and a bright f^ame. No wonder then, that the
Arabians have, from the earlieft ages, afliduoufly a-
vailed themfelves of the fervices which this animal is
qualified to afford. Six thoufand camels were part of
the immenfe wealth of the patriarch Job; to tend, to
train, to improve the breed, and to multiply the
numbers of their camels, is to this day the chief em-
ployment of many of the Arabians. In tracing the
annals of remotp antiquity, we cannot difcover the
period when camels exifted only in a wild ftate. But
ib gentle an animal, would, the inftant he became
known to man, be fubjefled to his authority. In E-
gypt, the camel has been perhaps as long knov^rn and
ferviceable as in Arabia. He is there ufed chiefly as a
bcaft of burden. A loaded camel travels between
Cairo and Suez, a journey of fix-and- forty hours,
without needing either food or water. The food on

which

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 215

which the Egyptians fuftain him, is bruifed ftones or
kernels of dates. The Periians have feveral excel-
lent breeds of camels. Their ftrongeft, which they
call chotornain, carry a load, a thoufand or eleven hun-
dred pounds in weight. Thofe of a fecondary cha-
rader, called in Perfia, chotor, in Arabia, Jemal, and
in Indoftan, oatt, bear fix or feven hundred. The
feebleft race, named, in Arabic, ragahill, carry at lead
five hundred weight. When the camel-drivers wifh
their camels to quicken their pace, they chant to them
wild irregular airs, or beat rude tunes on fmall kettle-
drums. The Perfians have yet a more delicate and
better-fhaped breed, denominated, in their language,
chotordor, or chotobaadj and by the Arabians, deloul,
or elmecharis. Thefethey train to make long marches,
and feed with choice and fubftantial food. In the Eng-
lirti dominions in India, the temper of the camel is
faid to be fo froward, and his motions fo violent, that
the days of his hircarah or groom are frequently fhort-
ened by the trouble and fatigue which he fuffers in
managing him. Wild camels are faid to fublift ftill in
the defertSj in the temperate latitudes of Afia.

The BACTRIAN, or TURKISH DROMEDA-

RY, with two Bunches on the Back.

THIS animal is diftinguiHied from the foregjo-
ing fpecies, in that it has two bunches, the body long-
er, the tail lower, and the hair of a yellowifh brown ;
inftead of which the came4 has only one bunch, and
that very high, and which is generally covered with
whiteor afti-coloured hair. Thefe animals are naturally
very tradlable, and of great flrengthj for they can carry
from from fifteen hundred to two thoufand pounds
weight, and travel fafter than the other camels, many
leagues a day, without eating; and alfolike them will
continue without drinking for twelve days together.
Thefe animals often weigh three thoufand pounds, and

are

2i6 NATURAL HISTORY

are from fix to eight feet high. The form of their
body is neither difproportionable nor ugly : the head
and nodrils are oblong ; and the lips and mouth like
thofe of a goat : its cutting teeth are very large, and
at a great diftance from the double teeth, of which
theie are three in the upper jaw, and two in the under ;
the ears are hairy, fmall, and fomething like thofe of
a horfe ; the neck is thick and handfomely arched ; it
lies low in the back, and feems to be inferted between
the fore-legs : from the throat, as far as the breaft, it
is adorned with beautiful hair, long and curled, of a
dark-brown chcfnut colour: the whole body is cover-
ed witii the fame, which on the back, is yellowifh ; to-
wards the belly, brown j and under quite dark : the
belly is grey; under the breaft a hard fkin forms a
kind of fhield or defence, which comes down in a
point towards the fore-legs, fo that, when he fits down,
he refts himfelf entirely upon it: there is a thick pro-
tuberance growing round the thigh, crowned with a
tuft of long black hair; from that place the legs feem
to leflen towards the bottom, where they again grow
large : the hoofs are cloven ; the fore feet much larger
tkan the hind : probably becaufe the fore- part of the
body carries the greateft fhare of burden : the tail
is (hort, adorned at the end with hair, like that of an
afs : the fkin is thick and hard; on this account per-
haps all perfpiration is fupprefled, which may be the
reafon why thi§ animal drinks fo feldom. Dromeda-
ries feed on grafs like oxen, and are very well fatisfied
with it. This fpecies inhabit the more temperate cli-
mates, and, being of fuperior flrength, they move with
a firmer ftep, and are covered with finer hair. Tar-
tary, Turkey, and Perfia, are the regions which the
camels chiefly prefer ; but dromedaries are moft nu-
merous in Arabia and Barhary. February is their
feafon for copulation. The female is a year pregnant ;
produces only one at a birth; and fuckles her young
for two years. The A'-abian merchants, every year,

conduit

QF (QUADRUPEDS. 217

pondud troops of dromedaries Into the provinces of
Turkey and Perfia ; where they procure camels to co-
pulate with them ; and, by thus eroding the breed,
obtain a mongrel race, in vyhom the vigour of the ca-
mel is united with the mild docility of the dromedary.
Thefe animals are ftill found in the northern parts of
India, and in the deferts on the confines of China.
They are poffibly defcended from a domeftic race thae
may have accidentally become wild. Dr, RufTel re-
lates, that, except in caravans coming from Bagdad to
Bafibra, the dromedary with two bunches is fcarcely
ever ictn m Syria.

The lama, or PERUVIAN CAMEL.

IN form and manners, this American quadrupe4
bears fo confiderable a refemblance to the dromedary
and camel of Afia and Africa, that, notwithftanding
the inferiority of its fize, naturalifts agree in confider-
ing it as a congeneric fpecies. The lama is fcarcely
four htt and a half high, and not more than fix htt
in length; his neck is arched, but not fo much as the
camel's; his back does not rife into fo large a bunch ;
his tail Is graceful ; his htt are elegantly formed ; he
has a bunch on his breaft, which conftantly exudes a
yellowifh, oily, matter; his hair is long and foft ; his
colours are of a beautiful clouding of black, white, and
a dufky yellow; his body is often fwelled with a con-
fiderable depth of fat, immediately under the fKin ;
his head is not armed with horns j his nofe is fliort ;
his hoofs are divided; his eyes are large, black, and
fparkling. In the ftru6lure of his ftomach, he has four
ventricles, one of which is cellular: he has neither
cutting nor canine teeth In his upper jaw; his feet are
armed with a fort of fpur, which aififts in fupporting
the animal on rugged, difficult, ground; his wool or
hair is long on his'^flank and belly, but (hort on his
back, crupper, and tail : his voice is a fort of neighing

Vol. III. No. 36, L e found;

2i8 NATURAL HISTORY

found. Though naturally mild and inoffenfive, he
defends hirafelf when teized or attacked, by butting,
kicking, and fquirting at his enemy, through a fiflure
in his upper lip, an acrid fpittle which inflames and
blilters the /kin. His motions are flow j he bears up
his head, and walks on with a grave, regular, majefl:ic,
pace : he eats but little, and fcarcely ever drinks : his
food is the coarfeft and mofl: ordinary plants. With
the mildnefs, the lama poflefles all the obfliinacy, of
the camel. He cheerfully receives any load to which
his flrength not unequal ; and, if the place to which his
burthen is to be conveyed be known to him, he pro-
ceeds to it without a guide. But when overloaded, or
fatigued with travelling, he fquats down on his belly,
with his feet under hinij and no feverity of blows will
compel him to rife. Squeezing his tefticles fometimes
fucceeds, when every other art has been tried in vain.
By continued abufe, the poor animal is fometimes
driven to defpair, and ftrikes his head from fide to fide
«pon the ground, till he dies. He feels the tranfports
of the genial paflion in the end of fummer, or begin-
ning of autumn. They aduate him with extraordi-
nary violence. Yet the ftru«il:ure of the parts of gene-
ration in both the male and the female, renders copula,
tion a very tedious and difficult taflc. The male lama
fometimes compels Ihe-goats to receive his embraces j
but does not impregnate theni. The female lama goes
five or fix months with young ; never produces more
than one at a birth, and is furniflied with two paps to
fuckle it. The young male becomes capable of pro-
creation at the age of three years. The term of his life
never extends much beyond fourteen. Peru is the na-
tive country of the lama. He has been fettled by na-
ture on the mountains of that elevated tracfl of counrry.
The fpecies at prefent abound through the whole ex-
tent of the kingdom of Peru, from Potofi to Cai ac-
cas ; and the indufl;ry of the Spaniards has propagated
them through other parts of their American domi-
nions.

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. 219

.lilons. When the Spaniards firft penetrated into South
America, they were aftonifhed to find it deftitute of
the domeftic animals to which they had been accuf-
tomcd in Europe. The Indians had no horfes, ox-
en, affes, or mules, to affift their induilry. The la^-
ma and the pacos were the only animals which they
cultivated as domeftic. And to fee them ufe fheep,
(for fuch did thtio feem) as beafts of burthen, height-
ened the contempt which their European vifitants had
conceived for their character. There appeared a re-
markable Similarity between the temper and manners
of the lama and thofe of his Indian mafler. The
iame mildnefs, the fame cool phlegmatic temper, the
fame perfeverance in labour, diftingui/hed both. Rude
and inartificial as were the nianners of the fimple Pe-
ruvians; they had, however, learned, not only to load
the lama as a beaft of burthen, but alfo to yokii him
in the plough.

The Spaniards, upon fettling in Peru, foon found
that this fpecies, v/hom they had thought too pitiful to
be cultivated as the principal domeftic animal, was not
ill qualified for the labours in which the nature of the
country induced them to have recourfe to its affiftance.
Ihe roads were fo rugged and uneven, that an animal,
lefs fure footed, or of a temper lefs cool and phlegma-
tic, than the lama, could fcarcely travel along them with
fafety. For the labours of the mines, a creature of a
more impetuous, generous, fpirit, would have been
very ill qualified. The lama conveys the ore of Po-
tofi over the mofl: rugged hills, and through the nar-
roweft paths of the Andes. He fears not to defcend
precipices, and climb fteep afcents, where ev^en man
himfeJf dares not accompany him. An hundred and
fifty pounds is his ordinary load. The ftrongefl: carry
two hundred. With this load, the animal v.iU travel
four or five days without indicating the fmaileil: fa-
iigue. He flops to reft, without waiting for the direc-
tions of his driver i and obftinately repofes four-and-

E e 2 twenty

ado N A T U R A L H I S T 6 ft ¥

twenty or thirty hours, before he can be prevailec!
with to refume his journey. Requiring but a fmal!
portion of food, he takes that by browzing, as he tra-
vels, on any fhr^b3 or herbage that happen to fringe
liis path. At night he only refts and ruminates.

Befides fervine as a beaft of burthen, the lama af-
fords various articles of no fmall utility to human life-.
His wool, though of a ftrong, difagreeable, fcent, is
ufed as a material for cloth. It forms likewife fo thick
a covering on the animal, that he needs not a faddle to
'protec5l his back under a load. His fkin is of a very
clofe texture; and is accordingly made into flioes by
, the Indians, and ufed for harnefTes by the Spaniards.
The flefh, efpecially of the young lama, is wholefome
and of a pleafant tafte. As our principal domeftic ani-
mals, the horfe, the afs, the fheep, and the goat, have,
hy the cares of the European fettlers, been introduced
into America j fo the lama has alfo been imported into
Europe. But the climate of Spain, the country into
which he has been brought, has always proved too hot
for him. Norv;ay, Scotland, or the fummits of the
Alps or Pyrenees, might perhaps prove more favour-
able; the temperature of thefe regions approaching
nearer to the cold of the Andes.

t H £ G U A N A C 6.

IN form and manners, the 2;uanaco fo nearlv re-
fembles the lama, that he has been viewed by fome
eminent naturaMs a:s merely a latna in a wild ftate.
But, as befides various other diftindions of chara6ler,
the guanaco, whether tame or wild, conil;antly refufes
with abhorrence, to copulate with tiie lama, we cannot
hefitate to rank thefe animals as diftin(5t fpecies. The
guanaco inhabits that range of moiinrains in South
America, called the Cordilleras. The feVerities of
winter oblige him to defcend into the plains of Chili
and Peru. A full-grown guanftco is about feven feet
2 in

b F QJJ A D II U P £ D S. ^7\

in length j and four feet three inches in height : hii
ears refemble thofe of a horfe : his tail is formed like
a {lag's : the upper parts of his body are yellow j the
■ lower white : he has no protuberance on his breaft,
no bunch on his back: his fore-feet are longer than
thofe behind : he moves with a fort of leaping pace.
This fpecies are gregarious. On the fummits of the
Cordilleras, thev often affemble in flocks of feveral
hundreds. They are fcronger, more adive, and nim*
bier, than the lr.ma. Although in a ftate of liberty,
they are not fecure from the perfecution of man. The
value of their fleeces renders them an obje(5l of profit
to the Jndian hunter. When he furprifes them in
places of eafy accefs, i}Q cannot fail of being fuccefsful
in the chace. But give them time to efcape among
the precipitous cliffs, which are their favourite haunts;
and both men and dog^ mufl: delift in difappointment
from the .purfuit. They feem incapable of fubfifting
in either a warm climate, or a thicker atmofphcro,
than that of the elevated region in which they at pre-
fent abound.

The PACOS.

BESIDES the lama, the Indians, before the arri-
val of the Spaniards in South America, had dcmefti^
cated no other animal but the pacos^ which is, m
'in fhape, nearly fmiilar to the iama, but much infe-
rior in fize, and is covered with long, fine, wool, fome-
times entirely black, aixi fometimes of a brown colour,
intermixed with yellow. In dignity it feems to bear
'nearly the fame relation to the lama as the afs bears
to the horfe. llie lama bears a load of an hundred and
'fifty pounds ; the pacds is overloaded, if more tli««
*iifty be laid upon him.

The paces, as well as the lama and the guanaco, is
'confined to that flupendous range of mountains, whicli
^term'inates the foufhern extremity of the American con-
tinent.

,^11 NATURAL HISTORY

tinent. His fleece is an article of great value. It is
manufa<5lured into gloves, ftockings, bed-clothes, and
carpets. Neither the beaver of Canada, the goat of
Angora, nor the fheep of Caramania, affords a finer
material for cloth than the pacos. His wool feels like
filk, and is fold at as high a price. His flefh is eatenj
though not very delicate food.

The vicugna.

IN the vicugna, we have an animal which bears
nearly the fame relation to the pacos, as the guanaco
bears to the lama. In figure, and in the form of his
tail, he fomewhat refembles our goat. But his neck
is twenty inches in length: his head thick, fhort, and
dertitute of horns; his ears fmall, erefb, and fharp-
pointed. His wool is ihorter, but ftill finer, than that
of the pacos, of a beautiful rofe- colour, and of fuch a
nature, that a dye may be eafily fixed upon it. His
belly often affords a bezoar. This is a wald, but a
gregarious, animal. Like the lama, the guanaco, and
the pacos, he is confined within that lofty range of
country, which bounds the fouthern continent of A-
inerica. He climbs and leaps among the lofty cliffs
of the Cordilleras. The greatell: numbers are found
in the provinces of Chili, Coquimbo, and Copiapo.
Naturalifls have generally regarded the Vicugna as
being no other than the pacos in a wild ftate. But,
however favourable circumftances may be, the in-
tercourfe of love never takes place between thefe two
animals.

The vicugna is remarkably fwift and timid, and
formed to endure thefevereft extremities of cold. Itis
fcarcely pofTible to tame one of thefe creatures. Their
fleeces are a very alluring prize to the Indian hunters.
Their fiefh too, is very delicate and juicy. The me-
thod of taking them, is to drive a flock, or as many as
pofTible, into fome narrow defile, furrounded to the

height

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 921;

height of three or four feet, with cords, hung with
fmall pieces of linen or woollen cloth j thefe wave in
the wind, and fo fright and confound the timid ani-
mals, that they cannot pofTibly make their efcape.
There are probably varieties of this, and of the three
foregoing fpecies, which have not been yet diftindly
defcribed by naturalifts,

SUS, the HOG, of the Order BELLU^.

nPHE charaderiftics of this genus of quadrupeds
•*- are as follow : there are four cutting teeth in the
upper jaw, whofe points converge ; and, for the moft
part, fix in the lower jaw, which ftand forwards : there
are two tuflcs in each jaw, thofe in the upper jaw be-
ing ihort, while thofe of the under jaw are long, and
extend out of the mouth : the fnout is prominent,
moveable, and has the appearance of having been
cut off, or truncated : the feet are armed with divided
or cloven hoofs : there are fix fpecies j the fcrofa, scthi*
opicus, tajaffu, babyrufl'a, porcus, and africanug.

The SCROFA, or COMMON HOG.

THIS animal is covered over v/ith briftles. The
ears of our tame hog are long, fharp- pointed, and
douching. White is the mioft general colour; but
other colours are often intermixed in various propor-
tions.— The wild boar of Europe, merely a variety of
the fame fpecies, has, under his brirtles, a covering of
foft, fliort, curled, hair : his ears are fhort, and fome-
what rounded : he is of a dark, brindled, colour. —
The Siam hog is another variety, diftinguifhed from
thefe merely by the greater length of its tail. In fome
refpefts the hog feems to form an intermediate link;
between the whole and the cloven footed animals ; iri
others he feems to occupy the fame rank between the
cloven-footed and digitated. DelllLute of horns; fur-
ijilhed with teeth in both jawsj with only one fto-

mach J

?24 NATURAL HISTORY

jnach J incapable of ruminating; and producing at on«^
birth a numerous progeny : the union of thefe charac-
teriftics confers on the hog a remarkable pecuh'arity of
character. He does ript, h'ke other animals, fhed hi?,
fore teeth, and fhoot out a, fecond fet; he retails his
fir ft fet throughout hfe,

' Hogs enjoy none of the powers of fenfation in emi*
nent perfection. They indeed hear diftant founds;
and the wild boar diftinguifhes the fcent of th^ hunter
and his dogs, long before they can approach him. But
fo imperfed is their {Qel'ingy that they fometimes fufFer
inice to burrow in the fat of their backs, without dif-
covering any uneailnefs, or even appearing fenfible of
the intrufion. In their tafte they fhew a fingular de-
gree of caprice. In the choice of herbs, they are more
delicate than any other herbivorous animal; yet de-.
vour the moft naufeous and putrid carrion with more
indifcriminate voracity than any beaft of prey. Nay,
at times, they fcruple not to gorge their appetite with
the living limbs of their young : and, though their fe-
rocity and courage are feldom to be feared, yet even the
domeftic hog has been often known to mangle infants,
out of defperate voracity. The hog is remarkable for
the fmalhiefs of his eyes. A perfon whofe eyes are
very diminutive, and deep funk in his head, is com-
monly faid to be pig-eyed. The form pf the hog is
inelegant; and his carriage is equally mean as his man-:
ners. His unwieldy (liape renders him no lefs inca-
pable of fwiftnefs and fprightlinefs, than he is of grace-
fulncfs of motion. His appearance is always drowfy
and ftupid. He delights to bafk in the fun, and tq
wallow in the mire. His grunting voice is well known.
An approaching ftorm feems to affefl his feelings in a
fingular manner. On fuch an occafion, he runs about
in a frantic ftatc, and utters loud fhrieks of horror.

The wild boar is a nobler animal than our domeftic
hocr. His ("enfes are more acute, his manners more
dignified, his courage and adlivity greatly fuperior.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. ^25

When young, they aflbciate in herds ; after attaining
their full growth, individuals become lefs diffident of
their own ftrength, and keep lefs carefully together.
But many of the old ftill continue to affociate with the
young j and, when danger approaches, as they are the
ableft, fo they are the fir ft to face. The wild few is
peaceful, except when her young are injured. Paren-
tal fondnefs then prompts her to the moft defperate
fury in their defence. The wild boar is never formi-
dable, till roufed and provoked. He is frequently an
objeA of the chace. He retreats (lowly before the
dogs j diffufing, as he flees, a ftrong odour, by which
his path is eafily traced. Dogs find it dangerous to
follow too faft. He turns, and defends himfelf with
refolute valour, infli(5ling often fevere, and fometimes
mortal, wounds on his purfuers. A young wild boar,
being fwifter and more timid than the old, is not eafily
hunted down. Thefe animals are fometimes taken
by furprife, as well as by the open and more generous
arts of the chace. The fnout of the wild boar is.efteemed
a luxurious dilh. His tefticlesmuft be cutoff imme-
diately after he dies, othei'V/'ife they foon taint the flefb,
fo as to render it unfit for being eaten. The young
of the wild boar have been fometimes taken and caf-
trated ; and, after that, difmiffed into the woods, till
they fhould grow up and fatten.

Roots and fruits are the principal food of both the
wild and the domefiic variety of this fpecies. Ihey
eat grains very willingly > and a proportion of fait
mixed with their food contributes to fatten hogs, as
well as other animals. In Scotland, potatoes, which
are raifed in fuch abundance, and form {o confiderable
a part of the fuftenance of the poor, are alfo adminif-
tered in great plenty to gratify the voracity of the
hog, and feem to be an article of food excellently
adapted to his conftitution. The fnouts of thefe ani-
mals are formed for digging in the ground; and na-
ture has taught them to employ them in that mann.er.

Vol. III. iN'o. 37. F f lame

t,iS NATURAL HISTORY

Tame hogs are often very troublefome in cultivated
grounds j ploughing them up with their fnouts, and
thus entirely fruftrating the labours of the cultivator*
Worms, the wild carrot, and other roots, are the ob-
jeds of their fearch. The wild boar, having a longer
and ftronger fnout than the domeftic, digs deeper, and
continues his furrow nearly in a ftrait line. The in-
habitants of America find the hog very beneficial in
clearing their lands of rattle- fnakes, to whom he is a
conftant enemy, and whom he devours without fuffer-
ing injury.

Thefe animals are fit for procreation at the age of
nine, or at moft of twelve, months : their venereal
ardour is keen and grofs : the fow admits the boar at
almoft all feafons : fhe brings forth in the beginning
of the fifth month after conception ; and, as the fuck-
ling of their young does not hinder her from foliciting
the embraces of the male in a fhort time, fhe often
produces two litters in the courfe of the year. She
generally brings a numerous progeny at her birth ; her
firft litter is lefs numerous than thofe which follow.
She bears often not fewer than twenty pigs at once ;
and is furnifhed with a number of paps to fuckle them.
Many of the pigs are killed young. A confidsrable
number of the males, which are preferved to be brought
up, are caftrated at the age of fix months, or earlier.
Thefe animals, when fuffered to fee the natural term
of life, live from fifteen to five-and-twenty, or thirty,
years. Their fize and fl:rength continue to improve
till the fifth or fixth year. They are infefied by lice,
and ajfflidled by fcurvy, meafles, and other difeafes
'which attend a fcrophulous habit of body.

Almoft every region over the globe pofTefies animals
of this fpecies, either in a tame or in a wild ftate :
they are indeed found to be incapable of fubfifting in
Kamtfchatka, and the frigid zones, where the cold is
too intenfe for their conftitutions. Wild hogs abound
through all Europe, except in the Britifii ides, and the

countries

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 3-27

ceuntries north of the Baltic. They are equally dif-
fufed through Afia, from Syria to the borders of the
Jake Baikal; and in Africa, on the coaft of Barbary :
they abound in the Oriental ifles, Ceylon, Celebes,
and Java : they were not originally natives of Ame-
rica ; but, being introduced by the European fettlers,
they have multiplied in the warmer climates of that
hemifphere, to an aftonifhing degree. Vaft droves of ■
wild hogs inhabit the forefts of South America ; which
appear to be merely the defcendants of thofe originally
introduced from Europe, relapfed, in the courfe of
time, into a ftate of nature.

Contemptible as he may appear, the hog Is, in a very
confiderable degree, beneficial to mankind. His fiefh
is a pleafant, fubftantial, and not unwholefome, articla
of food. It affords numberlefs materials to the table
of the epicure ; and, among others, brawn, a prepara-
tion peculiar to England. The paps of a fat, preg-
nant, fow, newly cut off, was a difh In high reputation
among the luxurious eaters of ancient Rome. Pork
is always an important article among naval (lores. It
takes fait better than the flefhof any other animal; and
is, of confequence, preferved longer. The lard of the
hog is ufed by the apothecary in preparations of vari-
ous plalfters, and other medicines 3 and is made by the
perfumer into pomatum. The briftles are made Into
brufhesi and ilkewlfe ufed by the fhoemaker. The
ikin is made into coverings for pocket-books, faddles,
and feveral other articles. I have heard of an econo-
mical epicure, who being unwilling to lofe even the
ears of his hogs, had them dreffed into pies.

Jews and Mahometans religloufly abftain from pork.
To tranfgrefs any precept In the code of morality, ap-
pears to them fcarcely fo heinous a crime, ^s to eat a
piece of fow's cheek.

F f 2 T-fi 5

228 NATURAL HI S TOR Y

The PORCUS, or CHINESE HOG.

THE Chinefe hog is diftinguifhed from the hogs
common through Europe, by having the upper part
] of its body almoft bare, its belly hanging nearly to the
ground, fliort legs, and a tail ftill more difproportio-
nately fhort. This fpecies are alfo of a fmaller fize ;
and their flefh is whiter and more delicate : their co-
lour is commonly a dark grey : they abound in China,
and are alfo diffufed through New Guinea, and many
iflands of the South Sea. The New Hebrides, the
Marquefas, the Friendly, and the Society, ifles, poflefs
this fpecies ; and the inhabitants of thefe iilands culti-
vate it with care, as it is almoft their only domeftic
animal. The Chinefe hog is found likewlfe in Bata-
via, Sumatra, and other Oriental iflands : the Suma-
tran name is babee. They have been even introduced
into France.

In the iflands of the South Sea, the hog, being the
principal quadruped, is more carefully cultivated than
among us. Bread-fruit, either in the natural ftate, or
made into four pafte, yams, eddoes, and other vege-
tables, are the food on which it is nouriflied. Such a
choice of food renders the flefli juicy and delicious j
and the fat not lefs rich, nor lefs agreeable to the tafte,
than the beft butter. The Otaheiteans, and the in-
habitants of the other iflands in the fouthern feas, in
which thefe animals are found, often preient roail-
ed hogs at their morals, as acceptable offerings to
the deities whom they worftiip : covering the offer-
ing with a piece of fine cloth, and leaving it to decay
near the facred place.

V/e are ignorant concerning the original introduc-
tion, as well of hogs as of men, into thofe iflands. But
it has been conjedlured, that the former may have
proceeded from the continent of the Eaft, and pene-
trated, by degrees, from ifland to ifland, till they at
length advanced as far as the Marquefas.

The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 22^

The TAJASSU, or MEXICAN HOG.

IN fize and figure, this animal bears an imperfed^
refemblance to the hog of China. Its body is about
three feet in length. Its mouth is furnifhed with four
cutting teeth in the upper jaw, with fix in the lower,
and with two tufks in each : its head is not of fuch a
taper, wedge-like, form as that of the common hog :
its ears are fhort, ereft, and pointed : its eyes are nei-
ther funk nor prominent : the briftles covering its
body are longer and more ftiff than thofe of the for-
mer fpecies : they refemble indeed, rather the quills of
the porcupine, than the briftles of the hog : on the
neck and back they are longer than on the fides : the
belly is almoft entirely bare : a band of white extends
between the fhoulders and the breaft : there is no tail
to proteft the hinder parts. A gland on the back,
from which there conftantly diftils a wheyifh fcetid li-
quor, is the mofl: remarkable peculiarity of this fpe-
cies. The firft Europeans v/ho became acquainted with
this animal, fancied this gland the navel, prepofterouf-
ly difpofed by nature on the back,inftead of the belly.

The manners of the Mexican hog are not very dif-
ferent from thofe of the hogs of Afia and Europe.
Mexico, and all the warm climates of South America,
pofTefs numerous herds of this fpecies. Their inftindis
and arms for offence and defence are the fame as thofe
of our hog ; they feem more focial in their difpcfi-
tions, and are generally found affociating together in
parties : though only an individual be fingled out, the
whole body join, with generous valour, againil an
enemy. They grunt with a ftronger and harfher voice
than the hogs of Afia or Europe ; but are fcarcely
ever prompted, either by fear or rage, to fqueak in
the fame wild tone. Forefts are. their moit favourite
haunts : they refort not, like our domeftic hog or the
wild boar, to marfhes and mires. ' Fruits, feeds, and
oots, are their favourite food ; they eat aJfo ferpents,
I toads.

ajo NATURAL HISTORY

toads,' and lizards, and difplay great dexterity in tear-
ing off the fkins of thofe reptiles with their feet.

Their economy has not been very minutely ftudied
by naturalifts. A number of young ones are produced <
at a birth ; and the mother treats them with the ten-
dernefs and folicitous care of a parent. Although exift-
ing chiefly in a wild ftate, they are fufceptible of do-
meftication ; but no pains can overcome their natural
ftupidity and indocility. The beafts of prey, not lefs
than man, are hoftile to this fpecies. The American
leopard, or jaguar, one of their moft formidable ene-
mies, often falls amid a herd, after deftroying the great-
eft part of them ; weary with flaughter, and rather ex-
haufted by his own exertions than overcome by theirs.
If killed in full health, the flefh of this animal is agree-
able food ; provided the gland on the back be cut off,
and the liquor which it fecretes carefully waflied from
the carcafe at the inftant of death. There are proba-
bly feveral varieties of this fpecies, diftinguilhed by di-
verfities of colour and fize. The cojametl conftantly
refufes to copulate with our European fwine.

The ^THIOPICUS, or .ETHIOPIAN HOG.

THIS animal has a longer body and Ihorter legs than
our common fwine. It is near five feet long, and be-
tween two and two feet and a half in height. Its body
IS of a thick, broad, form j its nofe almoft of a corne-
ous confiftency, truncated and depreffedj its mouth
narrow, and deftitute of fore teeth j but furnifhed with
uncommonly hird gums to fupply their fundions.
The tuiks in the lower jaw are fmall, in the upper very
large : the eyes are fmall, and fituated high in the fore-
head ; a horizontal lobe or wattle, lying under them,
intercepts, from the fight of the animal all objeds
placed immediately below: the fkin is of a dufky hue;
the briftles are thinly difperfed in feparate parcels over
the body, JJetweep the ears and on the fhoulders,

they

OF QJJADRUPEDS. sji

they are longer than upon any other parts of the
body.

Thefe animals inhabit the hotted regions of Africa;
they are diffufed from Sierra Leone to Congo, and
are alfo found in the adjacent ifland of Madagafcar.
Dampier feems to inform us, that they are found alfo
in the ifle of Mindanao ; for, though his account of the
hogs of that ifland does not correfpond in every mi-
nute particular to this fpecies, yet it correfponds bet-
ter to them than to any other. The manners and eco-
nomy of thefe animals are but imperfedlfy known.
They live chiefly under ground, where the form and
texture of their fnout enables them to make their way
as readily as the mole. They are lively, fwift, fierce,
and cunning. At the Hague, one of them gave his
keeper a fatal wound in the thigh. They difdain all
•commerce with the Chinefe, or with our European,
domeftic hog,

AFRICANUS, OR CAPE VERD HOG.

THIS hog is of a fuperior fize, and peculiar to
Africa. The fpecies are diffufed through the tra6l of
'country between Cape Verd and the Cape of Good
Hope. The head is long ; the nofe {lender : the tuiks
are large, hard as ivory, and, in the upper jr^w, thick
and truncated obliquely : the ears are narror... erect,
and pointed: the tail is flender, and terminates in a
tuft, reaching down to the higheft joint of the leg:
•each jaw is furnifhed with twelve grinding teeth : the
body is covered all over with long, fine, briftles. This
species has been, by fome naturalifts, confounded with
that immediately preceding. But the form of the head,
the flrudure of the mouth, and the manner in which
■the body is covered, elkbliih a fufficient diftin(flion be-
tween them.

The

Q^2 NATURAL HISTORY

The BABYROUSSA.

THE babyroufia is of a plump, fquare, form, and
nearly equal to the ftag in fize j but what chiefly dif*
tinguifhes it, is the fize and the fhape of its tufks :
each jaw is furnifhed with two : thofe in the inferior
jaw rile eight inches out of their fockets, towards the
eyes : the fockets of thofe above are placed on the out-
iide of the jaw j and the tuilcs rife tv;elve inches out
of them i they bend like horns, till their points nearly
touch the forehead : the ears are fmal), eretft, and
pointed : a few weak briftles cover the back ; the reft
of the body is covered with a fort of foft wool : the
tail is long, often twifted, and terminates in a point.

The babyrouffa is found in the iflands of Java, Ce-
lebes, and Boero, in the Eaft. A few individuals are
often diffufed through the other iflands of the Indian
Ocean. The fpecies are naturally gregarious : their
fenfe of fmelling is extremely acute : plants and leaves
of trees are their favourite food: they grunt like our
common hogs: they are not unfufceptibleof domefti-
cation. To efcape from a purfuer, they often ru(h into
the fea, and fwim to a diltance, or conceal themfelves
by diving. They even fwim occafionally from ifle to
ifle. A babyrouffa is often feen to reft its head in a
foreft, by hooking its upper tufks on fome bough.
None of thefe animals ever commits any devaitations
in gardens.

The rhinoceros.

ANIMALS of this genus are diflinguifbed, fomc-
times by one, fometimes by two, large, folid, co-
nical, horns on the nofe ; and by having each hoof
cloven into three parts. There are only two fpecies,
the defcriptions of which are as follov; :

RHINOCEROS

J. p4Lf^ ■ftmlf' ?

£^e C'S^/'yt^c/^n, rt ,%J(^nJ^,. 2 ^^te J^^^^ca?i J^^i

^hh'.fh*-i J^^ x-j$04.'

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 233

RHINOCEROS with one Horn; or UNICORN.

THIS animal is among the largeft of quadrupeds.
His body equals the bulk of the elephant ; and, were
not his legs fhorter, he would exhibit a no lefs ftately
figure. A fingle, black, fmooth, horn, fometimes
three feet and a half long, and fituated near the extre-
mity of the nofe, conftitutes his f^ecific charadler : the
upper lip is difproportlonably large, hanging over the
lower, and terminating in a point : it is furnifhed with
mufcles, which enables the animal to move it with
great dexterity in colleding his food, and introducing
it into the mouth : the noilrils are in a tranfverfe di-
reftion : the ears are large, ere(5t, and pointed : the
fkin is naked, rough, and extremely thick : about the
neck it is gathered into enormous folds i a fold ex-
tends between the fhouJders and the fore legs, and
another from the hinder part of the back to the thighs:
the tail is flender, flat at the end, and covered on the
fides with very ftifF, black, hairs. In confequence of
the vaft bulk of the body, and the difproportionate
fhortnefs of the legs, the belly hangs low. The
breadth of the feet does not exceed the circumference
of the legs.

This animal was well known to the ancients. Se-
veral of the facred writers make frequent allufions to
them, as an animal familiarly known to the people
to whom their writings were dire(5liy addreffed. They
have not indeed condefcended to a minute defcription;
but the terms in which they have mentioned it fuffi-
ciently indicate the fpecies. Pliny mentions the rhi-
noceros as an animal that appeared in the Roman cir-
cus, in games exhibited by Pcmpey. He was oppofed
to the elephant, and f^ewed himfelf no unequal anta-
gonift. In addition to this information, the Roman
natural hiftorian fables, that the elephant and the rhi-
noceros are natural enemies ; and that the latter care-
fully whets his horn upon l^ones, to tear up the belly
Vol. III. No. 37. G g ^'

234 NATURAL HISTORY

cf the former. Though not defcribed by Ariftotic,
the rhinoceros is mentioned by the hiftorians of Alex-
ander, as one of the ftrange animals difcovered by his
army in their progrefs into India.

But from the time when they ceafed to be exhibited
on the Roman amphitheatres, till within the fixteenth
century, no animals of this fpecies appeared in Europe.
It was forgotten that any had ever appeared. Thofe
who were acquainted with what fhe ancients relate con-
cerning the rhinoceros, concluded, or at ieaft fufpecfled,
either that no fuch fpecies of animals had ever exifted ;
or that, though they might once exift, they were now
extindl. ^

In the fixteenth century, the exiftence of the fpecies
was fully afcertained. A number of individuals have
iince been, at different times, introduced into Europe.
Many figures have been drawn j and the form of the
rhinoceros is no longer ftrange. His character and man-
ners are alfo tolerably known.

He is a native inhabitant of Bengal, Siam, Cochin-
china, Quangfi in China, and the ifles of Java and Su-
matra. He is a folitary, ftupid, animal. Shady forefts.
adjoining to rivers, and miry, marlhy, plains, are his
favourite haunts. Unlefs provoked by injuries, he is
commonly mild and inofFenfive : his rage is defperatc
and dangerous. The mode in which copulation takes
place between the two fexes is not certainly known :
the female produces only one at a birth. During the
iirft month cf its age, the young rhinoceros does not
rife above tlie fize of a large dog : the horn is at firft
almoft imperceptible, and increafes by flow gradations:
the bulk of the animal is indeed but very flowly en-
larged : at the age of two years he has fcarcely attained
half his full height : his eyes are fmall, and his fight
dull : but he polfefTes the fenfes both of hearing and
fmelling in high perfection : thorns and prickly fhrubs
are his chief food : his tons;ue was once faid to be
rough and hard; but, from later and more accurate

obfervation.

OF QUADRUPEDS. 235

obfervation, we learn, that it is as fmooth and foft as
the tongue of any other animal. It has been conjec-
tured, that fixty or feventy years may be the natural
term of the life of the rhinoceros. His fkin has been
reprefented as impenetrable, even by ballsy but we
now find that this vaft animal is liable to be mortally
wounded by milTile weapons of all kinds. The flefh
is not unlike pork ; but of a coarfer grain, and a
ftronger tafte.

RHINOCEROS with two Horns.

IN fize, form, and manners, and almoft all other
charaderiftics, this fpecies appears nearly allied to the
former. The only, or at leaft the chief, diftindlion is
an additional horn. The former rhinoceros bears only
one horn on his nofe ; but this fpecies are furnifhed
with two,---bne ftanding ftrait behind the other. We
know not whether the unicorn and the bicorn copulate
and breed together indiiferently. It has even been
doubted, whether allanimals of the rhinoceros charac-
ter may not naturally pofiefs two horns ; and an uni-
corn appear only in confequence of an accidental lols.

The anterior is always larger than the pofterior.
Both horns are univerfally of a conical fhape, with the
tips reclining fomewhat backward. The pofterior
horn of an old rhinoceros has always the appearance of
being v/orn away. Dr. Sparrman relates, from the in-
formation of the Hottentots and colonifts at the Cape,
that the horns are remarkably loofe on the nofe of the
living rhinoceros ; he moves them backwards and for-
wards at pleafure ; as he walks carelefslv, they fhake
and clatter againft each other ; and in digging roots,
which he eats, as well as prickly fhrubs, he reclines the
anterior horn, and, employing only the pofterior, thus
wears the latter by degrees to a ftump, while the for-
mer remains entirely uninjured. The tips of both
hgrns are flightly bent backwards: their texture feems

G g 2 compofed

236 N A T U k A L H I S T O R Y

compofecl of parallel horny fibres : near the root, the
lurface of the horn is rough and unequal ; towards the
point fmooth and plain like the horns of oxen. The
anterior horn of a rhinoceros of moderate fize, fliot by
Dr. Sparrman, was a foot in length, and five inches
in circumference at the bafe. The anterior horn of a
larger rhinoceros was a foot and an half in length, and
feven inches in circumference at the bafe : the pofte-
rior horn ftaads rather on the forehead than on the
fnout.

DifTediing the fmaller rhinoceros, Sparrman found
its ftomach filled with mafticated roots and branches of
trees, and fucculent plants, feveral of which feemed to
be prickly. It had no fore-teeth ; but the lips were of
fo hard a texture, that they might eafily ferve to per-
form all the fame functions as the fore- teeth of other
animals. The jaws of a full-grown rhinoceros were
furnifhed with four-and-twenty grinders : the anterior
part of the os palati exhibits a tooth-like procefs ; but
fo diftant from the lower jaw, that it can fcarcely ferve
any of the purpofes of a tooth : the fkin is hard and
tliick in proportion to the bulk of the animal ; but
not proof againft the imprellion even of blunt-pointed
weapons : on the feet, the fkin is thicker, and more
callous than on the other parts : the fkin is not ga-
thered into folds, as that of the former fpecies : it is
fmooth and fiefh-coloured between the legs ; a few fliff
briflles are thinly fcattered over the other parts of the
body; they are moft numerous about the ears and the
end of the tail : the fkin is of a deep cinereous grey
colour; and numerous warts appear all over the body :
the foot is divided into three parts, the hoofs of which
projeA but a Httle beyond the leg. Such, according
to Dr. Sparrman, are the more remarkable external
charafteriflics of the rhinoceros with two horns.

Another obfervcr of nature afcrlbes tq this fpecies a
very different appearance, and treats Sparrman with
great al'perity, for advancing what Appears to him ab-

folutely

OF QUADRUPEDS. 237

foliTtelv fabulous. Thefe writers difagree fo remark-
ably, that I fliould confider them as defcribing differ-
ent fpecies, or different varieties, did I not fee reafon
to fufpeft that wonder, or partial obfervation, or a fpi-
xit of oppofition, may have contributed to create the
differences which appear in their defcriptions.

Mr. Bruce reprefents the rhinoceros of Abyffinia as
having his fkin gathered into folds, on the neck, the
fnoulders, the buttocks, and fome other parts of his
body. His mouth he defcribes as furnifhed with
twenty-eight teeth : the upper lip he allows to be re-
markably large : the fkin is always fmooth, except
when flies and other troublefome infefts have broken
it, fo as to produce puftules j a diftrefs to which the
animal is very liable: the tongue of the young rhinoce-
ros is indeed fmooth ; but, as he grows old, it becomes
very rough: the anterior horn is round, and bends
fiightly back at the point ; behind it appears the fe-
cond, wliich is flat and ftrait ; and behind this have
been obfcrved the rudiments of a third.

It is only in Africa that this animal has been difco-
vered in modern times. In the fouthern parts of the
African continent, the fpecies are well known. The
Europeans, who have penetrated into Abyffinia, repre-
fent them as not lefs numerous in that country. From
an epigram of Martial, and fome coins of Domitian,
we learn t)iat the rhinoceros with two horns was not
unknown to the Romans.

The manners and economy of this fpecies differ but
little from thofe of the Lift. But the bicorn has been
more accurately obferved than the unicorn. He re-
fides almoil: conftantly in deep forefts : he never eats
hay or grafs : large fucculent plants, prickly fhrubs,
the branches, and even the trunks, of trees, are the ar-
ticles of food which he prefers. The fl:rength of his
jaws and teeth enables him to break off and mafticate
thethickelt branches of the harded and toughed trees.
Jiut the forefts of Abyffuiia afford trees of a Mter con-

fiftcncy.

a^S NATURAL HISTORY

fiftency, and peculiarly fucculent ; which he eats in
preference to others : his upper Jip is his chief inftru-
ment in coilecfcing his food : he ex«-ends and twifts it,
fo as to perform with it many of the tundions which
the elephant performs with his probofcis. After {Grip-
ping a tree ot its branches, a rhinoceros often applies
, his horn to the trunk, and, fplitting it into fo many
lathes, devoursit with as much eafe and avidity as an
ox would eat up a bunch of celery. Jn the forefts in-
habited by animals of this fpecies, there appear fome-
times trees diverted of their leaves and branches, fome-
times a trunk divided into lathes, a part of which have
been eaten, and another part left for a future repaft ;
and fometimes fhort fcumps, of which the leaves,
branches, and trunks, have been devoured. The horns
of the rhinoceros fuffer greatly in the preparation of
his food } he often leaves a part of a- horn either fixed
in a tree, which he has in vain attempted to tear, or
lying befide it on the ground. The fenfibility of the
rhinoceros in this part, muft render fuch an accident as
the breaking of a horn, if not fatal, at leaft extremely
painful and dangerous. Mr. Bruce relates, that he
faw a rhinoceros lo affefted, on having the point of
his foremoft horn broken off by a mufket ball, as to
appear, for an inftant, abfolutely incapable of fenfe and
motion.

However unwieldy his form, the rhinoceros difplays
aftonifliing fvviftnefs. He moves with a fort of trot ;
quickening his pace by degrees, as he runs. His fpeed
is not equal to that of a fwiftand vigorous horfe ; but,
between fpeed and cunnmg, he feldom fuffers a hun-
ter, mounted on horfeback, to overtake him. The
Hottentot and Caffrarian hunters are accuftomed to
fteal upon the rhinoceros when afleep, and gore him
with feveral deep wounds. After which they follow his
footfteps, even for feveral days, till he drops down of
weaknefs, or dies of his wounds. But they commonly
poifon their darts immediately before the^enterprife -,

and^

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 239

and, in this cafe, the animal does not long furvlve.
As he moves through the foreft, the trees are crufhed
under his weight, like fo many dry reeds. His eyes
are fo fmall, and his fight To feeble, that he fees only a
very fhort way before him. The Abyflinians purfue
him, two on a horfej and, as he feldom looks behind
him, commonly overtake him before he is aware. 1 he
one, armed with a fword, then drops down 3 and, cut-
ting the hams of the rhinoceros, the vaft animal falls
to the ground, alike incapable of flight and of refin-
ance. Although naturally peaceable, he is difpofed, as
well as other animals, to defend himfelf when attacked.
His rage is impetuous, and generally ill directed ; he
injures himfelf as readily as an antagonift ; he knocks
his head aa;ainPc a wall or manger i ftrikes acrainft a
tree with as much fatisfcidion as againft the hunter
who attacks him.

It may be naturally conceived, that fo large an ani-
mal as the rhinoceros mull require a confiderable quan-
tity of water to macerate his food. The trails of
country which he inhabits are interfperfed with mar-
fhes, lakes, and rivers. The diftricuof Shangalla, the
favourite abode of this fpecies, in Abyflinia, is, for fix
months in the year, deluged by conilant rains, and
ovcrfpread with woods which prevent evaporation.
The rhinoceros, as well as moil other fpecies, is pef-
tw-red by flics. Being deftitute of hair, he is peculiar-
ly expofed to the periccution of thefe infcdis. Nature
has taught him, however, to roll occafionally in the
mire, till he acquires a cruft of dirt, which may, for
fome timeat Icaft, protect him from their flings. But
this dries, cracks, and falls off in pieces. The flies
then renew their attacks, and often pierce through his
fkin ; fo that his body is at length covered over with
puftules. It is in the night chiefly, that he rolls in the
mire ; ;md the hunters often iteai on him at that pe-
riod, while he is enjoying one of his favourite plea-
fures, and ftab him with mortal wounds in the belly,
1 before

240 NATURAL HISTORY

before he is aware of their approach. By wallowing
in the mire, he often gathers reptiles and iiifedis upon
his body 3 fuch as millepedes, fcolopendras, wormsj
and fnails.

The rhinoceros, though next in fize, yet in docility
and ingenuity greatly inferior, to the elephant, has
never yet been tamed, fo as to affift the labours of
mankind, or to appear in the ranks of war. The Ro-
mans introduced him on the amphitheatre, and oppofed
him to the elephant ; it is even pretended, that he ap-
peared no unequal match. The bear was a contempt-
ible antagonift to the rhinoceros. The fiefh of this
animal, though not a delicate difh, is with the Shangal-
la, and great part of the inhabitants of Lower Abyflinia,
a principal article of food. The foles of his feet,
conHiHng of a grilHy fubftance, foft like the foles of a
camel, are the moft delicate part. The reft of the
flelTi is faid to tafte like pork ; but is much coarfer,
and fmells of mufk. The negro hunters of Abyfliriia
cat it without fait. . The hairs about the tail are fo
tiiick and ftrong, that with ten of them a whip may be
made, which will draw blood at every ftroke. The
flcin cut into thongs forms excellent whips : the horns
are made into cups, which have been fancied to 3.6t as
antidotes againft poifon. In Abyflinia, the handles of
daggers are always made of the horn of the rhinoceros.
1 he fecond horn is fcarcely ever applied to any ufe.
Ilie furface is fufceptible of a perfed: polilli ; and
beautiful fnuff-boxes might be formed of this material,
were it not that it is a fubftance eafily fcratche.], and
extremely liable to crack or fplintcr.

The HIPPOPOTAMUS.

THIS genus confifts only of one folitary fpecics.
Even the rhinoceros yields to the hippopotamus
in fize. He is fometimes not lefs than feventeen feet
long, and generally about feven feet in height : his

iieai

Wm

^

t

I

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 241

head is of an enormous fize ; his mouth amazingly
wide ; the jaws are armed, each with four cutting
teeth, and two tuiks : the teeth in the lower jaw are
ftrait, and point forwards ; the two middlemoft longer
than thofe on the fides j thofe in the upper jaw are
diipofed at regular diftances from each other : the tufks
in the upper jaw are fhort ; thofe in the lower very
long, and truncated obliquely : a tooth is fometimes
twenty-feven inches long, and weighs fix pounds nine
ounces. In figure, the hippopotamus refembles an ox
more nearly than any other common animal : his eyes
and noftrils are difproportionately fmall : his ears are
fmall, pointed, and covered within with a thick, lining
of ihort, fine, hairs: a few flender tufts of hair are
fcattered over the lips : the body is thinly covered
with whitifii hair, at firft fight fcarcely difcernible : on
the neck the hair is thicker than on the reft of the
body, but not fo thick as to form a mane : the tail is
almoli: bare, and about a foot in length : the legs are
fliort and thick ; the hoofs divided into four feparate
parts. Though an amphibious animal, the hippopo-
tamus has no membranes connefting the divifions of
his hoofs.

Africa feems to be the only divifion of the globe in-
habited by this fpecies. The Nile, the Niger, the
Gambia, the Zaira, are the chief rivers in which they
have been difcovered. But they are obferved. throuf^h
all the other confiderable. rivers, and the lakes of the
African continent. From the information of the Je-
fuits, and of a later and more accurate obierver, Dr.
Bruce, v/e learn, that they abound in all the lakes and
rivers of AbyiTmia, Nubia, and Upper Egypt. Cul-
tivation has expelled them from Lov/er Egypt. Sparr-
man reprefents them as not lefs numerous in the
fouthern parts of Africa. It had been imagined, that
hippopotami never ventured into the ocean, and fcarce-
ly ever defcended fo low as to the mouths of rivers ;
but this philofophical traveller relates, that he aftually

Vol. III. No. ^37. Hh obfervcd

i^2 NATURAL HISTORY

oblerved feveral hippopotami in f^ilt water, at the
mouths of the rivers Kromme and Camtour j and in
the diitrict of Krakekama, faw on the fea-beach, evi-
dent traces of one of thefe animals that had come out
of the fea, but inftantly retired back : he was alfo in-
formed by a Captain Burtz, that on the eaftern coaft
of Africa, he had often leen hippopotami raife their
heads above the furface of the fea, to breathe and
neigh. In Guinea, the rivers, lakes, and marfhy
grounds, afford numbers of hippopotami. Dr. Sparr-
man was informed by a party of Caffrarians, that about
Konaprivier inCafl-'raria, hippopotami appeared on land
in bodies as numerous as the pebbles on the bed of the
river ; a coniparifon which the dodor, with great
judgment, underftands as hyperbolical.

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, this animal
was known only as a native of the Nile. Their ideas of
its form and manners were indiftind; and inaccurate.
Ariftotle and Pliny defcribe it as hoofed like an ox j
adorned with the mane of a horfe ; with a flat nofe,
and a tail like that of a boar; with teeth alfo like
thofe of a boar, but lefs fit for mifchief ; its back re-,
fembling the back of a horfe. Although the hippopo-
tamus had appeared in the Roman circus, Pliny feems
rtierely to copy the imxperfedl defcription of Ariftotle.
But the ancients knew no other arts of defcription,
fave the comparing of the parts of the unknown ani-
mal with thofe of fuch animals as were commonly
known ; and many of their errors feem to arife from
this caufe. A ftrange animal was often to be com-
pared, not to a known animal which it perfedly refem-
bled, but to that known animal to which it was the
leaft unlike. I'he behemoth of Job is under ftood to
have been no other but the hippopotamus ; his ftrength,
his fize, and his manners, are beautifully alluded to by
that fublime writer.

The manners of this fpecies are pretty well known.
Their awful fize has attracted iir^ention. They are

faid

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 243

faid to be polygamous, and the females much more
numerous than the males. It is aflerted that they co-
pulate in the fame manner as common cattle. The
female brings forth her young on land, but fuckles it
under water. The calf is but of a very moderate fize
for fome time after birth. One caught by Dr. Sparr-
mann, which was fuppofed to be about a fortnight or
three weeks old, meafured three feet and a half in
length, and two feet in height. It is fuckled by the
mother, and remains for a while under her proteftionj
how long we know not. When caught, this calf ut'
tered a fqueaking noife, like a feared or wounded hog.
The voice of the adult animal is a neighing found,
which fome defcribe as having a perfed refembiance to
the neighing of a horfe ; while others reprefent it as a
loud fonorous noife, between the bellowing of an ox
and the roaring of an elephant.

Although an inhabitant of the waters, the hippopo-
tamus is v/ell known to breathe air like land animals.
On land he finds the chief part of his food. He may
perhaps occafionally feed on aquatic plants ; but he
very often leaves the waters, and commits v/ide devaf-
tations through all the adjacent cultivated fields. .On
the banks of the Nile, he often defeats the hopes of
of the hufbandman ; even a large field of corn or clo-
ver is foon entirely defpoiled of verdure by his capa-
cious jaws. In the fouth of Africa, he commits fimilar
ravages. Not only grafs, but boughs and roots of
trees, and fhrubs, are articles of his ordinary food. In
cultivated tradls, it is commonly in the night that the
hippopotamus leaves his retreats in the rivers, and w;in-
ders into the fields. He defcends to the bottom of
the deepeft river, and walks along it with the fame
flow, ftately, pace, as if on land, and breathing the
open air. But he cannot continue under water be-
yond a certain length of time. He muft afcend at in-
tervals to the furfacc to difcharge the contents of iiis
iungs, d^\d draw in frefh air. He appears at times

H h 2 ift

244 NATURAL HISTORY

in the fea, and is {iten going out with the tide ; but it
appears probable, that fea-water does not ferve him to
drink; for Sparrman relates, that a hippopotamus,
who, having been difturbed in the rivers, had taken
refuge in the fea, was obferved to come every night on
fhore to drink water ouc of a neighbouring well, till he
was at laft fhot. It has been pretended, that the hip-
popotamus devours great quantities of fifh ; but it
appears v/Ith the fulled: evidence, both from the rela-
tions of many travellers and from the ftruflure of the
ftomach in fpecimens which have been differed, that
he is nourifhed folely, or almoft folcly, on vegetable
food. He walks with a tardy pace ; and is capable of
fo little agility, that even a hillock or wall of a very
moderate height prefents to him an infurmountable
barrier. Unlefs when accidentally provoked or wound.,
ed, he is never offenfive. But, when his fury is pro-
voked, revenge is eafily in his power. With his teeth
he eafily breaks a boat in pieces i or, where the river
is not too deep, he will raife it on his back, and over-
fet it.

The Egyptians pradlife a very artful contrivance for
deftroying this animal. On fome place where they ex-
pedV an hippo|3o*:amus to pafs, they throw a large quan-
tity of peafe ; thefe the hungry animal eagerly devours
as foon as he percives them ; fuch a quantity of dry
food foon difpoies him to drink j and the water, fwell-
ing the peafe in his belly, burfts the vejfTcls, and he falls
dead on the fhore. The Hottentots fometimes pradife
the fame ftratagem. But they more commonly either
intercept the animal in pits dug in places through which
he has been obferved to pafs, or fhoot him witii tin balls.

Pliny relates, that this animal, when he feels his ha-
bit overcharged, repairs to fome place covered with
£barp reeds, and obtains a difcharge of blood, by ly-
ing dov^^n upon them in fuch a pofture, that they pierce
thp tendereff parts of his fkin. This is not a very
probable tale. He indeed retires to fleep on iflands

ove;--

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 245

overc;rown with reeds ; and, it may fometimes happen,
thr.tj'notwithftanding the enormous thicknefs of his
fkin, it may be torn in the tendereft parts. The body
of the hippopotamus is faid to be infcfted v.'ith a pe-
culiar kind of vermin. On a calf which Sparrman
caught, he found only a fpecies of leech which refided
about the anus, and of which fome had even penetrated
a good way up the reftum. Thefe, he thinks, might
be beneficial, by abftracfting any excefs of blood gene-
rated in fo vaft a body.

The hippopotamus is not merely harmlefs. He af-
fords many articles of confiderable utihty to human
life. His flefh is a wholefome and not unpleafant food.
The Hottentots, the Caffrarians, and even the Euro-
pean colonifts at the Cape, eat it with great eagernefs.
In Egypt likewife this animal has been fought for its
flefh. Dr. Pocock faw it fold in the market. The ne-
groes of Angola, Congo, and of the whole weft coafl:
of Africa in general, though they venerate this mighty
inhabitant of the rivers as a deity, yet fcruple not to
eat him. The flefh is faid to be tender ; the fat is
not fo rancid and greafy as that of moft other animals :
the gelatinous part of the feet, when well drefied, is a
great delicacy : the dried tongue of an hippopotamus is
confidered, even at the Cape of Good Hope, as a rare and
favoury difh. Dr. Sparrman, on his return to Europe,
fuTnifhed the King of Sweden's table with one of thefe
tongues, two feet eight inches in length. The teeth of
the hippopotamus are of a harder and whiter fubftance
than thofe of the elephant, Dentifts prefer them on
account of thefe qualities, even to ivory, for the pur-
pofe of replacing loft teeth in the human jaw. The
hide is rather thicker than that of the rhinoceros. It
is a fufficient load for a camel. The inhabitants at
the Cape make excellent whips of it, which, after be-
ing ufed for fome time, become more pliable than
thofe made of the hide of the rhinoceros. The blood

of

S43 NATURAL HISTORY

value. His flefh is eaten by the native Americans,
but is not a very delicate fpecies of food. The legs,
if roallcd for four- and -twenty hours, became not dif-
agreeable even to the palate of an European. The
Indiaiia ufe the fkin chiefly for bucklers.

The elephant.

fT^ FIE elephant is well known as the largeft of qua-
-»■ drupeds. An elephant's body has been fome-
times found to weigh four thoufand and five hundred
pounds. The height of a full grown elephant is from
j]ine to fifteen feet. The trunk is a remarkable organ,
almolt peculiar to the elephant; although, indeed, the
long, dependent, flexible, fnout of the tapiir bears fome
relemblance to it. It is a cartilaginous fubfliance, com-
pofed of numerous rings, terminating in a fmall move-
able hook, and having the noftrils hi its extremity.
The elephant can, at pleafure, contraft, and dilate, and
bend, it in any direction. His tufks alfo difl:inguifli
the elephant in a Angular manner. Neither jaw is fur-
nifhed with fore-teeth : each has four large flat grind-
ers : but in the upper are two enormous tufks, of a
folid, white, and fine-grained, fubftance, which, as they
proceed from the gums in which they are rooted, firlt
point forwards, and then bend flightly upwards. Thefe
are often feven feet long, and frequently weigh an
hundred and fifty pounds.

It is not eafy to convey in words a didind: idea of
the form of any animal. Words may aflift the ima-
^gination to recal a form with which it is already fimi-
Jiar ; but fcarcely any clearnefs or vigour of verbal de-
fcription will give the mind a Arong and dilHnd: im-
preliion of an image entirely new to it. In attempting
to defcribe the elephant, this difficulty is felt. His
eyes are fmall; his ears arc long, broad, and pendu-
lous ; his neck is fliort ; his back confiderably arched j
]^s legs thick, clumfy, and fhapelcfs ; his feet undi-
vided.

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 249

vidcd, but having their margins terminated by five
round hoofs ; his tail fimilar to the tail of a hog, and
fringed at the extremity with a few long hairs of the
thicknefs of a packthread. The female has two fmall
teats, placed a little behind the fore-legs. The body
is bare.

The manners of this animal are naturally mild and
inoffenfive. He is nourifhed on vegetable food ; fruits,
leaves, branches, and even young trees, corn, and other
grains, which he devours in large quantities. Con-
tradi(5tory accounts have been alleged of the mode in
which the aA of copulation is performed among this
fpecies. It feems now to be agreed, that they copu-
late in the fame manner as the generality of other qua-
drupeds. In their natural ftate, elephants affbciate in
herds; but the impulfe of love feparates them into
pairs, who retire, each to fome fecret fequeftered fpot,
to gratify the genial paflion. Mankind are never fuf-
fered to witnefs thofe rites ; and the precife period of
geftation with the female elephant is not certainly
known j yet it is fuppofed to be about nine month?,
from the circumftance of fome tames ones produc"ng,
after an interval of that length, from their wandering ,
into the woods in fearch of the males. The young-
elephant has been faid to fuck with its trunk. The
ancients pretended, that it fucked with its mouth.
The moderns contradi6t them; bufd'Obfonville has
incohtrovertibly vindicated the veracity of the ancients.
In a herd of old and young elephants, the young have
been obferved to fuck any of the females indifcriminatc-
ly. The elephant grows flovvly, and is fuppofed to
live to a great age. The ordinary term of his life is at
leaft between one and two hundred years. With his
trunk this animal utters occafionally a found like that
of a trumpet. When enraged or alarmed, his voice,
which feems to proceed from his throat and mouth, is
a wild fhrill note, which pierces the human heart with
vmfpeakable terror.

Vol. III. No. jy. I i Plains,

250 NATURAL HISTORY

Plains, forefts, and gently-rlfing hills, are the fa-
vourite abodes of the elephant. He is a native of
Afia and Africa. He cannot bear the heat of the tor-
rid regions under the line; but is ftill more impatient
of cold. All the elephants im.ported into Europe,
howev(;r liberally fed, and carefully managed, have pe-
rifhed by a premature death. At Peterfburgh, though
clothed and kept in houfes warmed by ftoves, they
could not bear the feverity of the climate. The fpe-
cies are diffufed over the whole continents of Alia and
, Africa, except where intenfe heat, or extreme cold, or
uniform cultivation, and the hoftilities of mankind,
keep them at a diftance. They are alfo natives of the
greateft part of the Aliatic ifles.

Ceylon is famed for its elephants. Some of the
Dutch have obferved the manners of the wild elephants
in that ifland with fingular attention. They live in
fmall troops, or diftind families. The old ones often
ftand while they fleep. In wandering from place to
place, the males, who are armed with the largeft tufks,
put themfelves at the head of the troops. Thefe are
the firft to face every difficulty. In fwimming over
any large river, thefe lead the van, and feek out a land-
ing place i next follow the young elephants that have
not yet attained their full growth, clinging together
by the trunks ; the reft of the full-grown bring up the
rear. A folitary elephant, who feems to have been
expelled from the herd to which he belonged, is fome-
times met with in the woods. Such a vagabond is
uncommonly fierce and dangerous. The enormous
bulk of the elephant renders his air grave and ftupid,
and all his motions flow. A nimble Indian will out-
run the fwifteft. To avoid danger, or attack an ene-
my, an elephant lengthens and quickens his ftep, fo as
to keep up with a horfe at a briflc gallop, but not at
full fpeed.

Elephants have in all ages been eagerly hunted.
Some of the arte which have been ufed in order to kill

or

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 251

or take them alive, are fingular. Mankind could not
employ any other animal to hunt down the elephant.
The Hottentots, in the diftrid of Litficamma, near the
Cape, flioot him with tin balls : the chace is attended
with coniiderable danger. To irritate an elephant in
the woods, or any where but in the open plains, would
be almoft certain death. With every precaution, the
fegacitv of the elephant is fometimes more than a
match for the cunning of the hunter. His delicacy of
fmeli enables him to difcover the approach of an enemy
before he can poiTibly fee him. And, when difcovered,
the hunter, uniefs he can, by an inftant fliot, lame or
wound him mortally, will fcarcely efcape being tram-
pled, or beat, or to (Ted, to- pieces. Even though he
may efcape, he will fcarcely fail to be plentifully foufed
with <:old water from the elephant's trunk.

In the ifland of Sumatra, where the herds of wild
elephants prove extremely troublefome j wandering
over the cultivated grounds, and partly by the impref-
fion of their feet, partly by devouring the plantanes
and fugar-canes, obliterating all traces of cultivation ;
the inhabitants often fplit and impregnate a part of their
canes with poifon j and of thefe the elephant eating
unwarily, dies. The Ceylonefe fometimes furround,
in numerous bands, the woods which the elephants in-
habit, and with flaming torches, the difcharge of guns,
and other noifes, drive the animals before them into a
park previoufly prepared, and inclofed with ftrongpal-
lifades. Sometimes pcrfons, eminent for a(5livity and
courage, will fingle out an elephant in the woods, pur-
flie him till they can a fling a fort of fpringe made of
:Grd round his hinder legs, and, winding and faltening
the other end of this round a tree, bring two tame
dephants, between v/hom he is conducted home to cap-
tivity, and who, if he prove refradlory by the way, are
diredted to beat him with their trunks. Tame fe-
males are alfo led out, at times, to inveigle wild males.
As foou as one- of thefe females has enticed a male

I i 2 from

c

252 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

from the favage herd, a part of her condu6lors felze
her captive, while the reft make a noife to frighten
away his companions.

Mankind have, in all ages, been at great pains in
taming elephants. When Alexander penetrated into
India, the natives oppofed him upon the tame ele-
phants, whom they had trained to military difcipline.
The Greeks, who at firft beheld them with terror, af-
ter triumphing over the nations of the eaft, introduced
them into their own armies. Either a part of thofe
very elephants, which Alexander brought from India,
or others brought foon after into Greece, were carried
by Pyrrhus into Italy, when he went to oppofe the
Romans. His elephants, with the Macedonian tac-
tics, rendered him, at firft, no unequal match to th«
warriors of Rome. But Roman difcipline, and Ro-
man magnanimity, foon triumphed over his milita-
ry fkill, and his gigantic cavalry. Elephants were
often after that exhibited at Rome. The Carthagi-
nians, as well as Pyrrhus, found them but weak aids
againft Roman valour. In the circus they were at firft
driven about, and flain with darts. They were after-
wards oppofed to bulls, and to the rhinoceros. Pliny
relates that a number of elephants, exhibited in the cir-
cus by Pompey, when they found themfelves deftined
to immediate death, made a vigorous, but ineffedual,
effort to break through the iron railing in which they
were inclofed : fruftrated in the attempt, they, with a
wailing voice, and, in a fuppliant pofture, feemed to
implore the compaftion of the fpedtators j and ib im-
pulfively were the whole people affe6led with the dif-
trefs and the fen fibility of thofe majeftic animals, that
they with one aifent arofe, and in tears imprecated de-
ftru6lion on the head of the magnificent general who
entertained them with that fplendid fpedaclej impre-
cations, fays the hiftorian, which foon after took effed:.
The fucceftbrs of Alexander appear to have long
continued the ufe of elephants in their armies. One

of

O F QJU A D R U P E D S. i^^

f>f the brave Jewifh brothers, the Maccabees, termi-
nated his life in a glorious manner, by piercing the
belly of an elephant, in the army of one of thofe mo-
narchs fighting againft his countrymen, with a deadly
wound, and fuffering hnn fe'f to be crulTied to death
under the falling mafs. Elephants trained to war a-
mong the Greeks, had turrets raifed on their backs,
from which troOf)S of armed men annoyed the enemy ;
while a perfon fitting on the neck, direded the mo-
tions of the elephant, and animated him to fight with
his trunk. Bat, when feared or wounded, they dif-
dained all government, and fpread confufion, not lefs
readily among their friends than thro' the adverfe army.

The Eaft is the great theatre on which the ftrength,
the ingenuity, and the generous qualities, of this fpe-
cies have been chiefiy difplayed. The Indian princes
eftimate their power and grandeur by the number of
their elephants. Many of the Indians are perfuaded
that fo majertic a body muft be animated by the foul
of a departed king or hero. In Siam, Pegu, Laos,
white elephants are viewed with peculiar veneration, as
the living manes of deceafed emperors. Each has a
palace, domeftic, golden veflels, choice food, fplen-
did robes. They are fubjeited to no fervile labours,
and are taught to bow the knee to the emperor, but
before none eife.

A tame elephant is perhaps the moft docile, gentle,
and obedient, of all animals. He forms an attachment
to his keeper; comprehends fignsj learns to diilin-
guifh the various tonesof the human voice, as expref-
five of anger,. approbation, or command ; is even ca-
pable of being taught to underftand the import of ar-
ticulate language ; adopts, in many inftances, the man-
ners and the fentiments of mankind ; difcovers a fenfe
of probity and honour, and expeds to be honeftly
dealt v/ith; is generous, grateful, patient, magnani-
mous, and humane. Like mankind, the elephant is
fond of gorgeous trappmgs, and gay^ attire. But, in

a ftate

254 NATURAL HISTORY

a ftate of feivltude, though at times infuriated by the
impulfe of the genial paflion, elephants conilantly re-
fufe to copulate.

I-liiiorians and travellers relate many tales concern-
ing the prudence, penetrating fagacity, and obliging
temper, of the elephant, which can fcarcely appear cre-
dible. The ancients have afcribedto this fpecies fen^
timents of religion, and the tenderefl emotions of fe-
cial affedion. They pracflife, fay fome ancient natu-
ralifts, rites of ablution with religious folemnity ; they
venerate the fun and moon, and the other powers of
heaven ; they are endowed with a fpirit of divination,
and their forefight penetrates through the mifts which
veil futurity : his fellows gather round a dying ele-
phant, cheer his lad: moments with friendly fympathy
and kind offices, bedew his corpfewith their tears, and
depofit it decently in the grave. A modern traveller
relates a. no lefs wonderful flory ; that when a wild
elephant is taken, and his feet tied, the hunters ac-
coil: him, make apologies for binding him, and pro-
inife him the fairefl ufagej upon which the elephant
becomes perfectly fatisfied with his change of condi-
tion, and follows his new mafters quietly home. Did
this ftory afcribe to the elephant no more than human
fagacity, and human placidity of temper, I Ihould not
prefume to queftion its truth. But it fuppofes him
endowed with an intuitive knowledge of human Ian-
guages, and, at the fame time, attributes to him a de-
gree of fimple credulity inconfiftent with his penetra-
tion, and a tamenefs of fpirit derogatory from his dig-
nity of mind.

But many more plauflble anecdotes are told of him.
When he wifhes merely to terrify any perfon, he runs
upon him with an afped of fury, but (lops when near, '
without infliding any injury. He lades a boat in a
river with amazing dexterity, carefully keeping all the
articles dry, and difpoling them fo that their arrange-
ment needs not to be changed. In raifing wheeled car-
I riages.

O F CLU A D R U P E D S. 255

rlages, heavily loaded, up a declivity, he puflies the
caniage forward with his front, advances, i'upports it
with his knee, and renews his effort. If dragging a ,
beam of wood along the ground, he removes obfcacles,
to make it run fmoothly and eafiiy.

The majeftic elephant on which Porus rode in the
battle in which he oppofed Alexander, difplayed a
ftronn- attachment to his mafter. When the Indian

O

monarch, though exhaufted with fatigue, and covered
v/ich wounds, obftinately refofed to retire or yield him-
felf a prifoner, and the Grecian foldiers prefled hard
upon him, his elephant ftill obeyed his diredlion,
though all his companions had fled, ftill defended his
mafter, and attacked thofe who approached againft him,
with firm and ardent courage.

Some eaftern monarchs employ elephants to execute
thofe criminals whom they have condemned to death.
They execute the fcntence with great dexterity, feize
the unhappy viftims, tofs them in the air, and then
trample them to death.

M. d'Obfonville relates an anecdote of an eleohant
which reprefents him in a very amiable light. In the
Laknaor, the capital of Soubah, during the rage of an
epidemic diftemper, the principal road to the palace
gate was covered with iick and dying wretches, extend-
ed on the ground, and incapable of removing, at a
time when the nabob was to paft on his elephant. The
indifference of the prince about the lives of his perifh-
ing fubjedis, the hafte with which he was to pafs, and
the aukward motions and heavy fteps of the elephant,
feemed to threaten inevitable death to a number of thofe
unhappy wretches. But the generous quadruped, with-
out receiving any command to the purpofe, and even
without flackening his pace, very dexteroufly affifted
the poor creatures with his trunk, removing fome,
raifmg others, and ftepping over the reft j fo that none
fuffered the fligiiteft injury. In what is an animal,
jt:apable of fuch prudencej fuch dexterity, and fuch

gentle

256 NATURAL HISTORY

gentle humanity, inferior to man ? In this adlion, both
intelligence and virtue confpicuoufly appear.

Elephants are more influenced by a regard to the
confequences of their adions than almoft any other do-
mefticated animals. On the promifeof a reward, they
are often induced to extraordinary exertions of inge-
nuity and ftrength. The fame curious obferver of
the economy of animals, d'Obfonville, relates, that
he has {QQn two elephants employed in concert in beat-
ing down a wall j who, encouraged by their cornacks
with a promife of fruits and brandy, doubled up their
trunks to fave them from injury, combined their ef-
forts, thruft with repeated fhocks againft the ftrongefl:
part of the wall, carefully marked the fuccefs of their
exertions, and at laft, with one grand impulfe, levelled
the fabric, retiring haftily to avoid fuffering from its
falling fragments.

A ft ill more fingular fad is related by the fame au-
thor. An elephant, who, in the courfe of the laft war
between the French and the Britifh in the Eaft Indies,
had received a flefli-wound by a cannon ball, after be-
incc once or twice conduced to the hofpital to have his
wound drefTed, conftantly attended of himfelf at the
proper time, till it was healed. That the furgeon
might operate, he readily extended himfelf on the
ground. He bore with patience the application even
of fire to his wound. The acutenefs of the pain would
fometimes force from him a plaintiye groan ; but to
the hand who, by inflicting momentary torments,
fought to accomplifh his cure, he expreffed none but
eniotions of gratitude. Gratitude is indeed reprefent-
ed by all who have had opportunities of obferving his
manners, as the moft eminent feature in the charader
of the elephant. At the fight or the cry of his mafter
or benefador in danger, he forgets ^11 regard to his,
own fafety.

At Decan, an elephant, in revenge for the violation
of a promife of reward for fome extraordinary exer-

tionSj

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 257

tlons, killed his cornack. The poor man's wife wit-
nefled the fcene. Wild with defpair for the lofs of her
hufband, fhe threw her two children at the feet of the
furious animal, crying, " Why fpare me or my chil-
dren, fmce you have flain my hufband ?" The elephant
became inftantly calra, took the eldeft boy on his
trunk, placed him on his neck, and, adopting him for
his cornack, would never obey any other conduftor.

At Pondicherry, a foldier, who had ufed to fhare his
arrack with an elephant whenever he received his pay,
happening one day to get drunk, was purfued by the
guard, who meant to put him into confinement. He
retreated under the belly of his friend the elephant,
who with his trunk beat ojfF his purfuers. The foldier
fell afleep. When he awaked next day, having flept
away his intoxication, he was much alarmed to find
himfelf under the belly of fo enormous an animal.
The elephant, however, eafed his fears by carefling
him with his trunk, and difmifling him in the moft
friendly manner.

An elephant at Verfailles was very carefully obferved
by the members of the French academy of fciences,
and many other vifitors. He difcovered confiderable
penetration, feemed to know when he was mocked,
and waited for an opportunity to revenge the affrojit.
A man pretending to throw fomething in his mouth,
made him gape for nothing. The difappointed ele-
phant, in high refentment, knocked the wag down,
and broke two of his ribs with a blow of his trunk ;
then trampled on him with his f^Qt, and kneeling, en-
deavoured to pierce his belly with his tuiks. He was
however refcued.

A painter wanted to draw this fame elephant in an
unufual attitude, with his trunk elevated, and his
mouth open. To make him remain in this pofition,
an attendant threw fruits, from time to time, into his
mouth. But he often only pretended to throw, with-
out giving any. The elephant at length, teazed and

Vol. III. No. 3^^. K k irritated.

258 NATURAL HISTORY

irritated, and obferving that it was to gratify thepaint^f
the fervant treated him with fuch impertinence, turned
his eye upon the mafter and his work, and by fquirt-
ing a quantity of water from his trunk, entirely fpoil*
ed the drawing.

In India, a large elephant employed to launch a vef-
fel, found his exertions unequal to the t^fk. His maf-
ter, in a contemptuous farcaftic tone, bade the keeper
take away that lazy beaft, and bring another of greater
fpirit and adivity. The poor animal, with generous
indignation, renewed his efforts, till he fradlured his
Ikull, and died on the fpot.

In Delhi, an elephant, pafllng through the ftreets,
put his trunk into the door or window of a taylor's
fhop, where were feveral people at work. A wag of
the company" pricked the end with his needle. The
beaft removed his trunk and paffed on. But, in the
firft puddle, filling it with water, he returned and
fpouted the whole upon the people in the fhop, which
entirely fpoiled their work.

An elephant in Adfmeer, had been accuftomed tO/
receive always a mouthful of greens from a certain
herb-woman, as he paffed through the bazar or mar-
ket. After fome time, happening to be feized with one
of thofe periodical fits of madnefs to which thefe ani--
mals are fubjedt, he broke his fetters, and ran furious
through the market, while the trembling multitude fled
before him. His benefadrefs fled among the reft ; but,
in her trepidation, left her child. The animal recol-
leding the child of fo good a friend, on the fpot where
ihe had ufed to fit, took up the infant in his trunk, and
gently placed it in fafety, on a ftall before a neighbour-
ing houfe.

The natives of Africa greedily eat the flefh of the
elephant. The Hottentots and Bofhiefmen, in the
neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, efteem it
a very agreeable article of food; but the colonifts re-
gard the eater of elephant's flefh with little lefs horror

than

O F CLU A D R U P E D S. 259

than a cannibal. Sparrman relates that he faw the
huts of fome Hottentots in the fervice of a farmer on
Diep-rivier covered over with zig-zag flips of ele-
phant's fleih, fome inches in breadth, and feveral fa-
thoms in length, which they had thus laid out to dry ;
fome of thofe flips were wound round the huts, and
others ftretched between two. It was in the begin-
ning of November ; they had lately been fuccefsful in
thechace; and, " at this time," fays this hvely na-
turalift, " men, women, and children, had here no
other employment, but fleeping, fmoking, and eating
elephant's flefli."

The tufks of the elephant have long been applied,
under the denomination of ivory, to a variety of' im-
portant ufes, in the arts. Ivory is a material as well
for the fine, as for the mechanic arts. In the country
o^ Sogno, in Lower Ethiopia, the natives diftil a wa-
ter from the bones of the elephant's legs, which they
efteem an excellent remedy for afthmas, fciaticas, and
feveral other complaints. The Giaghi regard the tail
of this animal with religious veneration. When a
chief or fovereign dies, an elephant's tail is confecrated
to preferve his memory. The animal is hunted merely
for his tail. A facred tail mufl always have been cut
off from a living elephant, and at a fingle ftroke.

Over all the north of Afia, and through feveral
other parts of the globe, entire or partial fkeletons of
elephants are occafionally found in a foffil ftate. Grind-
ers and tufks are numerous through Siberia. Thefe
were once afcribed to an imaginary animal under the
name of mammouth. Through America too, there
are large animal fkeletons found in a foffil ftate, which,
though their fl;ru6lure be fomewhat different from that
of the elephant, approach, however, nearer to this than
to any other known fpecies.

When the elephant is properly managed, he lives
very long in a ftate of flavery and labour. That fome
^ave lived in this flate one hundred and thirty years^

K k •? js

i6-o NATURAL HISTORY

is pretty well authenticated. In a natural ftate they
often exceed two hundred years, and propagate their
fpecies till they are one hundred and twenty; it is
thirty years before they come to their full growth.

CANIS, the DOG, of the Order of FER^E.

THE diftinguifhing charadlers of the dog are thefe:
he has fix fore-teeth in the upper-jaw, thofe in
the fides being longer than the intermediate ones,
which are lobated; in the under jaw there are likewife
fix fore-teeth, thofe on the fides being lobated. He
has fix grinders in the upper, and feven in the lower,
jaw. The teeth called dog-teeth are four, one on each
iide both in the lower and upper jaw ; they are (harp-
pointed, bent a little inward, and ftand at a diftance
from any of the reft.

The fervices of this truly valuable creature have
been fo eminently ufeful to the domeftic interefts of
men in all ages, that to give the hiftory of the dog
•would be little lefs than to trace mankind back to their
original ftate of fimplicity and freedom, to mark the
progrefs of civilization through the various changes of
the world, and to follow attentively the gradual ad-
vancement of that order which placed man at the head
of the animal world, and gave him a manifeft fuperio-
rity over every part of the brute creation. If we con-
fidcr for a moment the ftate of man without the aid of
tjiis ufeful domeftic ;---with what arts fliall he oppofc
the numerous hofts of foes that furround him on all
fides, feeking every opportunity to encroach upon his
poflefiions, to deftroy his labours, or to endanger his
perfonal fafety ? or how ftiall he bring into fubjedtion
fuch as are neceftary for his well-being ? His utmoft
vigilance will not be fufficient to fecure him from the
rapacity of the one, nor his greateft exertions enable
him to overcome the fpeed of the other. To maintain
his independence, to infure his fafety, and to provide

for

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 261

for his fupport, It wa3 neceflary that fome one among
the animals ihould be brought over to his afliftance,
whofe zeal and fidelity might be depended on : and
where, amidft all the orders of animated beings, could
one be found fo entirely adapted to this purj^ofe ? where
could one be found fo bold, fo tradable, and fo obedi-
ent, as the dog?- --To confirm the truth of thefe ob-
fervations, we need only turn our attention to the prc-
fent condition of thofe nations not yet emerged from
a ftate of barbarifm, where the ufes of the dog are but
little known or attended to, and we will find that they
lead a precarious and wretched life of perpetual war-
fare with the ftill more favage inhabitants of the forefl:,
with which they are obliged to difpute thcpofleflion of
their uncultivated fields, and, not unfrequently, to di-
vide with them the fruits of their labours. From
hence we may conclude, that the attention of mankind,
in the earlieft ages, would be engaged in training and
rendering this animal fubfervient to the important pur-
pofes of domeftic utihty; and the refult of this art has
been, the conqueft and peaceable pofiefiion of the earth.

Of all animals the dog feems moft fufceptlble of
change, and moft eafily modified by difference of cli-
mate, food, and education ; not only the figure of his
body, but his faculties, habits, and difpoiitions, vary in
a furprifing manner: nothing appears conftr.ntin them
but their internal conformation, which is alike In all;
in every other refpeil, they are very didimilar : they
vary in fizc. In figure, in the length of the nofe and
/hape of the head, in the length and diredion of the
ears and tail, in the colour, quality, and quantity, of
the hair, &c.

Llnnseus was the firft who remarked that the tail of
the dog bcjnds towards the left ; a char^der conimon to
the whole fpecles, in all its varieties. As the economy
of this animal has been delineated with all that fiJelitv,
f recifion, and elegant conclfenefs, which render the
jvj-itings of Linnsus an ineftimable trcai'ure, we ilialj

avail

262 NATURAL HISTORY

-avail onrfelves of his defcription : " The dog, the moft
faithful of animals, the companion of mankind, fawns
at the approach of his mafter, and will not fufFer any
one to ftrike him ; runs before him in a journey, pafs-
ing frequently backward and forward over the fame
ground. On coming to crofs ways, he ftops and looks
back; is very docile s will find out what has been
droptj is watchful by night; announces the coming of
ftrangers, and guards any goods committed to his
charge : he drives the cattle home from the field ;
keeps herds and flocks within bounds, and prote6ls
them from wild beads. By virtue of his acute fenfe of
fmelling, he points out the game to the fportfman, and
brings the birds that are fhot to his mafter. At Bruf-
fels, and in Holland, he draws little carts to the herb
market: in Siberia, he draws a fledge, with his mafter
in it, or one loaded with provifions ; he will turn, a
fpiti fits up, and begs at table; when he has commit-
ted a theft, he flinks away with his tail between his
legs ; eats envioufly with oblique eyes ; ftrives to be
mafter among his fellows at home ; is an enemy to
beggars, and attacks ftrangers without provocation ;
he is fond of licking wounds, aflliages the pain of the
gout, and of cancerous ulcers; howls at certain notes
in mufic, and often urines on hearing them : he bites
at a ftone flung at him ; is fick at the approach of bad
wearher; gives himi'elf a vomit, by eating grafs; is
aiilided with tape worms; fpreads his madnefs ; grows
deaf and blind with age, et J^pe gonorrhea infeSfus : he
eats flefli, carrion, and farinaceous vegetables, but not
greens ; drinks by lapping; is fond of rolling on car-
rion, ftieep's dung, &c. his fcent is exquifite : he goes
obliquely, foams and hangs out his tongue when hot,
but icarcely ever fweats ; about to He down, he goes
often round; his fleep is attended with a quick fenfe
of hearing; and during fleep he frequently dreams;
he makes water fide^ways with his leg up; is very
apt oftei; to repeat it, whejx another |ias done the

fame.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 263

fame, and dungs upon a ftone ; his dung is the gi'cat-
eft of fceptics. Cants odorat anum alterius\ menfiru-
ans catuUit cum variis i mordet ilia illos ; cohceret copula.
Junius. The female goes fixty-thrce days with young,
brings forth from four to tenj the males generally
like the dog, the females hke herfelf j the largeft and
talleft are more prolific than the fmaller kinds : though
driven as unclean from the houfe of the Mahometans,
yet the fame people eftablifh hofpitais for dogs, and al-
low them a daily portion of food."

No lefs juft and elegant, though morediffufe, is the
following extrad: from Buffon: " The dog, indepeiid-
ent of the beauty of his figure, his ftrength, vivacity,
and nimblenefs, pofL-fTcs every internal excellence
which in a brute can attra«5t the regard of man. A paf-
fionate, and even a ferocious and fanguinary temper,
renders the wild dog formidable to all animals ; but in
the domeftic dog, thefe hoftile difpofitions vanifh, and
are fucceeded by the fofter fentiments of aicachment,
and the defire of pleafing ; he runs with cheerfulnefs
and alacrity to his mafter's foot, where he lays down
his courage, his ftrength, and his talents : he attends
-for orders, which he is always folicitous to execute :
he confults, he interrogates, he fupplicates, his maf-
teri a fingle glance of the eye is fufficienr, for he
knows the external figns of our intentions and wifhes ;
his feelings are extremely delicate, and he has more
fidehty and fteadinefs in his affedtions than man : he
is not corrupted by ambition, rarely by interefted
views, or by a defire of revenge j and he has no fear
but that of difpleafing : he is all zeal, ardour, and
obedience ; more apt to recal benefits than outrages :
he is not to be difcouraged by blows or bad treatment,
but calmly fufi^ers, and foon forgets, them j or he re -
members them only to increafe his attachment: in-
ftead of flying, or difcovering marks of refentment, he
expofes himfelf to torture, and licks the hand from
which he received the blowi to the cruelty of his maf-

ter.

264 NATURAL HISTORY

ter, he only oppofes complaint, patience, and fubmif-
iion : furely the mafter muft be void of humanity that
can abufe fuch a fervant. Equally furious againft
thieves as againft rapacious animals, he attacks and
■wounds them, and forces them from whatever they
have been attempting to carry off: but, contented
with vidtory, he lies down upon the fpoil, and will not
touch it even to fatisfy his appetite, exhibiting at the
fame time, an example of courage, temperance, and .
fidelity : he reigns at the head of a flock, and is better
heard than the voice of the fhepherd ; fafety, order,
and difcipHne, are the fruits of his vigilance andacfli-
vity ; fheep and cattle arc a people fubjeded to his
management, whom he prudently conduits and pro-
te<5ts, and never employs force againft them, but for
the prefervation of peace and good order.

** But in war againft his enemies, or wild animals,
he makes a full difplay of his courage and intelligence;
he fhares 'with his mafter the pkafure and fatigue of
the chace ; here too his natural and acquired talents
are united and exerted ; by the acutenefs of his fcent,
he unravels all the windings of the labyrinth, all the
falfe routs which were intended to deceive him ; and,
inftead of abandoning the objedl of his purfuit for a
different animal, he redoubles his ardour, he over-
takes, attacks, flays, and extinguifhes his thirft and
his rage in the blood of the vidim. The lion and the
tiger, whofe ftrength is {o great as to enfure them of
vidory, hunt alone, and without artifice. Wolves,
foxes, and wild dogs, hunt in packs, aftift each other
with much art, and mutually fliare in the prey. When
the natural talents of the dog have been improved by
education ; when he has learned to reprefs his ardour,
and to regulate his movements, he then hunts artifi-
cially, and is almoft certain of fuccefs.

" The predominant attachment of the whole race
of dogs towards mankind, prevents thefe animals from
feparating from usj till deferted, or, by fome accident,

Z left

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 265

kft in places where there was no poffibility of reunion :
as before obferved, it feems beyond the power of ill
ufage to fubdiie the fliit'iful and conftant qualities in-
herent in them. They are found in great numbers
wild, or rather without mafters, in Congo, Lower
iKthiopia, and towards the Cape of Good Hope.
7'hofe are red-haired; have flendei' bodies and turned
up tails like greyhounds ; others refemble hounds, and
are of various colours, have ere6l ears, and are of the
fize of a large fox-hound: they run very fwiftly, de-
ftroy cattle, hunt down antelopes, as our dogs do the
ftag, and are very deftrudrive to the animals of ch?.ce:
they have no certain refidence, and are very feldom kil-
led, being fo crafty as to fliun ail traps ; and of fo fa-
gacious nofes as to fhun every thing that has been
touched by man : they go in great packs -, attack lions,
tigers, and elephants, but are often killed by them :
the fight of thefe dogs is pleafing to travellers, who
fuppofe that they have conquered the wild beafts, and
i-endered their journey fecure, by driving them away :
they fometimes attack the fheep of the Hottentots, and
.commit great ravages among them. There are alfo
multitudes of wild dogs in South America, derived
fi-om thofe carried over, and left there, by the Euro- '
pean difcoverers of that continent : ttiey breed in holes
like rabbit-holes : when found yoji ig, they inftantly
a,ttach themfelves to mankind, and will never afuer-
ward join the wild dogs, or dcfert their maiters : they
have not forgot to bark, as fome have alleged : they
have the look of a greyhound : their e^rs ftand eredl :
they are very vigilant, and excellent in the chace."

The dog was quite unknown in America, before it
was introduc-d there by the Europeans. I'he alco of
the Peruvians, a little anim:il which they were (o fond
of> and kept as a lap-dog, is too llightly mentioned
by Acolla, for us to determine what it was. But it
h certain that the dog of North America, or rather the
- ^biliitute the natives had for a dog, oi) its difcovery by
Vol. JII. No. 38. Li the

i(>(> NATURAL History

the Engllih, was derived from the wolf, tamed and do-
mefticated j thefe fubftitiites cannot bark, but betray
their favage defcent by a fort of howl : that wolfifh breed
want the fagacity of a true dog, and are detefted by
European dogs, who worry them on all occafions, re-
taining ftill that diflike, which it is well known all
dogs have to the wolf: they are commonly white,
have fharp nofes and upright ears.

The dog is fubjedl to more varieties than any other
animal. While a fuperficial obferver would be ready
to pronounce each of thefe varieties a diftind and fe-
parate fpecies, each will mix with the other, and pro-
duce a variety ftill more unlike the original ftock. Mr.
Pennant remarks, that the original ftock of dogs in the
old world is, with great reafon, fuppofed to be the fcha-
kal or jackal j that from their tamed offspring, cafually
crofted with the wolf, the fox, and even the hyaena,
have arifen the numberlefs forms and ftzes of the ca-
nine race. Before him, Buffon, with much ingenuity,
had traced out a gjenealogical table of all the known
dogs, deducing all the other varieties from the ftiep-
herd's dog, varioufly affeded by climate, and other
cafual circumftances. This variety in Britain is fmall
and weak; but in France, and among the mountains
of the Alps, large and ftrong, and is fometimes called
the wolf dog. We ftiall give it the preference as the
firft variety, and arrange under it, it neareft allies as
fubordinate varieties.

I. The SHEPHERD'S DOG, or Cams 'Dotnefti^
cus of Linnaeus. The charaders of this variety are,
that they are ftiarp-nofed, ered and ftiarp eared; very
hairy, efpeclally about the neck, and have their tails
turned up or curled; they are naturally the moft fen-
ftble : they become, without difcipline, almoft inftant-
ly, the guardians of the flocks ; they keep them within
bounds, reduce the ftragglers to their proper limits,
and defend them from the attacks of the foxes and of
the wolves. In temperate climates, they are very nu-
merous.

OF QUADRUPEDS. 267

merous, though greater attention has been paid to the
reciring of more beautiful kinds, than to the preferva-
tion of this race, which has no recommendation but its
utiUty, and for that reafon has been abandoned to the
care of the fheep farmers. Notwithftanding their in-
elegance, and melancholy afpeft, they are fuperior, in
inftindt, to all others : they are of a decided charader,
independent of education, though, no doubt, that im-
proves them : guided folely by their natural powers,
they apply themfelves, as it were fpontaneoufly, to the
keeping of flocks; an employment which they execute
with amazing fidelity, vigilance, and affiduity : their
talents at the fame time aflonifh and give repofe to
their matters, while other dogs require the moft labo-
rious inflruftion to train them to the purpofes for
which they are deftined.

The fubordinate varieties of the fhepherd's dog
are, i. The Pomeranian dog, le chien loup, or wolf
dog of BufFon. , Linnasus defcribes it as having longer
hair on its head, eredt ears, and its tail very much
curled. 2. The Siberian dog, a variety of the former,
very common in Rulfia. The other varieties in the
inland parts of the Ruffian empire and Siberia, are
chiefly from the fliepherd's dog ; and there is a high-
limbed taper-bodied kind, the common dog of the Cal-
muc and independent Tartars, excellent for the chace,
and all other ufes. Of the fame kind are the dogs in
Greenland and Kamtfchatka. TheGreenlandersfome-
times eat their flefh : they make garments of their
ikins, and ufe them in drawing fledges; to which they
yoke them, four, five, and fometimes fix, together.
The dogs of Kamtfchatka are alfo very ufetul in draw-
ing fledges, the only method of travelling in that dreary
country during winter. They travel with great expe-
dition. Captain King relates, that, during his flay
there, a courier with difpatches, drawn by them, per-
formed a journey of two hundred and feventy miles in
lefs than four days.

L 1 2 The

258 NATURAL HISTdRY

The fledges are ufually drawn by five dogs, four of
them yoked two and two ^breaft : the foremoft ads a6
leader to the reft. The reins; being faftened to a tol-
lar round the leading dog's neck, are of little ufe in di-
refting the pack; the driver depending chiefly upoil
their obedience to his voice, with which he animates
them to proceed. — Great care and attention are con-
fequently ufed in training up thole for leaders, which
are more valuable according to their fteadinefs and do-
cility j the fum of forty roubles, or ten pounds, being
no unufual price for one of them. The rider has a
crooked ftick, anfwering the purpofe both of whip and
reins ; with which, by ftriking on the fnow, he regu-
lates the fpeed of the dogs, or ftops them at his plea-
fure. When they are inattentive to their duty, he of-
ten chaftifes them by throwing it at them. He difco-
Vers great dexterity in regaining his ftick, which is the
greateft difficulty attending his fttuation ; for, if ht
fhould happen to lofe it, the dogs immediately difco-
ver the circumftance, and feldom fail to fet off at full
fpeed, and continue to run till their flrength is ex-
haufted, or till the carriage is overturned, and daflied
to pieces, or hurried down a precipice.

II. The HOUND, or Cmiis Sagar of Linnseus.
This variety is a dog with long, fmooth, and pendu-
lous, ears. It is the canis gallicus of Linnseus, the
fame with the blood-hound of the Britifti Zoologyj
and is the head of the other kinds with fmooth and
hanging ears. The fubordinate variations are, i. The
beagle, harrier, or fox-hound. i. The Dalmatian dog,
or harrier of Bengal, a beautiful fpotted kind, vulgarly
called the Danifti dog. 3. The turnfpit with bent or
ftrait legs; and, 4, The water-dog, great and fmall>
the canis aviarius aquaticus of Ray, well known and
exceedingly ferviceable td the fportfman. 5, The
Spanifti pointer, from whom is derived the Englifh
fpecies, crofted with the fox -hound, harrier, &:c. The

hounds.

0 F QJlT a t) R U P E D S. 269

hounds, the harriers, the fpaniels, the terriers, and the
water dogs, are the true hunting dogs.

No country in F.urope can boaft of harriers and fox-
hounds equal in fvviftnefs, ftrength, or agiHty, to thofe
of Britain ; where the utmoft attention is paid to their
bree<:iing, education, and mainten^ance. Ihe climate
alfo feems congenial to their nature ; for it has been
faid, that, when hounds of the Englifh breed have been
fent into France or other countries, they quickly dege-
nerate, and in fome degree iofe thofe qualities tor
which they were originally fo admirable. In England,
the attachment to the fox- chafe is in fortie meafure
confidered as a trait in the national character j confe-
quently it is not to be wondered at, that our dogs and
horfes fhould excel all others in that noble diverfion.
This propenfity appears to be encreafing in the nation;
-as no price feems now too great for hounds of known
excellence. The fox-hounds generally preferred are
tall, light made, but ftrong, and pofi'efTed of great
courage, fpeed, and adivity. Dogs of the fame kind
are alfo trained to the hunting of the ftag and other
deer. The following anecdore aifords a proof of their
wonderful fpii it in fupporting a continuity of exertion :

** Some years fince, a very large ftag was turned
out of Whinfield-park, in the county of Weftmore-
land i and purfued by the hounds, till, by fatigue or
accident, the whole pack was thrown out, except two
ftaunch and favourite dogs, which continued to chafe
the greateft part of the day. The ftag returned to
the park from whence he fet out i and, as his laft ef-
fort, leapt the wall, and expired as foon as he had ac-
complifhed it. One of the hounds purfued to the
wall J but being unable to get over it, laid down, and
almoft immediately expired: the other was alfo found
at a fmall diftance. The lenorth of the chafe is uncer-
tain : but, as they were feen at Red- kirks, near Annan,
in Scotland, diftant, by the poll-road, about forty-fix
fniles, it is conjedured, that the circuitous and uneven

courfe

^70 NATURAL HISTORY

courfe they might be fuppofed to take, would not be
lefs than one hundred and twenty miles !"

The blood-hound was in great requeft with our an-
ceftors ; and, as it was remarkable for the finenefs of
its fcent, it was frequently employed in recovering
game that had efcaped wounded from the hunter. It
could follow, with great certainty, the footfteps of a
man to a confiderabie diftance: and in barbarous and
uncivilized times, when the thief or murderer had fled,
this ufeful creature would trace him through the thick-
eft and moft fecret coverts -, nor would it ceafe its
purfuit till it had taken the felon. For this reafon,
there was a law in Scotland, that whoever denied en-
trance to one of thefe dogs, in purfuit of ftolen goods,
Ihould be deemed an accefTary. Elood-hounds were
formerly ufed in certain diftridls lying between Eng-
land and Scotland, which were much infefted by rob-
bers and murderers ; and a tax was laid upon the in-
habitants for keeping and maintaining a certain number
of them. But, as the arm of juftice is now extended
over every part of the country, and there are no fecret
receffes where villainy may lie concealed, thefe fer-
vices are no longer neceffary. In Scotland it was dif-
tinguifhed by the name of the fleuth-hound. Some
few of thefe dogs are ftill kept in the fouthern parts of
the kingdom, and are ufed in purfuit of deer that have
been previoufly wounded by a fliot to draw blood, the
fcent of which enables them to purfue with moft un-
erring fteadinefs,---They are fometimes employed in
difcovering deer-ftealers, whom they infallibly trace
by the blood that iffues from the wounds of their vic-
tims.-—They are alfo faid to be kept in convents,
fituated in the lonely and mountainous countries of
Switzerland, both as a guard to the facred manfion, as
well as to find out the bodies of men that have been
unfortunately loft in crofting thofe wild and dreary
tracfls. The blood- hound is taller than the Old Eng-
lifti hound, moft beautifully formed, and fuperior to
■2 every

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 271

every other kind in adlivity, fpeed, and fagacity. They
feldom bark, except in the chafe ; and are commonly
of a reddifh or brown colour. Somerville thus beau-
tifully defcribes their mode of purfuing the nightly
fpoiler :

Soon the fagacious brute, his curling tail
Flourifh'd in air, low bending, plies around
His bufy nofe, the fteaming vapour fnuffs
Inquifitive, nor leaves one turf untry'd.
Till, confcious of the recent ftains, his heart
Beats quick J his fnuffling nofe, his acflive tail,
Atteft his joy : then with deep-op'ning mouth.
That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims
Th' audacious felon : foot by foot he marks
His winding way, while all the lift'ning crowd
Applaud his reas'nings : o'er the wat'ry ford.
Dry fandy heaths, and ftony barren hills ;
O'er beaten paths, with men and beafts diftain'd.
Unerring he purfues, till at the cot
Arriv'd, and feizing by his guilty throat
The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey :
So exquifitely delicate his fenfe !

III. The SPANIEL, or Canis Avicularius of hln-
nseus. Dogs of this variety vary in fize, from the
water fpaniel and fetting dog, to the fpringing fpaniels,
and fome of the little lap-dcgs, fuch as, i. King
Charles's, fo named from Charles II. who was very
fond of this kind, and whs always attended by feveral
of them whenever he went out. This is the gredin
of Buffon i it is black, and has its palate alfo black,
2. The pyrame. There is no Engliih name for this
kind: it is le pryame of Buffonj generally black,
marked on the legs with red, and above each eye, with
a fpot of the fame colour, and is a very playful crea-
ture. 3. Shock, the Makefe dog, with very foft,
filky, long, hair: and, 4, The lion dog, with fhorter

hair

272 NATURAL HISTORY

hair towards its loins, its belly, and- tail, except the
point of the tail, which is tufted.

IV. The GREYHOUND, or Canis Graius of
Linnasus. This variety confifts of dogs with fhort
pendent ears j long legs and bodies. Of this kind are,
I. The Iri(h greyhound, a variety once very commoq
in Ireland, and ufed in the chace of the wolf, but now
very fcarce. This is a dog of great fize and ftrength ;
it is le matin of BuJfFon, and the canis graius Hiberni-
cus of Ray. i. The common greyhound ; this is
the levrier of Buffbn, and the canis graius of Linnaeus,
a creature fo well known, that any defcription of it
would be unnecefTary. Every one that has {ttw it,
muft admire the elegance and beauty of its form. Its
German name of windfpiel, indicates its fwiftnefs ; its
French naine of harehound, its ufe; and its Englifh
name, though corrupted, announces its Grecian origi-
nal. There are two varieties of it. i. The Italian
greyhound, fmall, and fmooth ; and, i. The Orien-
tal, tall, flender, with very pendulous ears, and very
long hair, the tail hanging down a great length. 3.
The Danifh dog, which is the largeft of dogs, and is
of a ftronger make than the Irifh greyhound. BufFon
mentions his having feen only one of thefe ; that when
fitting, was about five feet high. From this race
fprung the Newfoundland dog, which is varied only
by the peculiar nature of the climate : and fuch, in all
probability, were the dogs of Epirus mentioned by
Ariftotle, and thofe of Albania, the modern Shirwan,
or Eaft Georgia, fo beautifully defcribed by Pliny, as
prefented to Alexander the Great. While Alexander
was on his march to India, the King of Albania fent
him a dog of unufual bignefs, as a prefent. Delighted
with his appearance, he ordered bears, then wild boars,
and lall of all, deer, to be turned out loofe before him.
The dog, through contempt of fuch game, lay ftili
without feeming to take the leaft notice of them. That
high fpirited prince, provoked at fuch indolence in a

preature

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 27^

creature of fuch fize, ordered him to be put to death.
Fame carried the nev/s to the king. Therefore, fend-
ing him a fecond, he added this mefiage, that he fhould
not wifh to try him on fmall beaft?, but on a lion
or an elephant; that he had only two: that, if this
were flain, he fhould have none left. Alexander did
not delay, and . foon faw a lion quite overpowered.
Then he ordered an elephant to be brought, and was
never more entertained with any fight. Briftling up
all his hair over his whole body, he opened upon him
with a bark like a peal of thunder. Inftantly he be-
gins the attack, nfing againft the elephant, now on
this fide, now on that, with artful combat, attacking
or retreating, as he faw it neceflary, till, by continually
wheeling round, he at laft brought him to the ground,
the earth being greatly fhaken all around by his
weighty fall.

I'o this head may alfo be referred the vaft dogs of
Thibet, faid by Marco Polo to be as big as afTes, and
ufed in that country to take wild beafts, and efpecially
the wild oxen called beyamini. Another kind belong-
ing to this variety is, the maftiff; a dog very ftrong
and thick made, with a large head and great lips hano^-
ing down on each fide ; he has a fine and noble coun-
tenance, and grows to a great fize. This is the canis
molufi"us of Linnaeus. He feems every way formed
for the important truft of guarding and fecuring the
valuable property often committed to his care. Houfes,
gardens, yards, &c. are fafe from depredations whilfi
in his cuftody. Confined during the day, as foon as
the gates are locked he is left to range at full liberty :
he then goes round the premifes, examines every part
of them, and by loud barkings gives notice that he is
ready to defend his charge. Dr. Caius, in his inge-
nious tieatife on Britifb dogs, telis us, that three of
thefe animals were reckoned a match for a bear, and
four for a lion. We have a curious account recorded
in Stow's Annals, of an engagement between three
Vol. IIJ. No. j8. Mm maiUffs

274 NATURAL HISTORY

maftiffs and a lion^ in the prefence of James I. " One
of the dogs, being put iuto the den, was foon difabled
by the lion J which took it by the head and neck, and
d^ragged it about: another dog was then let loofe, and
ferved in the fame manner : but the third, being put in,
immediately feized the lion by the lip, and held him
for a confiderable time ; till, being feverely torn by his
claws, the dog was obliged to quit his hold ; and the
lion, greatly exhaufted in the conflict, refufed to renew
the engagement ; but, taking a fudden leap over the
dogs, fled into the interior part of his den. Two of
the dogs foon died of their wounds: the laft furvived,
and was taken great care of by the king's fon j who
faid, " he that had fought with the king of beafts
fhould never after fight with any inferior creature."
The maftiffs of Great-Britain were noted in the time
of the Roman emperors ; who appointed an officer,
whofe fole bufmefs it was to breed, and fend then!
from hence, fuch as would prove equal to the combats
of the amphitheatre.

V. The fifth variety confifts of dogs, with fhort
pendent ears, fliort compad bodies, fhort nofes, and
generally long legs. At the head of this clafs Hands,
I. The bull-dog, a breed peculiar to England, and
iefs frequently to be met with even there, fince the
barbarous cultom of bull-baiting has declined ; he is
cruel and fierce, often biting before he barks, and is
eafily diftinguifhed by his fhort nofe, and by the under
jaw being longer than the upper. BufFon calls him
le dogue. 2. The pug dog is a fmall fpecies, an in-
nocent refemblance of the laft, and is marked by Buf-
fon with the name of le doguin. 3. The baftard pug,
nearly allied to the former, he calls le roquet. Thefe
dogs have very fliort muzzles, little fcent, and often
fend forth a difagreeable fmell. 4. The naked dog,
by Buffon called the Turkifli dog, is a degenerate fpe-
cies, with a naked body, having loft its hair by the
heat of the climate.

2 The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 275

The bull-dog is the fierceft of all the dog kind,
and is probably the moft courageous creature in the
world. It is low in ftature, but very ftrong and muf-
cular. Its nofe is fhort ; and the under jaw projedls
beyond the upper, which gives it a fierce and un-
pleafing afpedl. — Its courage in attacking the bull is
well known : its fury in feizing, and its invincible ob-
ftinacy in maintaining, its hold, are truly aftonifhing.
It always aims at the front; and generally faftens upon
the lip, the tongue, the eye, or fome part of the face j
where it hangs, in fpite of every effort of the bull to
difengage himfelf. The uncommon ardour of thefe
dogs in fighting will be bed illuftrated by the follow-
ing fad, related by an eye-vvitnefs ; which at the fame
lime corroborates, in fome degree, the wonderful ac-
count of the dogs of Epirus given by Elian, and quo-
ted by Dr. Goldfmith in his hiftory of the dog:---
Some years ago, at a bull-baiting in the north of Eng-
^ land, when that barbarous cuftom was very common,
C^ a young man, confident of the courage of his dog,
laid fome trifling wagers, that he would, at feparate
times, cut off all the four feet of his dog; and that,
after every amputation, it would attack the bull. The
cruel experiment was tried; and the dog continued to
feize the bull as eagerly as if he had been perfedlly
whole. Of late years, this inhuman cuftom of bait-
ing the bull has been almoft entirely laid afide ; and,
coiifequently, there are now few of this kind of dogs
to be feen. As the bull-dog always makes his attack
without barking, it is very dangerous to approach him
alone, without the greateft precaution.

DOGS of the South Sea Islands, &c. Thefe
were brought originally from New Guinea, which the
natives of the South Sea iflands call the mother of
lands, and are now found in the Society Iflands, New
Zealand, and the Low Iflands : there are alfo a few in
New Holland. Of thefe there are two varieties ; the
firfl: refembling the fliarp-nofed prick-eared fhepherd's

M m 2 cur.

276 NATURAL HISTORY

cur. Thofe of New Zealand are of the largefl fort.
Ill the Society Iflands they are the common food, and
are fattened with vegetables, which the natives cram
down their throats wheti they will voluntarily eat no
more. They are killed by ftrangling, and the extra-
vafated blood is preferved in cocoa-nut fhells, and
baked for the table. They grow very fat, and are al-
lowed, even by the Europeans who have got over their
prejudices, to be very fweet and palatable. But the
tafte for the flelh of thefe animals was not confined to
the iflanders of the Pacific Ocean. The ancients
reckoned a young and fat dog excellent food, efpecially
if it had been caftrated. Hippocrates placed it on a
footing with mutton and pork j and in another place
fays, that the flefh of a grown dog is wholefome
and ftrengthening. The Romans admired fucking
puppies ; they facrificed them to their divinities, and
thought them a fupper in which the gods themfelves
delighted.

The fecond variety is, the barbet, whofe hair being
long and filky, is much valued by the New Zealanders
for trimming their ornamental drefs. This variety is
not eaten. The iflanders never ufe their dogs for any
purpofes but their fur j and take fuch care of them as
not to fuffer them ever to wet their feet. They are
exceflively flupid j they have a very bad nofe for
fmelling, and feldom or never bark, only now and then
they howl. The New Zealanders feed their dogs en-
tirely on fifh. The dog found at Botany-bay, or in
New Holland, has fhort, ered, ftiarp-pointed, ears; a
fox- like head j and the colour of the upper part of the
body is pale brown, but grows lighter towards the
belly; the hind part of the fore legs, and forepart of
the hind legs, are white : the feet are all of the fame
colour ; the tail very buihy ; length about two feet and
a half; of the tail not a third of that of the body ; the
height about two feet. Two of thefe have been
brought alive to England j they are exceffively fierce,

and

O F Qja ADRUPEDS. 277

and do not fliew any marks of being brought to a ftate
of domefticity. It laps like other dogs ; but neither
barks nor growls wlien provoked; but eredts its hairs
like briftlcs, and feems quite furious. It is eager af-
ter its prey j and is fond of rabbits and fowls, but will
not touch drefTed meat ; it - is very agile.. It once
feized a French dog by the loins, and would havefooii
defi-royed it had not help been at hand. It leaped with
great eafe on the back of an af?, and would have wor-
ried it to death had not the afs been relieved, for it
could not difengage itfelf from the afl'ailant. It was
known to run down deer and fheep.

The Marquefas, Friendly Ifles, New Hebrides,
New Caledonia, and Eaftern Ides, have not yet re-
ceived any of thefe animals.

With regard to the propagation of dogs, the females
admit the males before they are twelve months old.
They remain in feafon ten, twelve, or even jfifteen,
days, during which time they will admit a variety of
males. They come in feafon generally twice in the
year, and more frequently in the cold than in the hot
months. The male difcovers the condition of the fe-
male by the fmell ; butfhe feldom admits him the firft
fix or (tven days. One coition will make her conceive
a great number of young; but, when not reftrained,
fhe will admit feveral dogs every day ; fhe feems to
have no choice or predile(5tion, except in favour -of large
dogs : from this circumftance it fometimes happens,
that a fmall female, who has admitted a maftiff", pe-
rifhes in bringing forth her young. During the time
of copulation, thefe animals cannot feparate them-
felves, but remain united fo long as the eredlion fub-
fifts. This is owing to the ftrudure of the parts. The
dog has not only a bone in his penis, but in the mid-
dle of the corpus cavernofum there is a large hollow,
which is blown up in the time of eredion to a confi-
derable bulk. The female, on the other hand, has a
larger clitoris than perhaps any other animal : befide^,

a large

278 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

a large firm protuberance rifes in the time of copula-
tion, and remains perhaps longer than that of the
male, and prevents him from retiring till it fubfides :
accordingly, after the acft of penetrating is effefted, the
male turns about in order to reft himfelf on his legs,
and remains in that pofition tiil the parts turn flaccid.
The female goes with young about nine weeks. They
generally bring forth from fix to twelve puppies.
Thofe of afmall fize bring forth five, four, and fome-
times but two> They continue to copulate and bring
forth during life, which lafts generally about fourteen
or fifteen years. The whelps are commonly blind, and
cannot open their eyes till the tenth or twelfth day : the
males are like the dog, the females like the bitch.---
The.dog, the wolf, and the {ox^ are certainly derived
fi'om one original parent ; and all dogs whatfoever,
from the terrible boar-dog to Pompey the little, were
all one in the firft creation. All the variety we be-
Jiold in them, is either produced by change of climate,
or the accidental effed of foil, food, or fituation -, or
from the ifibe of human care, experiment, or caprice.
£very huntfman kiiows what a vaft alteration may be
made in dogs, by induftrioufly improving the breed
for twenty or thirty years. Nature wifely tends to
render every kind of creature fie for the country where
it is to inhabit, or be employed, which is the reafon
why hounds, and all other animals, degenerate, by be-
ing removed into contrary climates. This is manifeft
from the following experiment; if a couple of right
fouthern hounds be removed to the north, and fuffer-
ed to propagate without art or mixture, they will, by
fenfible degrees, decline into lighter bodies, and ftiril.
ler accents j and in the fame way are all dogs varied,
by being carried from one country to another. But
the utm oft efforts of human induftry and contrivance,
whether aftifted by change of climate^ or mixture of
breed, could never add one new fpecies to the works of
the creation. Nature is ftill uniform as to the main,

nor

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 279

nor fufFcrs the Almighty Creator to he imitated by
fhort-fighted mortals. In fpite of art, the molt curious
projector cannot produce one amphigeneous animal
that will encreafe and multiply. There appears a di-
ftin(5l fpccific difference in all living creatures ; the
horfc, the dogj, the bear, the goat, however diverfified
by art, by copulation, or by climate, either in fize,
fhape, or figure, will ever difcover fomething that ap-
proximates'to the character of their fpecies. Above
all, the peculiar inftind and appetite for generation
will prompt them to own and indicate their relation.
This is one of the moH: undeniable arguments that
wolves, foxes, and dogs, are originally the fame fpe-
cies, becaufe in coition they are not only all held toge-
ther in the fame manner, but we have frequent inftan-
ces of litters of puppies both from the dog and fox,
and from the dog and wolf. Mr. Brooke, animal-
merchant in Holborn, turned a wolf to a Pomeranian
bitch in heat j the congrefs was immediate, and as
ufual between dog and bitch : flie produced ten pup-
pies. Mr. Pennant favv oiie of them at Gordon-caftle,
that had very much the refcmblance of a vvolf, and alfo
much of its nature : being flipped at a weak deer, it in-
Itantlv caught at the animal's threat and killed ir. " I
cculd not learn (fays Mr. Pennant) whether this mon-
grel continued its fpecies ; but another of the fime kind
did, and flocked the neighbourhood of Fochabers, ii)
the county of Moray (where it was kept), with a mul-
titude of curs of a moft wolfiili afpedt." There was
lately living a mongrel offspring of this kind. It great-
ly refembicd its wolf parent. It was firfl: the property
of Sir Wolltein Dixty ] afterwards of Sir Willoughby
Afton, During day it was very tame ; but at n'lghz
fometimes relapled into ferocity. It never barked,
but rather howled ; when it came into the fields where
fheep were, it would feign lamenefs, but if no one was
prefent would inllandy attack them. It had been (c^h
In copulatiQn with a bitch, which afterwards pupped:

the

28o NATURAL HISTORY

the breed was imagined to refemble in many refpedls
the fuppofed (ire. It died between the age of five and
fix. — The woodman of the manor of Mongewell, in
Oxfordfhire, had lately a bitch, which conftantly fol-
lowed him, the offspring of a tame dog-fox by a fhep-
herd's cur ; and fhe again has had puppies by a dog.

Many and wonderful are the inftances of fagacity,
fidelity, and attention, and even of forefight, which
thefe faithful animals have evinced towards their maf-
ters. Some fuch will doubtlefs occur to the mind of
every reader, as falling under his own obfervation ; I
Ihall therefore only recite two or three fuch inftances,
of unqueftionable authenticity. ---In the year 1791, a
perfon went to a houfc in Deptford, to take lodgings,
under pretence that he wasjuft arrived from the Weft-
Indies; and, after having agreed on terms, faid he
fhould -fend in his trunk that night, and come himfelf
the next day. About nine o'clock in the evening, the
trunk was brought by two porters, and was carried in-
to his bed-room. Juft as the family were going to bed,
their little houfe-dog, deferting his ufual ftation in the
fhop, placed himfelf clofe to the chamber door where"
the cheft was depofited, and kept up an inceffant bark-
ing. The moment the chamber door was opened, the
dog flew to the cheft, againft which it barked and
fcratched with redoubled vehemence and fury. At firft
they tried to get the dog out of the room ; but in vain.
Calling in fome neighbours, and making them eye-
witnefles of the circumftance, they began to move the
trunk about, when they quickly difcovered that it con-
tained fomething alive. Sufpicion falling very ftrong,
they were induced to open it, when, to their utter afto-
nifhment, who fhould prefent himfelf but their new
lodger, who had been thus coiiveyed in, to rob the
houie !

In the fummer of the year 1792, a gentleman went
down to Portfmouth for the beneht of fea-bathing. He
v/eut to Mr. Bradley's machines, to be condudled into

the

OF' QJJADRUPEDS. 281

the water. Being unacquainted with the depth of the
water, and no fwimmer, he found himfelf, the inftant
he quitted the machine, nearly out of his depth. Fright
increafed the peril of his fituation, and, unnoticed by
the perfon who attends the machines, he had funk for
the laft time in the agonies of drovvning. A large
Newfoundland dog, 0:anding by accident on the fhore,
and feeing the diftrefs of this ftranger, plunged in af-
ter him; and, feizing him by the hair of the head,
conduded him fafely on ihore, though it was fome
time before he recovered. The gentleman afterwards
purchafed the dog at a high price, but values him
equally with the fum total of his fortune. »

At the feat of the late Earl of Litchfield, three miles
from Blenheim, there is a portrait in the dining-room
of Sir Henry Lee, by Johnfton, with that of a maftiiF
dog which faved his life. It feems a fervant had form-
ed the dcfign of afTaffmating his mafter and robbing the
houfe J but the night he had fixed on, the dog, which
had never been much noticed by Sir Henry, for the firft
time followed him up ftairs, got under his bed, and
could not be got from thence by either mafter or man ;
in the dead of nigrht, the fame fervant entered the room
to execute his horrid defign, but was inftantly feized
by the dog, and, being fecured, confefled his inten-
tions. T here are ten quaint lines in one corner of the
picture, which conclude thus :

But in my dog, whereof I made no ftore,
I 'find more love than thofe 1 trufted more.

In December, 1784, a dog was left by a fmuggllng
vefTel near Boomer, on the coaft of Northumberland.
Finding himfelf deferted, he began to worry fheep j
and did fo much damage, that he became the terror of
the country within a circuit of above twenty miles.
We are aillired, that, when he caught a fiieep, he bit a
hole in its right fide, and, after eating the tallow about
the kidneys, left it: feveral of them, thus lacerated.

Vol. III. No. 38. N n were

a82 NATURAL HISTORY

were found alive by the fhepherds; and,' being taken
proper care of, fome of them recovered, and after-
wards had lambs. From his dehcacy in this refpedl,
the deftru(5lion he made may in fome meafure be con-
ceived ; as it may be fuppofed, that the fat of one
flieep in a day would hardly fatisfy his hunger. ---The
farmers were fo much alarmed by his depredations,
that various means were ufed for his deftrudion. They
frequently purfued him with hounds, greyhounds,
&c. but, when the dogs came up with him, he laid
down an his back, as if fupplicacing for mercy j and
in that pofition they never hurt him : he therefore
lai4 quietly, taking his reft till the hunters approach-
ed, when he made off, without being followed by the
hounds, till they were again excited to the purfuit, which
always terminated unfuccefs fully. And it is worthy
6f notice, that he was one day purfued from Howick
to upwards of thirty miles diftance j but returned
thither, and killed iheep the fame evening. — His con-
ftant refidence, during the day, was upon a rock, on
the Heugh-hill, near Howick, where he had a view of
four roads that approached it; and, in March, 1785,
after many fruitlefs attempts, he was at laft (hot there.
During a fevere ftorm, in the winter of 1789, a
fhip, belonging to Newcaftle, was loft near Yarmouth i
and a Newfoundland dog alone efcaped to lliore, bring-
ing in his mouth the captain's pocket-book. He
landed amidft a number of people, feveral ot whom in
vain endeavoured to take it from him. The fagacious
animal, as if fenfible of the importance of the charge,
which in all probability was delivered him by his pe-
riftiing mafter, at length leapt fawningly againft the
breaft of a man, who had attracted his notice among
the crowd, and delivered the book to him. The dog
immediately returned to the place where he had land-
ed, and watched with great attention for every thing
that came from the wrecked veiTel, feizing them, and
endeavouring to bring them to land.

At.

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 283

At another time, a gentleman walking by the fide
of the river Tyne, and obfervlhg, on the oppofite fide,
a child fall into the water, gave notice to his dog,
which immediately jumped in, fwam over, and, catch-
ing hold of the child with its mouth, brought it fafe
to land.

The fagacity and attachment of this animal in di-
redling the fteps of the blind man are not the leaft wor-
thy of notice. There are few who have not ken an
unfortunate objecft of this defcription, led by his dog,
through the various pafiages of a populous town, to
the accuftomed place where he fits to fupplicate the
contributions of paflcngers. It may fometimcs be feeii
to ftop at particular houfes, to receive the morfel from
the hand of charity, or pick from the ground the mo-
ney thrown out to relieve its miferable owner. When
the day is pafled, it condu6ts him home again ; and
gratefully receives, as the reward of its fervices, the
fcanty pittance which poverty and v/retchednefs can
beftow.

Dogs will fometimes imitate the acflions of their
mafters, will open a door that is faftened with a latch,
or pull a bell, where they are defirous of gaining ad-
mittance.---Faber mentions one, belonging to a noble-
man of the Medici family, which always attended at its
mafter's table, took from him his plates, and brought
him others j and, if he wanted wine, would carry it to
him, in a glafs placed upon a filver plate, which it held
in its mouth, without fpilling the fmalleft drop. The
fame dog would alfo hold the ftirrups in its teeth,
whilft its mafter was mounting; his horfe.

That dogs are capable of attachment to each other,
is evident, from the well-known ftory of the dog at St,
Alban's j which, being left by his mafter at an inn
there till he returned from London, and being ill-treat-
ed by a large dog belonging to the houfe, ftole privately
off. It foon returned with a friend, that was much
larger and ftrenger than itfelf j and both fell upon the

N n 2 aggrelTor,

284 NATURAL HISTORY

aggreflbr, and punifhed him feverely for his cruelty to
a ftranger.

A fimilar fad is related in Stolberg's travels through
Switzerland, of a dog which belonged to the Francif-
can convent at Acradina. The region about was in-
fefted by a wolf, whom his powers alone were not
competent to fubdue. For feveral days lucceflively,
he buried his allotment of meat and bones ; then col-
Je6led feveral other dogs, feafted them from this hoard,
conducted them to the chace, and by their afliftance
tore in pieces the wolf.

LUPUS, THE WOLF.

^ I 'HIS animal, though very different in its difpofi-
-*- tions, and in many other particulars, yet is the
(mm lupus of Linnasus ; and by Pennant is ranked as
the fecond fpecies of the dog. Both externally and in-
ternally, indeed, there is a refemblance ; but there are
alfo ftriking and effential marks of diftindlion. Pen-
nant defcribes the wolf as having a long head ; a point-
ed nofe; ears eredt and (harpj a tail bufhy and bend-
ing down; its lips black; pretty long hair ; long legs,
and large teeth; his head and neck cinereous; his
body generally a pale brown, tinged with yellow : he
is fometimes found white, and in Canada fometimes
black : he is taller and ftronger made than a large grey-
hound. Wolves inhabit the continents of Europe, Afta,
and America, even in as high latitudes as the ardic
circle ; but they are not found in any part of Africa,
notwithftanding what has been afferted by Mr. Adan-
fon, Dr. Sparrman, and others. It is clear tliat what
they mlftook for the wolf, is the fpotted hyaena.

The wolves of North America are the fmalleft that
are known. When tamed, they are, as before ob-
ferved, the dogs of the natives. The wolves of Sencr
gal are the largeft and fierceft : th^y hunt their prey in
company with the lion. SQme fere of ppinion that

tl^eiT^

..(ill/r.-;^! 1/ V

IChafrman. Sc.

Z^Xe44a/^;^..'yU%a:.. 3S^^'JaM//.4^y/,e ////?/l/cy .f ^l/^'"^^-

Hihliih'd at tiir J,-t ihre.-tt April I.i8,>3

OF (QUADRUPEDS. ^2^

there are wolves in New Holland ; but we leave it to
time, and the fettlers at Botany -bay, or others who
may explore that vaft ifland, to afcertain the fa6l. As
only five other quadrupeds have yet been difcovered
there, the dog, the kangaroo, an opoflum, a Ipecies
of polecat, and a ftraw-coloured bcaft like a hare, every
carnivorous animal not qualified to catch the feathered
tribes mufl: on that vaft ifland be as fcarce and as mi-
fcrable as the native inhabitants of the human fpecies
themfelves.

The wolf is one of thofe animals whofe carnivorous
appetite is excefTively ftrong. Though he has received
from nature the means of gratifying this tafte ; though
Ihe has bcftowed on him arms, craftinefs, ftrength, agi-
hty, and every thing neceflary for difcovering, feizing,
conquering, and devouring, his prey ; yet he often dies
of hunger; becaufe men have declared war againii him,
put a price on his head, and forced him to flee to the
forefts, where he finds only a few fpecies of wild ani-
, mals, who efcape from "him by their fwiftnefs, and
whom he cannot furprife but by chance, or by a patient
lying in wait at the places they are wont to haunt : he
is naturally clownilh and dafiardly ; but want makes
him ingenious, and ncceillty gives him courage : when
preffed with famine, he braves danger; he ifilies forth
in the night, traverfes the country, roams about the
cottages, kills all the animsls that have been left with-
out, digs the earth under the doors, enters with a
dreadful ferocity, and puts every living creature to
death, before he choofes to depart, and carry off his
prey. When his hunger is extreme, he lofes the idea
of fear; he attacks women and children, and even
fometimes darts upon men, till, becoming perfectly fu-
rious by excelTive exertions, he oftens falls a facrifice to
pure rage and diftradiion. He is a folitary animal.
When feveral wolves appear together, it is an affocia-
tion, not of peace, but of war. It is attended with
tumult and dreadful growlings, and indicates an in-
tended

***^^

286 NATURALHISTORY

tended attack upon fome of the largei* animals, as a
ftagj.^n ox, or a formidable maftiiF : horfes generally
defend themfelves againft their attacks j but all weaker
animals fall a prey to them. This depredatory expe-
dition is no fooner over, than they return in filence
each to his folitude.

Though wolves prefer living to dead animals, yet,
when the former fail them, and the latter fall in their
way, they devour the moft putrid carcafTes. They are
fond of hunian flefh: could they always procure this,
perhaps they would eat no other: they have been
known to follow armies, to come to the field of battle
where the bodies of the fluin are carelefsly interred, to
tear them up, and to devour them with infatiable avi-
dity: and, when once accuftomed to human flefh, thefe
wolves ever after attack men, prefer the fhepherd to
the flock, devour women, and carry off children. The
French peafants fuppofe fuch wolves poffefled with an
evil fpirit: fuch was thewere-wulf of the old Saxons,

Wolves are moft fufpicious animals ; they fally forth
with great caution, ftop en the borders of the foreft,
fmell on all fides, and catch the emanations of animals
living or dead brought from a diftance by the wind:
they hive an exquifite fcenti their {Gn(t of fmeliing
extends farther than their eye : they are faid to fmell
the odour of carrion at the diftance of more than a
league : they hunt by the nofe ; and, though voracious-,
are capable of long abftinence : to allay their hunger,
they have been knov/n to fill their bellies with clay or
mud. They are fuch folitary creatures, that there is
little intercourfe even between the males and the fe-
males : they feel the mutual attractions of love but
once a year, and never remain long together : the fe-
males come in feafon in winter, the oldeft firft, and
the younger later, from December to February, or
the beginning of March. Many m.ales follow the
fame female i then they growl, chafe, fight, and tear
one another. The female commonly flies along time,
2 fatigues

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 287

fatigues her admirers, and retires while jthey 4leep
with the moft alert or moft favourite 'male, though he
frequently falls a facrifice to the refentment of the reft.
The feafon of this favage brutal love continues only
twelve or fifteen days. With regard to the period of
geftation, there is feme little uncertainty : Linnnsus
and Pennant fay, they go with young feventy or fe-
vcnty- three days ; Buffon fays, three months and a
half, or a hundred days^ Mr. SmeUie fays, feventy-
three days or more ; but Buffon tells us that young
whelps are found from the end of April to the month
of July,

When the females ard about to bring forth, they
feek out a concealed place in the inmoft recedes of the
foreft: after fixing on the fpot, they make it fmooth
for a confiderable fpace : they then bring great quan-
tities of niofs, and prepare a commodious bed for their
young ones, which are, in number, from three to nine
at a litter: like dogs, they are brought forth blind,
and the mother fuckles them during feveral weeks, and
afterwards procures them food, and prepares it for them
with great attention. Though naturally more timid
than the male, yet, when her young are attacked, flie
defends them with intrepidity; fhe lofes all fenfe of
danger, and becomes perfectly furious : fhe never
kaves them till they are fo flrong as no longer to need
either her afhftance or protedlion, which is the cafe
'when they are about fixteen months old : they acquire
their full growth at the end of two or three years, and
live fifteen or twenty : when old, they turn whiiifh,
and their teeth appear to be much worn: v.hen full,
or fatigued, they jQeep, but mors during the day than
the night J it is always a kind of light flumber: they
drink often i if fupplied with water, they can pafs four
-or five days without meat.

The wolf has great ftrength in the mufcles of his neck
and jaws : he carries a fheep in his mouth, and at the
fame time outruns the fhepherds ; fo that he can be

flopped,

288 NATURAL HISTORY

ftopped, or deprived of his prey, only by dogs : his
bite is terrible; hunters therefore clothe their dogs,
and guard their necks with fpiked collars. The hunt-
ers diftinguifn wolves into young, old, and very old :
the older the wolf, the larger his feQt : the fhe-wolf s
feet are longer and more {lender; her heel alfo is fmal-
ler, and her toes thinner. A good blood- hound is
neceflary in hunting the wolf; but, when he falls into
the fcent, he needs to be coaxed and encouraged, for
all dogs have an averfion to the wolf, and proceed with
coldnefs in the chace : when the wolf is raifed, the
greyhounds are let loofe in pairs : he may alfo be
hunted with beagles or hounds ; but as he darts al-
ways ftrait forward, and runs for a whole day without
flopping, the chace is irkfome, except the beagles be
fupported by greyhounds, to teaze him, and give the
hounds time to come up : then the whole together
foon reduce him to the laft extremity ; and the hunt-
ers complete the bufinefs by ftabbing him with a dag-
ger : the dogs have fuch a reluAance to his flefh, that
it mult be prepared and feafoned before they will eat
it. Though men, attended with maftiifs, beat the bufh-
es, lay fnares and baits, dig pitfalls, and fcattcr poi-
foned pieces of meat; yet the number of thefe de-
ftru6live animals never decreafes in woody countries.
Whole provinces are fometimes obliged to arm in order
to deftroy them. When fhot, they utter a cry ; but
they die in filence under the blows of a bludgeon. The
CofTacks are faid to take wolves by the help of a large
fort of hawk called Berkhut, which is trained for the
diverfion, and will faften on them and tear out theireyes.
Wolves are now fo rare in the populated parts of
America, that the inhabitants leave their fheep the
whole night unguarded : yet the governments of Pen-
fylvania and New Jerfey fome years ago allowed a re-
ward of twenty (hillings, and the laft even thirty (hil-
lings, for the killing of every wolf. Tradition informed
them what a fcourge thofe animals had been to the co-
lonies

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 289

ionics i Co they wifely determined to prevent the like
evil. In their infant ftate, wolves came down in mul-
titudes from the mountains, ofren attrafted by the
fmell of the corpfes of hundreds of Indians who died
of the fmall-pox, brought among them by the Euro-
peans : but the animals did not confine their infults to
the dead, but even devoured in their huts the fick and
dyine^ fivages.

Britain, a few centuries ago, was much infefted by
them. It was, as appears by Hollingfhed, very nox-
ious to the flocks in Scotland in 1577 j nor was it en-
tirely extirpated till about 1680, when the laft wolf
fell by the hand of the famous Sir Ewen Cameron. It
has been a received opinion, that the other parts of
thefe kingdoms were in early times delivered from this
pelt by the care of King Edgar. In England he at-
tempted to cfted it, by commuting the punifhments
of certain crimes into the acceptance of a certain num-
ber of wolves tongues from each criminal ; and in
Wales by converting the tax of gold and filverinto an
annual tax of three hundred wolves heads. But, not-
withftanding thefe endeavours, and the aflertions of
feme authors, his fcheme proved abortive. We find,
that, fome centuries after the reign of that Saxon mo-
narch, thefe animals were encreafed to fuch a degree
as to become again the objedl of royal attention : ac-
cordingly Edward I. iffued out his royal mandate to
Peter Corbet to fuperintend and afiift in the deftruc-
tion of them in the feveral counties of Gloucefter,
Worcefler, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford ; and, in the
the adjacent county of Derby, certain perfons at Worm-
hill held their lands by the duty of hunting and taking
the wolves that infefted the country, whence they v/ere
ftyled ivohe-htint. To look back into the Saxon
times, we find, that in Athelftan's reign, wolves a-
bounded in Yorkfliire; that a retreat was built at Fiix-
ton in that county, ** to defend pafiengers from the
wolves, that they Ihould not be devoured by them:"
Vol. 111. No. 39^ O o ani

29© NATURAL HISTORY

and fuch ravages did thefe animals make during winter,
particularly in January, when the cold was fevereft,
that the Saxons diftinguifhed that month by the name
of the wolf-month. They alfo called an outlaw wplf's-
heady as being out of the protedion of the law, pro-
fcribed, and as liable to be killed as that deftruftive
beaft. Ireland was infefted by wolves for many centu-
ries after their extindion in'England ; for there are ac-
counts of fome being found there as late as the year
17 lo, the laft prefentment for killing of wolves being
made in the county of Cork about that time.

In many parts of Sweden the number of wolves has
be^ confiderably diminifhed by placing poifoned car-
cafes in their way : but in other places they are found
in great multitudes. Hunger fometinies compels them
to eat lichens : thefe vegetables were found in the body
of one killed by a foldierj but it was fo weak, that it
could fcarcely move. It probably had fed on the lichen
vulpinus, which is a known poifon to thefe animals.
Madnefs, in certain years, is apt to feize the wolf.
The confequences are often very melancholy. Mad
wolves will bite hogs and dogs, and the laft again the
human fpecies. In a fingle parifti fourteen perfons
were viftims to this dreadful malady. The fymptoms
are the fame with thofe attendant on the bite of a mad
dog. Fury fparkles in their eyes 3 a glutinous faliva
diftils from their mouths i they carry their tails low,
and bite indifferently men and beaiis. It is remark-
able that this difeafe happens in the depth of winter,
fo never can be attributed to the rage of the dog-days.
Often, towards fpring, wolves get upon the ice of the
fea, to prey on the young feals, which they catch alleep :
but this repaft often proves fatal to them ; for the ice,
detached from the fhore, carries them to a great dif-
tance from land, before they are fenfible of it. In fome
years a large diftridt is by this means delivered from
thefe pernicious beafts ; which are heard howling in a
moft dreadful manner, far in the fea. When wolves

come

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 291

come to make their attack on cattle, they never fail
attempting to frighten away the men by their cries ;
but the found of the horn makes them fly like lightning.

Buffon mentions a variety of the wolf common both
to France and Germany, which is lefs deftrudive than
the common wolf. Thefe, he fays, have thicker hair,
and are more yellow coloured : they never trouble the
flocks, nor the habitations of men, but live entirely by
hunting. But the wolf, even in his beft ftate, and mod
favourable appearance, is far inferior to the dog. The
dog, even when wild, is .. not fo fierce ; he is eafily
tamed, and attaches himfelf with fidelity to his mafter.
The young woU" may alfo be tamed, but he feels no
attachments j nature in him is too powerful for educa-
tion. With age he refumes his ferocious charai5ler, and
returns, with the firll: opportunity, to his favage ft ate.
Dogs, even thofe of the moft clownifh race, love to af-
fociate with other animals; by inftinft alone, they
know hovv to conduft and guard the flocks. The
wolf, on the contrary, is an enemy to all fociety, and
keeps no company even with thofe of his own fpecies,

I'he difpofitions of the dog and wolf, are repugnant
by nature, and inimical by inftin«5l. A young dog
trembles at the firft glance of a wolf. The odour of the
wolf, though new and unknown, excites fuch an aver-
fion and horror in the dog, that he flies, and comes
quivering to the feet of his mafter. A maftiff, who
knows his own ftrength, though terrified at the appear-
ance of a wolf, attacks him with courage, endeavours
to put him to flght, and exerts every effort to get rid
of the objed of his deteftation. They never meet, but
either flight or death is the confequence : when the
wolf is ftrongeft, he mangles and devours his prey:
the dog, with more generolity, contents himfelf with
vidory; he finds no favoury odour in the bouy of his
dead enemy, but abandons him to be food for the ra-
vens, and even for other wolves ; for wolves eat the
carcaifes of each other, and, when one is much wound-

O o 2 cd,

api NATURAL HISTORY

ed, the others follow the blood, and afTemble in troops
to difpatch him.

Their time of geftation proves a difference of con-
ftitution between the wolf and dog j the former brings
forth only once a year, the latter twice or thrice. Be-
fides, the appearance of the head and form of the
bones are by no means the fame : the cavity of the
eye in the wolf is placed obliquely ; the orbits are in-
clined: his eyes fparkle and fliine in the dark: his
body is Wronger, but not fo flexible ; his limbs are
firmer, 'his jaws and teeth larger than thofc of the dog ;
and his hair coarfer and thicker.

When an animal can defend itfelf, the wolf is cau-
tious and circumfpevfl J he never fights but from ne-
ceflity, never from motives of courage : the dog is
gentle and courageous ; the wolf, though ferocious,
is timid : when he falls into a fnare, he is fo overcome
with terror, that he may either be killed or taken
alive without refiftance : he allows himfelf to be chain-
ed, muzzled, and led where you pleafe, v/ithout exhi-
biting the leaft fymptom of refentment or difcontent.
But to conclude the character of this robber of the
fold ; there is nothing valuable in the wolf but his
fldn, which makes a warm and durable fur : his flefli
is fo bad, that it is rejefted with abhorrence by all
other quadrupeds ; as no animal but. a woif will vo-
luntarily eat a wolf: the fmell of his breath is exceed-
ingly ofiFenfive : as he is grofs in his manner of feed-
ing, he vomits frequently what he had formerly gree-
dily fwallowed, and is moft confummately difagree-
able: his afped is bafe and favage, his voice dreadful,
his odour infupportable, his difpofitions perverfe, his
manners ferocious : he is odious and deftruftive when
living ; and when dead, except his fkin, is perfedly
ufelefs. We fhouid almoft be forry that the mode of
. claffification obliges us *to bring him into fuch good
company, in ranging him under the genus of the dog;

were

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 293

were It not that we could wifh the maftifF and him to
meet ftill more frequently than they do.

In the immenfe forefis of Germany, where thefe
animals moftly abound, the following methods are
taken to deftroy them : In fome very fequeftered part
of the foreft, they hang up a large piece of carrion to
the branch of a tree, having previoufly made a train of
fome miles long, leaving fmall pieces of putrid fleih
here and there to allure the wolves to the fpot : they
then wait till it is dark, and approach the place
with great circumfped:ion ; where they fometimes iind
two or three wolves afiembled, leaping up, and drain-
ing themfelves to catch the bait, which is placed juft
within their reach ; and, while the animals are bufilv
employed in this way, the hunters, being provided
with fire-arms, feldom fail to difpatch them. In a
convenient place, at the foot of a declivity, they make
a fmaJl inclofure of ftrong pales, fo high, that the wolf
having once entered, cannot return again. An open-
ing is left at the top of the bank ; and a fheep that has
been long dead is the bait; to which he is allured bv
long trains, made from different places where he is
known to haunt. As foon as he arrives at the fpot, he
examines every part of the incloiure ; and, findino- no
other way to come at the booty, he precipitates him-
felf to the bottom ; and, having made a plentiful meal,
endeavours in vain to reafcend. His difappointment
at not being able to get back is produdive of the mod:
dreadful bowlings, which alarm his enemies ; and they
either take him alive, fhoot him, or difpatch him with
bludgeons. It is remarkable, that, when this animal
finds there is no pofiibility of efcaping, his courage en-
tirely forfakes him ; and, he is for fome time fo llupi-
fied with fear, that he may be killed without offermg
to refift, or taken alive without much danger. Wolves:
are fom.etimes taken in ftrong nets, into which they are
driven by the hunters, who furround a large trad of
Jand, with drums, horns, and other inftruments, ac-
companied

294 NATURAL HISTORY

companied with loud cries from a large company af-
fembled upon the occafion, drive the animals tovv^ards
the entrance of the nets; where they are entangled,
and killed with clubs and hatchets. Great care is how-
ever taken to fecure them at firft ; for, if they recover
from their confternation, they eafily efcape by tearing
the net to pieces.

The MEXICAN WOLF has a very large head,
a{h- coloured, ftriped tranfverfely, with bending dufky
lines } great jaws, vaft teeth; with very ftrong briftles
on the upper lips, refleded backwards, not unlike the
fofter fpines of a porcupine : its colour is grey and
v/hite : its ears are large, ereft, and afh-coloured ; the
ipace between them is marked with broad tawny fpots :
its neck is fat and thick, covered with a loofe fkin,
marked with a long tawny ftroke ; on the breaft is an-
other of the fame kind: the body is afh-coloured,
fpotted with black ; and the fides are ftriped, from the
back downwards, v/ith the fame colour ; the belly is
cinerous ; the tail long, of the colour of the belly,
tinged in the middle with tawny : the legs and feet
are (iriped with black and afh- colour. This is the
inoft beautiful of all wolves, and its fl'cin fhould be
efteemed for its variety of colours. Sometimes this
variety is found white. It inhabits the hot parts of
Mexico or New Spain ; and agrees with the European
woh in its manners. It attacks cattle, and fometimes
men. No wolves are found farther fouth on the new
continent.

VULPES, THE FOX.

PENNANT defcribes him as a dog with a fharp
nofe, lively hazel eyes, and fharp ered ears : his
body is of a tawny red, mixed with afh-colour : the
fore part of his legs is black : his tail is long, ftrait,
buihy, tipt with white : he is fubjed to much variety
of colour. The following are the principal varieties
of this fpecies :

J. The

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 295

I. The fox with his tail l;j])t with black, thecanisalo-
pex, vulpes campcftris of Linn^us. 2. The crofs-fox,
with a black mark pading tranfvf rfeley from fhoulder to
fhoulder, and another along the back to the tail ; the
vulpes crucigera of Gefner, and ]e renard croife of
Buffon. This variety inhabits the coldeft regions of
Europe, Afia, and North America, and furnifhes a
valuable fur, thicker and fofter than the common fort.
Great numbers of thefe fkins are imported from Ca-
nada. 3. The black -fox, the moft cunning of any : its
flcin too is the moll valuable : in Ruflia, a lining of it
is preferred to one of thefineft fables : a fing!e fi<:in will
fell for four hundred ruble?. It inhabits the northern
parts of Afia, and of North America ; its fur is fupe-
rior even to that of the crofs-fox. 4. The brant-fox,
defcribed by Gefner and Linn?2us, of a fmall fize, and
of a fiery rednefs. One that v.as the property of Mr.
Brook, London, and which was fent him from Penfyl-
vania, was fcarcely half the fiz: of the common fox :
its nofe was black and much fnarper ; the fpace round
its ears ferruginous ; its forehead, back, fiioulders,
fides, and thighs, black, mixed with red, afh- colour,
and black j the afh-colour predominated, which gave
it a hoary look : the belly was yellov/ifli ; the tail black
above and red beneath. The karagan, a fmall fpecies
found in the Kirghifian deferts, and in Great Tartarv,
is allied to the brant-fox. Its head is yellowifh above,
reddifh above the eyes: behind the whiikers it has a
black fpot : its ears are black without and v;hice with-
in i the exterior edge and bafe red, and near the bafe of
that edge, a white fpot : the co'our of its back and
fides is like that oF a wolf, and its hair is coarfe in the
fame degree : between its (lionlders, there is a dark
fpot, from which, along the back to the tail, extends a
reddifh or yellowilh track: a deep grey or blackifh
fpace, mivcd with white, covers the throat, and is con-
tinued over the breafl and part of the belly, the rett of
*vhich is whitifh. Ihis is a fmall fpccits defcribed

from

2^6 NATURAL HISTORY

from the fkins by Dr. Pallas. 5. The corfak-fox.
This variety is of a fmall fize, has upright ears, foft
downy hair, a bufliy tail as long as the body, a white
throat, the irides of its eyes a yellowifh green : its co-
lour, in fummer, is pale tawny i in winter, grey : its
hair is coarfer than that of the common fox. The bafe
and tip of its tail are black ; the reft of an afh-colour.
It inhabits the deferts beyond the Yaik ; and from the
Don to the Amur. It lives in holes and burrows
deep : it howls and barks, and is never found in woody
places : it is caught by tha Kirghis-KaiiTacks, with fal-
cons and greyhounds. Forty or fifty thoufand of them
are taken annually, and fold to the Ruffians at twenty-
pence each. Great numbers of them are alfo fent into
Turkey : their fKins were formerly in thofe parts the
medium of exchange inftead of monev.

The common fox inhabits all Europe ; the cold and
the temperate parts of Afia; Barbary alfo ; but not the
hotter parts of Africa. He abounds in North Ame-
rica J he is alfo found in South America. In all coun-
tries, they have the fame cunning difpofition, the fame
eagernefs after prey, and commit the fame ravages a-
monggame, birds, poultry, and the fmaller quadrupeds.

The fox is efteemed to be the moft fagacious and
mod crafty of all beafts of prey. The former quality
he fhews in his method of providing himfelf with an
afylum, where he retires from preding dangers, where
he dvvells, and where he brings up his young : and his
Craftinefs is chiefly difcovered by the fchemes he falls
upon in order to catch Iambs, geefe, hens, and all
kinds of fmall birds. The fox fixes his abode on the
bordtr of a wood, in the neighbourhood of cottages :
he liftens to the crov/ing of the cock, and the cries of
the poultry. He fcents them at a diftance ; he choofes
jhis time with judgment j he conceals his road as well
as his defignj he flips forward with caution, fometimes
even trailing his body, and feldom makes a fruitlefs
expedition. In this manner he has been feen, on a

2 moon^

OF QUADRUPEDS. 297

moon -light night, enter a pafture where feverSl hares
were fecJing, when lying down, and taking his tail in
his mouth, has ttailed along like a rolling ftone, un-
fufpeded by his prey, till he had got too near for them
all to cfcape. If he can leap the wall, or get in under-
neath, he ravages the court-yard, puts all to death, and
then retires foftly with his prey, which he either hides
under the herbage, or carries off to his kennel. He
returns in a few minutes for another, which he carries
off, or conceals in the fame manner, but in a different
place. In this way he proceeds till the progrefs of the
fun, or fome movements perceived in the houfe, ad-
vertife him that it is time to fufpend his operations,
and to retire to his den. He plays the fame game with
the catchers of thrufhes, woodcocks, &c. He vifits
the nets and bird-lime very early in the morning,
carries off fucceffively the birds which are entangled,
and lays them in different places, efpecially near the
/ides of highways, in the furrows, under herbage or
brufhwood, where they fometimes lie two or three
days i but he knows perfedly where to find them when
he is in need. He hunts the young hares in the plains,
feizes old ones in their feats, never miffes thofe which
are wounded, digs out the rabbits in the warrens, dif-
covers the nefts of partridges and quails, feizes the
inother on her eggs, and deftroys a vait quantity of
game. The fox is exceedingly voracious ; befides flefh
of all kinds, he eats, with equal avidity, eggs, milk,
cheefe, fruits, and particularly grapes. When the
young hares and partridges fail him, he makes war
againlt rats, field-mice, ferpents, lizards, toads, &c.
Of thefe he deftroys vaft numbers ; and this is the
only fervice he does to mankind. He is fo fond of
honey, that he attacks the wild bees, wafps, and hor-
nets. They at firft put him to flight by a thoufand
ftings; but he retires only for the purpofe of rolling
himfclf on the ground, to crufli them; and he returns
fo often to the charge, that he obliges them to aban-
VoL, III. No. 39. P p don

298 NATURAL HISTORY

don the hive, which he foon uncovers, and devours
both the honey and the wax. In a word, he cats fi(h-
es,-lobfters, grafs-hoppers, &c. ---Foxes produce but
once a year; and the litter commonly confifts of four
or five, feldom fix, and never lefs than three. When
the female is full, ftie retires, and feldom goes out of
her hole, where flie prepares a bed for her young.
When fhe perceives that her retreat is difcovered, and
that her young have been difturbed. Hie carries them off
one by one, and goes in fearch of another habitation.
The fox, as well as the congenerous wolf, will produce
with the dog kind, as noticed before.— -The fox fleeps
found, and may be eafily approached without awaken-
ing: he fleeps in a round form, like the dog; but
when he only repofes himfelf, he extends his hind legs,
and lies on his belly. It is in this fituation that he
fpies the birds along the hedges, and meditates fchemes
for their furprife. The fox flies when he hears the
explofion of a gun, or fmells gun-powder. Being ex-
ceedingly fond of grapes, he does much mifchief in
vineyards. — When purfued by the hounds, he feldom
fails to deceive and fatigue them, becaufe he purpofely
paiTes through the thickeft parts of the foreft or places
of the moft difficult accefs, where the dogs are hardly
able to follow him ; and, when he takes to the plains,
he runs drait outj without flopping or doubling.-— It
is a great admirer of its bufhy tail, with which it fre-
quently amufes and exercifcs itfelf, by running in circles
to catch it: and, in cold weather, wraps it round its
nofe. The fmell of this animal is generally very ftrong,
but that of the urine is remarkably fetid. This feems
fo offenfive even to itfelf, that it will take the trouble
of digging a hole in the ground, ilretching its body at
full length over it; and there, after depofiting its wa-
ter, covers it over with the earth, as the cat does its
dung. The fmell is fo obnoxious, that it has ofteu
proved the means of the fox's efcape from the dogs j
wiio have fo ftrong an averfion to the filthy effluvia, as to

avoid

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 299

avoid encountering the animal it came from. It is faid
the fox makes ufe of its urine as an expedient to force
the cleanly badger from its habitation: whether that is
the means, is rather doubtful ; but that the fox makes
ufe of the badger's hole is certain ; not through want
of ability to form its own retreat, but to fave itfclf fomc
trouble; for, after the expulfionof the firft inhabitant,
the fox improves as well as enlarges it confiderably,
adding feveral chambers, and providently making fe-
veral entrances to fecure a retreat from every quarter.
In warm weather, it will quit its habitation for the fake
of bafking in the fun, or to enjoy the free air j but
then it rarely lies expofed, but choofcs fome thick
brake, that it may reft fecure from furprize. Crows,
magpies, and other birds, who confider the fox as their
common enemy, will often, by their notes of anger,
point out his retreat. When attacked, he defends him-
felf to the laft with great courage and bravery, and
dies under the teeth of the dogs, or the ftrokes of the
bludgeon, without complaint, in filence, and without
a groan.

His flefli is not fo bad as that of the wolf: dogs,
and even men, eat it in many countries. Thefe crea-
tures are extremely common in the Holy Land. From
the earlieft to the prefent time, they have always been
particularly noxious to the virievards. *^ Take us the
foxes, the little foxes that fpoil the vines j for our vines
have tender gr^•)£s." - - -Solomon. Whether they were
the fpecies that Samfon ufed to deftroy the corn of
the Philiftines, is undecidevl. Since jackals are found,
to this day, in great abundatice about Gaza, it is much
more probable, from their gregarious nature, that he
fhould have caught three hundred of them, than of the
fclitary quadruped the fox.

The ARCTIC FOX has a Iharp noCc, and iharp
rounded ears, almoft hid in its fur; its hair is long
and fof' , and fomewhat woolly : its legs are flTort,
liaving jhe toes covered with fur on all pa.rts^ lilpe

r p 2 thofe

300 NATURALHISTORY

thofe of a hare: its tail is fhorterand more buihy than
that of a common fox, of a bluifh grey or afh-colour,
fometimes white : the young of the grey are black,
before they come to maturity : their hair is much longer
in winter than in fummer, as is ufual with animals in
cold climates. They inhabit the countries bordering
on the Frozen Sea, as far as the land is deftitute of
woods, which is generally from feventy to iixty- eight
degrees of latitude: this fpecies extends to Kamtfchat-
ka, and Berings, and Copper Iflandsj but are found
in none of the other iflands between Kamtfchatka and
the other oppofite parts of America, difcovered by
Captain Bering in 1741. They are found in Green-
land, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, and Lap-
land : they burrow under ground, in holes many feet
in length, the bottom of which they line with mofs.
In Greenland and Spitzbergen, they live in the clefts
of the rocks, not being able to burrow by reafon of
the froft. Two or three pair, as a family, inhabit the
fame hole. They are in heat about Lady-day, and con-
tinue during that time in the open air : they after-
words take to their holes, and go with young nine
weeks, like dogs, which they refemble in other re-
fpeds alfo. The Ruffians indeed call them dogs : but
they have all the cunning of the common fox, and prey
on the young of geefe, ducks, and other water-fowl,
before they can fly ; onthegroufe and the hares of the
country ; on the eggs of birds j and in Greenland
(through neceffity) on berries, fhell-fifh, or any thing
the fea throws out; but their principal food in the north
of Afia, and in Lapland, is the lemin or Lapland rat i
and hence, they are very migratory, following the le-
ming, a very wandering animal. Sometimes thefe
foxes defert the country for three or four years, pro-
bably in purfuit of their prey. The people in Jenfea
fuppofe they go to the banks of the Oby. They are
taken in traps j and often the glutton and great owl
dcftroy them before the hunter can come to take them

out.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 301

out. Their fkins are of fmall value : they are found
in great troops on the banks of the Frozen Sea, and
of the rivers that flow into it.

There are two other varieties of the ariflic fox ; one
with a dufky fur on every part, nearly the fame fizeas
the former} and they inhabit Iceland in great numbers.
The other is of a footy brown, the ears round and
v/hke within ; the lower part of the throat, the belly,
and infide of the haunches, is alfo white j the tail half
white and half black ; and a white fpot under each
eye. This is a fmall fpecies, found plentifully in
Greenland.

The ANTARCTIC FOX is mentioned under the
name of wolf- fox in Bougainville's voyages : it is
one-third lefs than the common fox ; has pointed
ears, lined with white hair, and hazel irides ; its head
and body are of a cinereous brown ; its hair is more
woolly than that of the common fox, and refembles the
ardic: its legs are dafhed with a ruil colour: its tail is
dufky and tipped with white ; fliorter and more bufhy
than that of the common fox : it has much the ap-
pearance and habit of a wolf in ears, tail, and ftrength
of limbs. Pennant fufpefts it to be the fmall Mexi-
can wolf degenerated. It inhabits the Falkland ifies,
and is the only quadruped in thofe diftant ifles that lives
near the fhores : it kennels like a fox, and forms re-
gular paths from bay to bay, probably for the conve-
niency of furprizing the water-fowl, on v/hich it lives :
it is at times very meagre, from want of prey, very tame,
fetid, and barks like a dog. The Antardic iflands
were probably flocked with thefe animals by means of
iflands of ice, broken from the continent and carried
by the currents.

The CULPEU, or CHILIAN FOX, has a ftrait
tail, covered with fliort hair, like the domeflic dog ; the
colour deep brown ; in all refpeds of form refembles
the common fox, but larger; length of the tail two
feet and a half. It inhabits the open countries of Chi-
li.

2^oi NATURAL HISTORY

Ji, in which it forms its burrows. Its voice is feeble,
but has fome refemblance of barking. \i it fees a man
at a diftance, wiJl march flrait towards him; flop at a
diftance, and regard him attentively. If the man
makes no movement, will remain long in the fame
fituation, but without doing him the leaft harm, and
then retires the fame way it came. This Mohna often
had occafion to remark; for it never failed doing the
fame thing : this fubjeds it to the {hot of the fportf-
men : the Chilians call it cylpeu from culpentt v/hich
fignifies/o//)'.

There is another variety, with its neck and fides
tawny ; ears tawny within, tipt with black ; crown
and back mixed with grey, black, and white; throat,
breaft-, and belly, white; and iefs than the common
fox. It inhabits North America, and is poflibly the
young of the preceding.

The BLUE or GREY FOX, is the largeft and
moft beautiful of the fpecies. It is all grey, except a
little rednefs about the ears; has a fharp nofe ; fharp-
pointed, long, upright, ears, and long legs. It inhabits
Carolina and the warmer parts of North America. It
y agrees with the common fox in form, but differs from
it in the nature of its dwelling ; as it never burrows,
but lives in hollow trees : it gives no diverfion to the
iportfman ; for, after a mile's chace, it takes to its re-
treat ; it has no ftrong fmell like the common fox ; it
feeds on poultry, birds, 6cc. and is eifily tamed : their
ikins, when in feafon, are made ufe of for muffs, and
are both elegant and coftly.

The SILVERY FOX, refembles in form the com-
mon fox, and abounds in the wooded eminences of
Louifiana, which are every where pierced with their
holes : their coat is very beautiful : they have fhort
hair of a deep brown j over this fprings long filvery
hairs, which give the animal a very elegant appear-
ance. They live in forefts abounding in game, and

nevev

l.,„l<t, /„/•/,../„,/ „.. ,/„ . /,/ ,/i/r;r., .////i / ■" //,/;•

OF Q U A D I^ U P E D S. 303

never attempt the poultry, which run at large without
any danger.

The BENGAL FOX, is of a light brown colour;
face cinereous, with a black ftripe down the middle,
and a white i"j)ace round the eyes and middle of the
jaws ; with fulvous legs : tail tipt with black: a fpe-
cies fcarcely half the fize of the European fox. It in-
habits BengaJ, and feeds chiefly on roots and berries.
The Englifh, at a vaft expence, import into India
hounds for thepurpofe of hunting this foxi but which
quickly degenerate.

The BARBARY FOX, is the chacal-adivc, or
fmall jackal of Buflfon, with a long and flender nofe,
fharp upright ears, and a long bufliy tail: its colour is
a pale brown, with a fpace above and below the eyes,
black : from behind each ear It has a black line, each of
which foon divides into two : thefe extend to the lower
part of the neck : its tail is furrounded with three
broad rings: it is of the fize of a common foXj but
its limbs are fborter, and its nofe more flender.

The fox is frequently taken in gins or traps ; buf:
great caution muft be ufed to deceive him. The trap
muft be placed in the midft of a field, where there is
neither hedge nor pnth near it, and fo nicely covered
with mould, that not the lead veftige can be feen where
it lies : about the trap, and at a fmall difl:ance from it,
in different places, a few pieces of cheefe, or other
flrcngly-fcented food, mult be carelefsly fcattered :
then with a fheep's-paunch, or fome other animal fub-
fiance, a trail is made, about a mile in length, to the
different places where the bait is laid, and from thence
to the trap ; the fhoes of the perfon who carries the
trail mull be likewife well rubbed with the paunch, that
the fox may not difcover his fcenc. He then approaches
with more contidcnce j and, if the defign be well con-
duced, fcldom f lils of being caught.

The JACKAL, or bCHAKAL. This creature,
vulgarly calied the lion's providei, inhabits all the hot

and

304 NATURAL HISTORY

and temperate parts of Afia, India, Perfia, Arabia,
Great Tartary, and all about Mount Caucafus, Syria,
and the Holy-Land. It is to be met with in moft
parts of Africa, from Barbary to the Cape of Good-
Hope. It is the canis aureus of Linnasus. Ini fize, it is
near two feet and a half from the nofe to the tail : its
tail, which is the thickeft in the middle, and tapers to
the point, is near eleven inches long, and defcends to
the top of the hind legs : its height, at the (houlders,
is about eighteen inches and a half: the hind parts are
a little higher. The irides of its eyes are of a yellow -
lib brown : its ears are eredl, formed like thofe of the
fox, but fhorter, and lefs pointed; hairy and white
within J but brown without, tinged with duiky yel-
low i its head is fhorter than that of the fox, and its
nofe blunter : its lips are black, and fomewhat loofe :
its neck and body very much refemble thofe of the fox j
only its body is more comprefledj the legs too have
the fame refemblance, but are longer i its hair is much
ftiffer than that of the fox, though not fo ftiff as that
of the wolf; it is fhort about the nofe, but on the
back three inches long; on the belly it is fhorter;
that of the tail meafures four inches. Its colour on
the upper part is a dirty tawny, on the back this co-
lour is mixed with black ; the lower part of the body
is of a yellowifh white ; its tail is tipt with black ; its
legs are of a tawny brown ; the fore knees marked,
but not always, with a black fpot. Some, it is faid,
are of a brilliant yellow; but Pennant will not allow
that on any part they have thofe vivid colours which
could merit the title of golden, bellowed on this fpecies
by Kjcmpfer, who calls it the golden wolf.

Anatomifts have remarked that xh^ c^ cum oi tKis ani-
mal agrees with that of the dog, and differs from that
of the wolf and fox. John Hunter took fome pains
to afcertain the claflification of this animal; he obtain-
ed a female, whillt a cub, from an Eaft-Indiaman at
Bombay. He had her warded by a dog, and during
2 the

O F Q_U A D R U P E D S. 3^5

the voyage fhe brought fix puppies, one of which af-
terwards had puppies by another dog ; and now loft
their wild and ferocious nature. He afterwards dif-
fered the original dam, and found no difference in the
internal ftrudure from the common dog. The fame
remark has been made with regard to its teeth too ; they
have {o much the nature of dogs, fays Mr. Pennant,
as to give reafonable caufe to imagine, that they are at
leaft the chief ftock from which have fprung the va-
rious races of thofe domeftic animals. When taken
young, they grow quickly tame, and attach themfelves
to mankind; they wag their tails, love to be ftroked,
diftinguiih their mafters from others, will come when
called by the name that has been given them, drink
water lapping, make water fide-ways with their leg
up : their dung is hard ; odor at anum altsrius j cohesret
copula Junius. When they fee dogs, inftead of flying,
they court their friendihip and play with them. They
will eat bread eagerly, notwithftanding that they are
carnivorous in a wild ftate: they have a great refem-
blahce to fome of the Calmuc dogs. Our dogs may
probably be derived from thofe domefticated in the
firfl: ages of the world; and altered, by numberlefs
accidents, into the many varieties which now appear
among us.

The fchakals go in packs of forty, fifty, or even
two hundred, together, and hunt, like hounds in full
cry, from evening to morning: they deftroy flocks
and poultry, but in a lefs degree than the wolf or fox:
they ravage the ft:reets of villages, and gardens near
towns, and will even deftroy children if left unpro-
te(5ted : they enter ftables and out-houfes, and devour
{kins, or any thing made of leather: they are bold
thieves; they will familiarly enter a tent, and fieal
whatever they can find from the fleeping traveller. In
default of living prey, they will feed on fruits and
roots; and even on the moft infecited carrion: they .
difinter the dead, and greedily devour the moft putrid

Vol. 111. No. 39. Q^q carcafes j

3o6 NATURAL HISTORY

carcafes ; for which reafon, in countries infefted by
thefe animals, the graves are ufually made very deep,
and covered with ftones, or fortified with fharp ftakes.
They attend caravans, and follow armies, in hopes
that death, or a battle, will provide them a banquet*
Their voice is naturally a howl, though a bark is la-
tently inherent : their bowlings and clamours in the
night are dreadful, and fo loud, that when they are
near, people can fcarcely hear one another fpeak : when
one begins to howl, the whole pack join in the cry :
during the day they are filent : they dig burrows in
the earth, in which they lie all day, and come out at
night to range for prey : they hunt by the nofe, and
are very q^uick of fcent. The females breed only once
a-year, arid go with young only four weeks. This
laft circumftance feems to make ftrongly againft the
fuppofition of their being the parent ftock of the do-
ttieftic dog. They bring from fix to eight young ones
at a time.

This creature has been called the lion's-provider,
from an opinion that it rouzes the prey for that bad-
nofed quadruped. The fadl is, that every creature in
the foreft is fet in motion by the fearful cries of the
jackals : the lion, and other beafts of rapine, by a fort
of inftind:, and the calls of appetite, attend to the
chace, and feize fuch timid animals as betake them-
ielves to flight at the noife of this nightly pack. Buf-
fbn concludes their charafter thus : the jackal unites
the impudence of the dog with the daftardlinefs of the
wolf, and, participating the nature of each, feems to
be an odious creature, compofed of all the bad quali-
ties of both.

The CAPESCH SCHAKAL: this fpecies inha-
bits the countries about the Cape of Good Hope, and
ihay probably be found as high as the line : its length
is two feet and three quarters; its tail one foot, bufiiy,
of a yellov/ brown ; marked on the upper part with a
line of black along it j and, to^vards the end, encircled

with

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 307

with two rings of black : it is tipt with white : his
ears are ere<5t, of a ycllowifh brown, mixed with a few
fcattered black hairs j his head the fame, only having
fome white hairs intermixed, and growing darker to-
wards the hind part ; his fides are of a light brown,
varied with dufky hairs ; his throat, breaft, and belly,
are white; on his neck, fhoulders, and back, there is
a bed of black, broad on the fhoulders, and growing
narrower to the tail. When the hair lies fmooth, the
part on the neck feems barred with white ; that on the
llioalders with white conoid fpots, one within the
other, with the end pointing to the hack. When the
hair JB ruffled, thefe marks vanifh, or grow lefs diftind,
and a hoarinefs appears in their ftead.

The WILD DOG, or JACKALL, of CEY-
LON, has a long thick nofe, blunt at the end ; ears
eredl at their bottom, and pointing forwards at their
ends J the legs ftrong, with cUiws more like a catthaa
dogi colour cinereous yellow; belly a(h-coloured ;
legs almoft entirely brown; the hair clofe fet, and foft.
The length of the body is near twenty- three inches,
and the tail fixteen, tapering to a point. It is a native
of Ceylon; but its hiftory is quite unknown.

The WILD DOG, FOX or JACKAL, of SU-
RINAM. This fpecies is of the fize of a large cat,
has upright ears, little warts on the cheeks, above the
eves, and under the throat ; its tongue is fringed on
the fides : the colour of the upper part of its body is
greyifh, the lower white ; its tail bends downwards,
and is fmooth : it has five toes before, and four be-
hind. It has its name from that part of South Ame-
rica where it is found. This is the cams ihous of
Linnjeus.

The ZERDA. This is a fingular and very beau-
tiful animal, an inhabitant of the vaft defert of Saar^
or Zara in Africa. It has a very pointed vifage, long
whiikers, large, bright, black, eyes, very large ears, of
a bright role-colour, lined with long hair, and having

CLq 2 their.

308 NATURAL HISTORY

their orifice (6 fmall as not to be vifible, probably co-
vered with a valve or membrane j its legs and feet are
like thofe of a dog : its tail taper. Its colour is be-
tween a ftraw and a pale brown. Its length, from
the nofe to the tail, ten inches; its ears three and a
half; its tail fix; its height not five. It burrovv's in
the fandy ground ; is fo exceflively fwift, that it is vei-y
rarely taken aiive ; feeds on infects, efpecially locufts;
fits on its rump, and is very vigilant. It barks like a
dog, but much fiiriller, and that chiefly in the night :
it has never been obferved to be fportive. Dodor
Sparmari fufpedts that he fav/ it during his travels in
Caffraria.

We are indebted 'to Mr. Eric Skioldebrand, the
Swedifh conful at Algiers, for our knowledge of this
fingular animal. He never could • procure but one
alive, which efcaped before he examined its teeth: the
genus is very uncertai?!*. the form of its head and
legs, and fom.e of its manners, determined its place
here. That which was in pofTefiion of Mr. Skiolde-
brand fed freely from the hand, and would eat bread
cr boiled meat. Mr. Skioldebrand had a drawing
jTiade of the animal; and we are informed that he com-
municated a copy of it to Mr. Bruce, at that time the
B-ritifh conful at Algiers. This is a fecret betrayed
by Doctor Sparman, which bnngs on him the wrath of
Mr. Bruce, expreffed in terms highly indignant. Mr.
Bruce claims the honour of the drawings, and aflertSj
that Mr. Skieldebrand acquired the copy by unfair
means; that he corrupted his fer vant, and gained his
end. ^ This would never have been known, but by the
accident of a death-bed repentance : the poor lad fell
ill ; nor could he depart in peace till lie had difcharged
hisconfcience by a full confc-llion of his grievous crime.
l"he world vvili probably think.

Nee Deus inlerjit, nifi 'dignus vindicc ncdus
Inclderit,

M. de

J /le . ^f?r/a

larufm.RiUi^rd Oct.i '■' i/ffj -r»

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 309

M. de BuiFon has given a figure of this animal,
communicated to him by Mr. Bruce j but from his
authority afcribes to it a different place, and different
manners. He fays that it is found to the fouth of the
Palus Tritonides, in Libya ; that it has fomcthing of
the nature of the hare, and fomething of the fquirrel •
and that it lives on the pahn-trees, and feeds on the
fruits. Yet, when Mr. Bruce favoured the public
with his fplendid work, he gives at p. 128 of his fifth
volume a different account. From a hare or a fquir-
rel, it is converted into a weafel j and the place of its
habitation is changed from the Palus Tritonides to
Bil'cara, a fouthern province of Mauritania Casfarienfis,
many hundred miles from the firft pofition.

'' I will not dare (fays Mr. Pennant) to fix any
genus to this curious and feemingly anomalous animal.
To judge by Mr. Bruce's or Mr. Skioldebrand's fi-
gure (I will not attempt to decide the property), it
has all the appearance of the vulpine: its face ftrong-
ly fhews the alliance ; and the length and ftrength of
limbs are other very fatisfadory proofs, of its being no
more able, with limbs fo formed, to climb a tree than
a dog. ^ All the weafel tribe have very fhort legs: they
can climb ; they do creep. Our great Ray makes the
laft the charafter of the clafs, and for that reafon ftyles
them vermineum genus, the vermes, or worm-Iike
clafs. Had the figure received that form of limb, I
would have affented to the genus, nor even have trou-
bled the public or myfelf with my difference of opi^
nion with the great traveller."

The H Y iE N a.

'T^HE fpecies of this genus, hitherto defcribed, are
•^ few : they are only two, the ftriped, and the
fpotted. The ftriped hyasna is of the fize of a largQ
dog, but very ftrongly made : it has long, fharp-point-
ed, naked, ears; an upright manci high ihoulders;

the

3IO NATURAL HISTORY

the fore longer than the hind legs j the hair on the
body coarfe, rough, and pretty long, of an afh-colour,
marked with long black ftripes from the back down-
wards, and with others acrofs the legs: its tail is very
full of hair, fometimes plain, fometimes barred with
black. It inhabits the mountains of Caucafus, and the
Altaic Chain, Afiatic Turkey, Syria, Perfia, Barbary,
and Senegal. Like the jackal, it violates the repofi-
tories of the dead, and greedily devours the putrid
contents of the grave : it preys by night on herds and
flocks; yet, for want of other food, it will eat the
roots of plants, and the tender fhoots of the palms : it
is a folltary, unfociable, animal, and inhabits the chafms
of the rocks ,- yet will venture into towns. When
people fleep in the open air, it will fometimes fnatch
away children from the fides of their parents. The
fuperftitious Arabs, when they kill one, carefully bury
its head, left it fhould be applied to magical purpofes.
The ancients were wild in their opinion of the hyiena :
they believed that its neck confifted of one bone j that
it changed its fex ; that it imitated the human voice :
that it had the power of charming the fhepherds, and
of rivetting them, as it were, to the place they ftood
on : no wonder then that an ignorant Arab fhould at-
tribute to its remains preternatural powers.

They are cruel, fierce, and untamsable, animals, with
a mofl: malevolent afpefl : they have a fort of obfti-
nate courage, which will make them face quadrupeds
itronger than themfelves. Kasmpfer relates that he had
feen one that had put to flight two lions. Their voice
is a hoarfe difagreeable niixture of growling and roar-
ing. There have been inftances of their being tamed.
Mr. Pennant mentions his having feen one as tame as
a dog; and M. BufFon mentions another. Mr. Bruce,
v^-^n he meets them, makes no more of them than fo
many hogs grunting about him. Linnaeus indeed fays,
that it is of the fize of a fwine ; has the appearance of
9 wild boar; the hairs of its back near a fpan long, and

% tapped

OF QUADRUPEDS. 311

tipped with black j and that it ought to be clalTed with
the bear perhaps, or with the badger, as, like him, it
has, between the anus and its tail, a bag filled with a
fetid ointment. It is probable, that, if taken very young,
they might be reclaimed by good ufage; but in exhibi-
tions, they are commonly kept in a perpetual ftate of
ill humour by the provocations of their mafters.

The SPOTTED HY^NA is fuperior in fize to
the former j has a large and flat head, with fome long
hairs above each eye, and very long whiikers on each
lide of its nofe : it has a fhort black mane j the hair
on its body is Ihort and fmooth : . its ears are fhort, and
a little pointed -, black on the outfide, and afh-colour-
ed within: its face, and the upper part of its head, ace
black: its body and limbs are of a reddifh brown,
marked with diftin<5l round black fpots; and its hind
Jegs with tranfverfe black bars : its tail is fhort, black,
and full of hair. It inhabits Guinea, Ethiopia, and the
Cape, and lives in holes of the earth, or clefts of the
rocks J it preys by night, howls horribly, breaks into
the folds, and kills two or three fheep, devours as
much as it can, and carries away one for a future re-
pafli it will alfo attack mankind, fcrape open graves,
and devour the dead} it has very great ftrength. A
flory is told of one that feized a female negro, flung
her over its back, held her by one leg in its teeth, and
ran away with her till fhe was fortunately refcued.
But Mr. Bruce tells us of one that would lay hold of
a man, lift him up with the greateft eafe, and run a
league or two with him, without once putting him on
the ground. Mr. Bruce too was the firft who re-
marked of the hyasna, that when forced to flee, they
are lame of the left hind leg, which continues fo re-
markably fo for about a hundred paces, that the animal
feems as if he would tumble down on its left fide.

Kolben, and Dr. Sparrman, in their accounts of the
Cape of Good Hope, call this animal the tiger- wolf »
a^id fay that formerly they were fo bold as to attack

ths

312 NATURAL HISTORY

the Hottentots in their huts, and fometimes carry off
their children, while they lay carelefsly by, or were
a-fleep.

FELIS, of the Order of FER^.

THE feline genus contains from twenty to thirty
different fpecies, confifting of the lion, tiger,
panther, leopard, lynx, &c. down to the common do-
meftic cat. The charaderiftics of this order are as :
follow : the fore- teeth are equal j the molares or grind-
ers have three points j the tongue is furnifhed with
rough Iharp prickles, pointing backwards ; and the
claws are fheathed and retra6lile. The animals of this
order are divided into two clafTes, the one with long,
and the other with fliort, tails. We begin with the
former, and with the largeft and moft formidable.

LEO, THE LION.

THE largeft lions are from eight to nine feet in
length, and from four to fix feet high: thofe of a fmal-
ler fize are generally about five feet and a half long,
and about three and a half high. His head is very
thick, and his face is befet on all fides with long buftiy
yellowifh hair; this ftiaggy hair extends from the top
of the head to below the fhoulders, and hangs down
to his knees : the belly and breaft are likewife covered
with long hair. The reft of the body is covered with
very ftiort hair, excepting a bufti at the point of the
tail : the ears are roundifh, ftiort, and almoft entirely
concealed under the hair of his front : the ftiagginefs
of the fore- part of his body makes the hinder-part
have a naked appearance : the tail is long and very
ftrong ; the legs are thick and flefhy; and the feet are
fhort; the length of the claws is about an inch and a
quarter, are of a vvhitifii colour, very crooked, and can
be extended or retraced into the membranous ftieath
at pleafure; their points are feldom blunted, as they
are never extended but when he feizes his prey. The

female.

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 313

female, or lionefs, has no mane, or long hair about
her head or fhoulders ; in her we fee diftin6tly the
whole face, head, ears, neck, (houlders, breait, &c. all
thefe parts being in fome meafure concealed under the
long hair of the male, give the female a very different
appearance: befides, fhc is confiderably lefs than the
male. The hair of both male and female is of a yel-
lowilh colour, and whitifh on the fides and belly.

In warm countries, quadrupeds in general are larger
and ftronger than in the cold or temperate climates.
They are likewife more fierce and hardy 3 all their na-
tural qualities feem to correfpond with the ardour of
the climate. The lions nourished under the fcorchino;
fun of Africa or the Indies, are the mofi: flirong, fierce,
and terrible. Thofe of mount Atlas, whofe top is
fometimes covered with fnow, are neither fo ftrong nor
fo ferocious as thofe of Biledulgerid or Zaara, whofe
plains are covered with burning fand. It is in thefe
hot and barren deferts, that the lion is the dread of
travellers, and the fcourge of the neighbouring pro-
vinces. But it is a happy circumftance that the fpe-
cies is not very numerous: they even appear to dimi-
nifli daily. The Romans, fays Mr. Shaw, brought
many more lions out of Lybia for their public (hows,
than are now to be found in that country. It is like-
wife remarkable, that the lions in Turkey, Perfia, and
the Indies, are lefs numerous than formerly. As this
formidable and courageous animal makes a prey of
moft other animals, and is himfelf a prey to none, tliis
diminution of the number of the fpecies cr.n be owing
to nothing but an increafe in the number of mankind :
for it muft be acknowledged, that the ftrength of this
king of animals is not a match for the -v-xterity and
addrefs of a negro or Hottentot, who will often dare to
attack him face to face, and with very (light weapons.

The ingenuity of mankind augments with their

number; that of other animals continues always thQ

fame. All the noxious animals, as the lion, are reduced

Vol. III. No. 39. Rr to

314 NATURAL HISTORY

to a fmall number, not only becaufe mankind are be-
come more numerous, bat likewife becaufe they have
become more ingenious, and have invented vs'eapons
which nothing can reHft. This fuperiority in the num-
bers and induftr'y of mankind, at the fame time that it
has broke the vigour of the lion, feems likewife to have
enervated his courage. This quality, though natural,
is exalted or lowered according to the good or bad fuc-
cefs with which any animal has been accuflomed to
employ his force. In the vaft deferts of Zaaraj in
thofe which feem to feparate two very different races
of men, the Negroes and Moors, between Senegal
and the boundaries of Mauritania ; in thofe uninha-
bited regions above the country of the Hottentots;
and, in general, all the meridional parts of Africa and
Afia, where mankind have difdained to dwell -, lions
are ftill as numerous and as ferocious as ever. Ac-
CUitomed to meafure their rtrength by that of all other'
anim.als which they encounter, the habit of conquer-
ing renders them haughty and intrepid. Having never
experienced the ftrength of man, or the power of his
arms, inftead of difcovering any figns of fear, they dif-
dain and fet him at defiance. Wounds irritate, but do
not terrify, them: they are not even difconcerted at the
light of numbers. A iingle lion of the defert has
been known to attack a whole caravan; and if, after a
violent and obftinate engagement, he found himfelf
weakened, he retreats fighting, always keeping his face
to the enemy. On the other hand, the lions which live
near the villages or huts of the Indians or Africans,
being acquainted with man and the force of his arms,
are fo daftardly as to fly and leave their prey at the
fight of women or children.

This foftening in the temper and difpofition of the
lion, {hews that he is capable of culture, and fufcep-
tible, at leaft to a certain degree, of the impreffions that
he receives : accordingly, hiiiory informs us of lions
yoked in triumphal chariots, trained to war, or the

chace j

OF QUADRUPEDS. 315

chace; and that, faithful to their mafters, they never
employed their ftrength or courage but againft their
enemies. It is certain, that a lion, taken young, and
brought up among domeftic animals, will eafily be ac-
cuftomed to live and fport with them ; that he is mild
and careflino to his mafter, efpecially when he is young;
and that, if his natural ferocity fometimes breaks out,
it is rarely turned againft thofe who have been kind to
him. But, as his pafTions are impetuous and vehe-
ment, it is not to be expefted that the impreflions of
education will at all times be fufficient to balance them:
for this reafon it is dangerous to let him fuffer hun-
ger long, or to vex him by ill-timed teazings: bad
treatment not only irritates him, but he remembers it
long, and meditates revenge. On the other hand, he
is exceedingly grateful, and feldom forgets benefits re-
ceived. He has been often obferved to difdain weak
JOT infignificant enemies, to defpife their infults, and to
pardon their offenfive liberties. When led into capti-
vity, he will difcover fymptoras of uneafinefs, without
anger or peeviihnefs : on the contrary, his natural
temper foftens, he obeys his mafter, carefles the hand
that gives him food, and fometimes gives life to fuch
animals as are thrown to him alive for prey : by this
ad: of generofity he feems to confider himf.^lf as for
ever bound to protecfl them ; he lives peaceably with
them ; allows them a part, and fometimes the whole,
of his food; and will rather fubmit to the pangs of
hunger than fill his ftomach with the fruits of his be-
neficence. We may likewife obferve, that the lion is
not a cruel animal; he kills rather from neceffity than
choice, never deftroying more than he eats i and when-
ever his appetite is fatisfied, he is mild and peaceable.
For his ordinary fubfiftence, he requires about fifteen
pounds ot raw flelh each day.

Labat tells us of a gentleman who kept a lion in
his chamber, and employed a fervant to attend it ; who,
as is ufual, mixed his blows with careffes. This ill-

K r 2 judged

3i6 NATURAL HISTORY

judged afTociation continued for fome time. One
morning the gentleman was awakened by an unufual
noife in his room ; and, drawing his curtains, he per-
ceived it to proceed from the h'on, which was growl-
ing over the body of the unhappy man, whom it had
juft killed, and had feparated his head from his body.
The terror and confufion of the gentleman may eafily
be conceived: he flew out of the room ; and, with the
affiftance of fome people, had the animal fecured from
doing other mifchief.

The afped of the lion correfponds with the noble
and generous qualities of his mind. His figure is re-
fpedable ; his looks are determined ; his gait is (late-
ly, and his voice tremendous. In a word, the body
of the lion appears to be the beft model of ftrength
joined to agihty. The force of his mufcles is expreffed
by his prodigious leaps and bounds, often twenty feet
at once; by the briflc motion of his tail, afingle fweep
of which is fufficient to throw a man to the ground j
by the eafe with which he moves the fkin of his face,
and particularly of his forehead; and, laftly, by the
faculty of erecting and agitating the hair of his mane
when irritated.

Lions are very ardent in their amours: when the
female is in feafon, fhe is often followed by eight or
ten males, who roar inceflantly, and enter into furious
engagements, till one of them completely overcomes
the reft, takes peaceable pofTefiion of the female, and
carries her off to fome fecret recefs. The lionefs brings
forth her young in the fpring, and produces but once
every year. All the paftionsof the lion, the foft paf-
fion of love not excepted, are exceflivej the love of
offspring is extreme: the lionefs is naturally weaker,
lefs bold, and more gentle, than the lion; but fhe be-
comes perfedly rapacious and terrible when fhe has
young. Then fhe exhibits more courage than the
male; -fhe regards no danger; fhe attack indifferently
men and all other animals, kills them, and carries them

to

OF QjaADRUPEDS. 317

to her young ones, whom (he thus early inftrucfts to
fuck their blood and tear their flefh. The lionefs goes
with young five months, and brings forth three or
four at a time. The young ones are about the fize of
a large pug-dog, harmlefs, pretty, and playful. They
continue at the teat twelve months, and are above
five years in coming to perfeAion. She generally brings
forth in the moft fecret and inaccefTible places -, and,
when afraid of a difcovcrv, fhe endeavours to conceal
the traces of her feet, by effacing them with her tail ;
and, when the danger is great, fhe carries off her
young, and conceals them fomewhere elfe. But, when
an adual attempt is made to deprive her of her young,
fhe becomes perfedlly furious, and defends them till
fhe be torn to pieces.

The lion feldom goes abroad in the middle of the
day J but fallies forth in the evening and night in quell
of prey. He is afraid of fire, and feldom or never ap-
proaches the artificial fires made by the fhepherds for
the protedion of their flocks ; he does not trace other
animals by the fcent, but is obliged to trufl; to his eyes.
Many hiilorians have even mifreprefented him as inca-
pable of finding out his preyj but that he is obliged
to the jackal to provide for him, and that this animal
either accompanies or goes before him for this purpofe.
l"he jackal is a native of Arabia, Lybia, &c. and, like
the lion, lives upon prey: perhaps fometimes he fol-
lows the lion, but it is with a view to pick up what he
leaves behind, not to provide for him; for, being a
fmall and feeble animal, he ought rather to fly from
than to ferve the lion.

The lion, when hungry, will attack any animal that
prefents itfelf : but he is fo very formidable, that all
endeavour to avoid his rencounter ; this circumflance
often obliges him to conceal himfelf, and lie in wait
till fome animal chances to pafs. He lies fquat on his
belly in a thicket j from which he fprings with fuch
force and velocity, that he often feizes them at the firft

bound.

3i8 NATURAL HISTORY

bound. He endures hunger longer than thirft ; he
feldom pafTes water without drinking, which he does
by lapping like a dog. In burning deferts, where ri-
vers and fountains are denied, they live in a perpetual
furor, a fort of madnefs fatal to every animal they meet
with. The author of the Oeconomy of Nature gives
a wonderful proof of the infl:in<5t of thefe animals in
thofe unwatered tracts. There the pelican makes her
nefb; and, in order to cool her young ones, and accuf-
tom them to an element they muft afterwards be con-
verfant in, brings from afar, in their great gular pouch,
fufficient water to fill the neft : the lion, and other wild
beafts, approach and quench their thirft; yet never in-
jure the unfledged birds, as if confcious that their de-
riru6lion would immediately put a flop to thofe grate-
ful fupplies.

The roaring of the lion, which is ftrong and loud,
is his ordinary voice; but when he is irritated, his cry
is fhorter, repeated more fuddenly, and is ftill more
terrible than the roaring : befides, he beats his fides
with his tail, ftamps with his feet, ereds and agitates
the hair of his head and mane, moves the ikin of his
face, fhews his angry teeth, and lolls out his tongue.
The roaring of the lion, according to Dr. Sparrman,
*^ confifts in a hoarfe inarticulate found, which at the
fame time feems to have a hollownefs in it, fomething
like that proceeding from a fpeaking trumpet. The
found is between that of a German u and an o, being
drawn to a great length, and appearing as if it came
from out of the earth ; at the fame time that, after lif-
tening with the greateft attention, I could not exactly
hear from what quarter it came. The found of the
lion's voice does not bear the leail- refemblance to thun-
der, as M. de BufFon, tom. ix. p. 22, from the Voy-
age of Boullaye le Gouz, affirms it does. In fad:, it
appeared to me to be neither peculiarly piercing nor
tremendous ; yet, from its flow prolonged note, join-
ed with noilurnal darknefs, and the terrible idea one is

apt

OF QUADRUPEDS. 319

apt to form to one's felf of this animal, it made one
fhuddcr, even in fuch places as I had an opportunity
of hearing it in with more fatisfadion, and without
having the leaft occafion for fear. We could plainly
perceive by our cattle when the lions, whether they
roared or not, were reconnoitring us at a fmall diftance.
For in that cafe the hounds did not dare to bark in the
leaft, but crept quite clofe to the Hottentots; and our
oxen and horfes (ighed deeply, frequently hanging
back, and pulling flowly with all their might at the
ftrong ftraps with which they were tied up to the wag-
gon. They likewife laid themfelves down upon the
ground and ftood up alternately, appearing as if they
did not know what to do with themfelves ; or rather
]uft as if they were in the agonies of death. It is, in-
deed, a wonderful circumftance, that the brute crea-
tion fhould have been taught merely by nature to be
in dread of the lion ; for our horfes and oxen were all
from places where I am certain they could have no
knowledge of this dreadful adverfary of theirs; fo that
in this we muft admire the bounty of Providence,
which, while it has Tent fuch a tyrant as the lion a-
mongft the animal creation, has likewife taught them to
difcern and diftinguifti it with trembling and horror.'*

The lion, when he leaps upon his prey, makes a
bound of twelve or fifteen feet, falls above it, feizes it
with his fore-feet, tears the flefh with his claws, and
then devours it with his teeth. If he chances to mifs
his leap, he will not, as the Hottentots unanimoufly
afTured Dr. Sparrman, follow his prey any farther;
but, as though he were afhamed, turning round to-
wards the place where he lay in ambufh, flowly, and
ftep by ftep, as it were, meafures the exa6t length be-
tween the two points, in order to find how much too
fhort of, or beyond, the mark he had taken his leap.
The lurking-place of the lion is generally chofen near
a fpring, or by the fide of a river ; where lie frequently

has

320 NATURAL HISTORY

has an opportunity of catching fuch animals as come to
quench their thirft.

One would fuppofe that the roaring of the lion
would prove ferviceable to the other animals, as being
a warning for them to betake themfelves to flight; but
as, when he roars, according to all report, he puts his
mouth to the ground, fo that the found is difFufed
equally all over the place, without, as we have already
mentioned, its being poflible to hear from what quar-
ter it comes, the animals are intimidated and feared to
fuch a degree, as to fly about backwards and forwards
in the dark to every fidej in confequence of which,
they often chance to run on to the very fpot from
whence the found adually proceeds, and which they
meant moik to avoid.

Dr. Sparrman, in his account of the lion, detrad:s
confiderably from the charadler of courage and gene-
roiity generally afcribed to that animal. ** It is not in
magnanimiity (fays he), as many will have it to be,
but in an infidious and cowardly difpofition, blended
with a certain degree of pride, that the general charac-
ter of the lion confifts; though hunger muft naturally
have the efFed of now and then infpiring fo flrongand
nimble an animal with uncommon intrepidity and cou-
rage. Moreover, being accuftomed always itfelf to
kill its own food, and that with the greateft eafe, as
meeting with no refiftance, and even frequently to de-
vour it reeking and weltering in its blood, it cannot
but be eafily provoked, and acquire a greater turn for
cruelty than for generofity: but, on the other hand,
not being accultomed to meet with any refifliance, it is
no wonder that, when it does, it fhould fometimes be
faint-hearted and creft-fallen. A yeoman, a man of
veracity (Jacob Kok, of Zeekoe-river), related tome
an adventure he had, in thefe words: — One day,
walking over his lands with his loided gun, he unex-
pectedly met with 'i lion. Being an excellent (hot, he
thought himfelf pretty certain, in the pofltion he was

3 i".

"OF CLUADRyPEDS. 321

in, of killing, it, and therej^re fired his piece. Un-
fortunately he did not recoiled:, that the charge had
been in it for feme time, and confequently was damp;
fo that his piece hung fire, and the ball, falling fhort,
entered the ground clofe to the lion. In confequence
of this he was feized with a panic, and took direftly to
his feet ; but being foon out of breath, and clofely pur-
fued by the lion, he jumped up on a little heap of
ftones, and there made a ftand, prefenting the butt end
of his gun to his adverfary, fully refolved to defend
his life as well as he could to the utmoft. My friend
did not take upon him to determine, whether this po-
fition and manner of his intimidated the lion or not :
it had, hov/ever, fuch an eflfed upon the creature, that
it likcwife made a (land ; and, what was ftill more An-
gular, laid itfelf down at the diftance of a few paces
from the heap of ftones feemingly quite unconcerned.
The fportfman, in the mean while, did not dare ftir a
ftep from the fpot : befides, in his flight, he had. the
misfortune to lofe his powder-horn. At length, after
waiting a good half hour, the lion rofe up, and at firft.
went very {lowly, and ftep by ftep, as if it had a mind
to fteal off J but as foon as it got to a greater diftance,
it began to bound away at a great rate."

Dr. Sparman alfo relates the following occurrence,
as ferving to ftiew the cowardice and infidious difpo-
fition of the lion :---" An elderly Hottentot, in the
fervice of a Chriftian, near the upper part of Sunday
river on the Cambdebo fids, perceived a lion following
him at a great diftance for two hours together. Thence
he naturally concluded, that the lion only waited for
the approach of darknefs, in order to make him his
prey : and in the mean time, could not expect any
other than to ferve for this fierce animal's fupper, in-
afmuch as he had no other weapon of defence than a
ftick, and knew that he could not get home before it
was dark. But, as he was well acquainted with the
nature of the lion, and the manner of its feizing upon

Vol. III. No. 40. S s its

322 NATURAL HISTORY

its prey, and at the fame time had leifure between whiles
to ruminate on the ways and means in which it was
moft likely that his exiftence would be put an end to,
he at length hit on a method of faving his life. For
this purpofe, inftead of making the beft of his way
home, he looked out for a kilpkrans (fo they generally
call a rocky place level and plain at top, and having a
perpendicular precipice on one fide of it), and, fitting
himfelfdown on the edge of one of thefe precipices, he
found, to his great joy, that the lion likewife made a
halt, and kept the fame diftance as before. As foon as
it grew dark, the Hottentot, Aiding a little forwards,
let himfelf down below the upper edge of the precipice
upon fome projedling part or cleft of the rock, where
he could juft keep himfelf from falling. But in order
to cheat the lion ftill more, he fet his hat and cloak on
the ftick, making with it at the fame time a gentle
motion juft over his head, and a little way from the edge
of the mountain. This crafty expedient had the defired
fuccefs. He did not ftay long in that fituation, before
the lion came creeping foftly towards him like a cat,
and, miftaking the Ikin-cloakfor the Hottentot himfelf,
took his leap with fuch exadlnefs and precifion, as to
fall headlong down the precipice, diredly clofe to the
fhare which had been fet up for him ;" by which means
the poor Hottentot was fafely delivered from his infi-
dious enemv.

This is not the only inftance of lions in Africa being
enfnared in the midft of their leap. In the out-houfes
and wafte- grounds about farms, where a lion has been
upon the watch for fome animal and miffed it, or where
they have other reafons to exped: him, they fet up the
figure of a man clofe by the fide of feveral loaded
guns ; fo that thefe difcharge themfelves into the body
of the beaft at the very inftant that he fprings or
throws himfelf upon the drefi"ed figure. As this is
done with fo much eafe and fuccefs, and as they hardly
ever think it worth while in Africa to take lions alive,
3 they

OF QUADRUPEDS. 32J

they feldom give themfelves the tremble of catching
them by means of pit-falls.

" It is fingular (Dr. Sparnian remarks), that the
lion, which, according to many, always kills his prey
immediately if it belongs to the brute creation, is re-
ported frequently, although provoked, to content him-
felf with merely wounding the human fpecies ; or at
leaft to wait fome time before he gives the fetal blow
to the unhappy vidim he has got under him. In fe-
veral places through which I pafled, they mentioned to
me by name a father and his two fons, who were faid
to be ftill living, and who being on foot near a river
on their eftate in fearch of a lion, this latter had rufhed
out upon them, and thrown one of them under his
feet : the two others, however, had tim.e enough to
fhoot the lion dead upon the Ipot, which had lain al-
moft acrofs the youth fo nearly and dearly related to
them, without having done him any particular hurt. I
myfelf faw, near the upper part of Duy ven-hock-rlvcr,
an elderly Hottentot, who at that time (his wounds
being ftill open) bore under one eye and underneath his
cheek-bone the ghaftly marks of the bite of a lion,
which did not think it worth his while to give him any
other chaftifement for having, together with his mafter
(whom I alfo knew) and feveral other Chriftians,
hunted him with great intrepidity, though without fuc-
cefs. The converfation ran every where in this part
of the country upon one Bota, a farmer and captain in
the militia, who had lain for fome time under a lion,
and had received feveral bruifes from the beaft, having
been at the fame time a good deal bitten by him in
one arm, as a token to remember him by ; but, upon
the whole, had in a manner had his life given him by
this noble animal. The man was faid then to be living
in the diflirid of Artaquas -kloof."

At St. Catherine Cre's church, Leadenhall-ftreet,
London, provifion is made, under the will of Sir John
Gager, who was lord-mayor in the year 1646, for a

S s 2 fermon

3H NATURAL HIST OR Y

fermon to be annually preached on the 1 6th of Novem-
ber, in commemoration of his happy deliverance from
a lion which he met in a defert as he was travelling in
the Turkifh dominions, and fuffered him to pafs un-
molefted. The minifter is to have twenty Ihillings far
the fermon, the clerk two (hillings and fix-pence, and
the fexton one fhilling. The fum of eight pounds
fixteen Ihillings and fix- pence is likewife to be diftri-
buted among the neceflitous inhabitants, purfuant to
the will of Sir John.

Sparman, in his remarks on fuch inftances of appa-
rent clemency in the lion, obferves as follows : — " I
do not know rightly how to account for this merciful
difpofition towards mankind. Does it proceed from
the lion's greater refpe61: and veneration for man, as
being equal to, or even a mightier tyrant than, himfelf
among the animal creation ? or is it merely from the
fame caprice which has fometimes induced him not
only to fpare the lives of men or brute creatures who
liave been given up to him for prey, but even to carefs
them, and treat them with the greateft kindnefs ?
Whims and freaks of this kind have perhaps in a great
meafure acquired the lion the reputation it has for ge-
nerofity ; but I cannot allow this fpecious name, facred
only to virtue, to be lavifhed upon a wild beaft. Slaves,
indeed, and wretches of fervile minds, are wont with
this attribute to flatter their greateft tyrants ; but with
what ihow of reafon can this attribute be beflowed up-
on the mod powerful tyrant among quadrupeds, be-
caufe it does not exercife an equal degree of cruelty
upon all occafions ^ That the lion does not, like the
wolf, tiger, and fome other beafts of prey, kill a great
deal of game or cattle at one time, perhaps proceeds
from this, that, while he is employed in attacking one
pr two of them, the remainder fly farther than it ac-
cords with the natural indolence of thisbeall to follow
them. If this be called generq/itj, a cat may be ftyled
generous with refped: to the ratsj as I have ken this

creature

OF CLUADRUPEDS. 31^

Creature in the fields among a great number of the lat-
ter, where fhe could have made a great havoclc at once,
feize on a fingie one only, arid run off with it. The
lion and the cat, likewife, very much refemble each
other, in partly fltcping out, and partly in pafllnga-
way in a quiet inadive Itate, a great part of their time,
in which hunger does not urge them to go in queft of
their prey."

The lion's ftrength, as already obferved, is very
great. Mr. Sparman informs us, that *' this animal
was once feen at the Cape^to take an heifer in his
mouth, and, though the legs of the latter dragged on the
ground, yet feemed to carry her off with the fame eale
as a cat does rat. It likewife leaped over a broad dike
with her, without the kaft difficulty. A buffalo per-
haps would be too cumberfome for this beaft of prey,
notwithftanding his ftrength, to feize and carry off
with him in the fame manner above mentioned. Two
yeomen, upon whofe veracity I can place fome confi-
dence, gave me the following account relative to this
matter. Being hunting near Bofhiefman-river with fe-
veral Hottentots, they perceived a lion dragging a buf-
falo from the plain to a neighbouring woody hill. They,
however, foon forced it to quit its prey, in order to
make a prize of it themfelves ; and found that this
wild beaft had had the fagacity to take out the buffa-
lo's large and unwieldy entrails, in order to be able the
eafier to make off with the fieftiy and more eatable part
of the carcafe. The lion's ftrength, however, is faid
not to be fufiicient alone to get the better of fo large
and ftrong an animal as the buffalo ; but, in order to
make it his prey, this fierce creature is obliged to have
recourfe both to agility and ftratagem; infomuch, that,
ftealing on the buffalo, it faftens with both its paws
upon the noftrils and mouth of the beaft, and keeps
fqueezing them clofe together, till at length the creature
is ftrangled, wearied out, and dies. A certain colo-
nift, according to report, had had an opportunity of

feeing

326 NATURAL HISTORY

feeing an attack of this kind ; and others had reafon to
conclude, that fomething of this nature had paiTed,
from feeing buffaloes, which had efcaped from the
clutches of lions, and bore the marks of the claws of
thefe animals about their mouth and nofe. They af-
ferted, however, that the lion itfelf rifked its life in
fuch attempts, efpecially if any other buffalo was at
hand to refcue that which was attacked. It was faid,
that a traveller once had an opportunity of feeing a fe-
male buffalo v;ith her calf, defended by a river at her
back, keep for a long time at bay five lions which had
partly furrounded her -, but did not, at leaft as long as
the traveller looked on, dare to attack her. The lion
will fometimes fpring on the back of the buffalo, and
upon horfes, by which means they become an eafy prey :
the lion never quitting his hold till they fink down in
the agonies of death. I have been informed, from
very good authority, that on a plain to the eaft of
Kromme-river, a lion had been gored and trampled to
death by a herd of cattle j having, urged probably by
hunger, ventured to attack them in broad day- light."
This the reader will, perhaps, not fo much wonder at,
when he is told, that in the day-time, and upon an open
plain, twelve or (ixteen dogs will eafily get the better of
a large lion. Nor is there any neceffity. Dr. Sparman
fays, for the dogs with which the lion is to be hunted
to be very large and trained up to the fport, as M. de
Buffon thinks they fhould be, the bufinefs being per-
fectly well accomplifhed with common farm-houfe dogs.
"When thefe have got pretty near the lion, the latter,
from a greatnefs of foul, does not offer to fly any far-
ther, but fits himfelf down. The hounds then furround
him, and, rufhing on him all at once, are thus, with
their united ftrength, able to tear in pieces, almoft in
an inftant, the ftrongeft of all wild beafts. It is faid,
that he has feldom time to give more than two or three
flight ftrokes with his paws (each of which ftrokes is
inftant death) to an equal number of his affailants. M.

de

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 327

de Buffon afTerts alfo, that the lion may be hunted on
horfeback, but that the horfes as well as the dogs muft
be trained to it. Dr. Sparman, however, afTures us,
that the colonifts hunt the lion with common hunting
horfes.

It is Taid, that horfes in battle, or in other dangerous
enterprizes, fuffer themfelves morewilhngly to be ca-
parifoned by their riders than at other times. This
circumftance Dr. Sparman likewife remarked in thefe
animals on the above expeditions. " Our horfes (fays
he), the very fame as had feveral times, in the manner
above mentioned, fhewn their difquietude when the
lion happened to be in the vicinity of them, and which
were not in the leaft trained to the chace, once exhi-
bited a fpirit in the purfuit of two large lions, equal to
that which they had fhewn at other times in chafing
the timid gazels ; though, in fadl, hunting horfes
feem to partake much more of their matter's pleafure
in the chace. I remember, In particular, at Agter
Bruntjes Hoogte, I rode a horfe, which, by a tremu-
lous found iffuing from its cheft, cocking up its ears,
and prancing and capering, difcovered, in an unequi-
vocal manner, its ardour for the chace, whenever it
came in fight of the larger kind of game. There have
ever been inliances of hunting horfes, who, when the
hunter has jumped off their backs in order to difcharge
his piece, but has miffed his mark, have in their eager-
nefs for the chace, not allowed him time fufficient to
mount again, but followed the game alone for hours
together, clofe at its very heels, in all its turnings and
windings."

The chace of the Hon on horfeback is carried on at
the Cape in the following manner, as defcribed by Dr.
Sparman. — " It is only on the plains that the hunters
venture to go out on horfeback in this chace. If the
lion keeps in fome coppice or wood, on a rifing ground,
they endeavour to teize it with dogs till it comes out ;
they likewife prefer going together two or more in

number.

328 NATURAL HISTORY

i»]mber, in order to be able to aflift and refcue each
other, in cafe the firft /hot fhould not take place. When
the lion fees the hunters at a great diftance, it is uni-
verfally aliov/ed that he takes to his heels as faft as he
can, in order to get out of their fight j but, if they
chance to difcover him at a fmall diftance from them,
he is then faid to walk off in a furly manner, but with-
out putting himfelf in the lead hurry, as though he
was above ihewing any fear, when he finds himfelf dif-
covered or hunted. He is therefore reported like-
wife, when he finds himfelf purfued ,with vigou;-, to be-
foon provoked to refiliance, or at leaft he difdains any
longer to fly. Confequently he flackens his pace, and
at length only flides. flowly off, flep by ftep, all the
while eying his purfuers afkaunt; and finally makes a
full flop, and turning round upon them, and at the
fame time giving himfelf a fhake, roars with a fhort.
and fharp tone, in order to fhew his indignation, being
ready to feize on them, and tear them in pieces. This
is now precifely the time for the hunters to be upon
the fpot, or elfe to get as foon as poffible within a cer-
tain dirtance of him, yet fo as at the fame time to keep
a proper diftance from each other ; and he that is near-
eil, or is moft advantageoufly pofted, and has the bell
mark of that part of the lion's body which contains
his heart and lungs, muft be the firft to jump off his
horfe, and, fecuring the bridle by putting it round his
arm, difcharge his piece ; then, in an inftant recover-
ing his feat, muff ride obliquely athwart his compani-
ons j and, in fine, giving his horfe the reins, muft trult
entirely to the fpeed and f^ar of this latter to convey
him out of the reach cf the fury of the wild beaft, in
cafe he has only wounded him, or has abfolutely miffed
him. In either of thefe cafes, a fair opportunity pre-
fents iifelf for fome of the other hunters to jump off
their horfes directly, as they may then take their aim
and difcharge their pieces with greater coolnefs and
certainty. Should this fhot likcwife mifs, (which,

however.

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 3^9

however, feldom happens), the third fportfman rides
after the lion, which at that inftant is in purfuit of the
firft or the fecond, and, fpringing off his horfe, fires
his piece, as foon as he has got within a proper diftance,
and finds a fufficiently convenient part of the animal
prefent itfelf, cfpecially obliquely from behind. If now
the lion turns upon him too, the other hunters turn
again, in order to come to his refcue with the charge
which they loaded with on horfeback while they were
flying from the wild beafl:. No inftance has ever been
known of any misfortune happening to the hunters in
chacing the lion on horfeback. The African colonifts,
who are born in, or have had the courage to remove
into, the more remote parts of Africa, which are ex-
pofed to the ravages of wild beafts, are mollily good
markfmen, and are far from wanting courage., The
lion that has the boldnefs to feize on their cattle, which
are the moft valuable part of their property, fome-
times at their very doors, is as odious to them as he
is dangerous and noxious. They confequently feek
out thefe animals, and hunt them with the greateft ar-
dour and glee, with a view to exterminate them."

The lion is a long-Hved animal, although naturalifts
have differed greatly as to the precife period of its ex-
iftence. Buffon limits it to twenty, or twenty -two
years at moft. It is however certain, that it fives much
beyond that time. The great lion, called Pompey,
which died in the year 1760, w^as known to have been
in the Tower above feventy years ; and one, brought
from the river Gambia, died there not long ago at the
age of fixty-three.— Several of thefe animals have been
bred in the Tower ; fo that the time of their geftation,
the number they produce, and the time of their arriv-
ing at perfedtion, are all pretty well known.

The fiefh of the lion is faid to have a ftrong, difa-

greeable, flavour ; yet it is frequently eaten by the ne-

groes.---The fkin, which was formerly a robe of dif-

tindtion for heroes, is now made ufe of by thofe people

Vol. III. No. 40. T t as

330 NATURAL HISTORY

as a mantle or a bed. They alfo preferve the gfeafcj
which is of a penetrating nature, and is ufed in medicine.

The TIGRIS, or TIGER.

THE tiger is the moft rapacious and deftrudive of
all carnivorous animals. Fierce without provocation,
and cruel without neccffitv, its third for blood is infa-
tiable : though glutted with flaughter, it continues its
carnage, nor ever gives up {o long as a (ingle objedc
remains in its ficr''t: flocks and herds fall indifcnmi-
nate vidims to its fury : It fears neither the light nor
the oppofition of man, whom it frequently makes its
prey j and it is even faid to prefer human flefh to that
of any other animal.

The (ize of this animal, according to fome authors,
Is larger, and, according to others, fomewhat lefs, than
the lion. M. de la Landemagon afliires us, that he
has {^txi a tiger in the Eaft-lndies fifteen feet long, in-
cluding undoubtedly the length of the tail, which, fup-
pofmg it to be four feet, makes the body about eleven
feet in length. This is called the royal tiger; and is
indeed of a moft tremendous buiki Hyier Ally pre-
fented one to the Nabob of Arcot, which meafured
eighteen feet in length. The head of the tiger is
large and roundifh j and the ears are fhort, and at a
great diftance from each other. The-form of the body
has a great refemblance to that of the panther. The
(kin Is of a darkilh yellow colour, ftriped with long
black ftreaks; the hair is fhort, excepting on the fides
of the head, where it is about four inches long. The
point of the tail is black, and the reft of it is inter-
fperfed with black rings. His legs and claws refembie
thofe of the lion, only the legs are much fhorter in
proportion to the fize of the animal.

The tiger is more ferocious, cruel, and favage, than
the lion. Although gorged with carrmge, his third
for blood Is not appealed j he feizes and tears in pieces
a new prey \^ith equal fury and rap:icity, the very mo-
ment

OF QUADRUPEDS. 331

ment after devouring a former one; he lays wafte the
country he inhabits; he neither dreads the afpeft nor
the weapons of men ; puts to death whole troops of
domeftic animals ; and attacks young elephants, rhi-
Jiuceros's, and fometimes even braves the lion himfelf.
l"he tiger fsems to have no other infthift, but a con-
ftant thirft after blood, a blind fury which knows no
bounds or diftindlion, and which often ftimulates him
to devour his own young, and to tear the mother in
pieces for endeavouring to defend them. He lies in
wait on the banks of rivers, &c. where the heat of the
climate obliges other animals to repair for drink. Here
he feizes his prey, or rather multiplies his maflacres ;
for he no fooner kills one animal, than he flies with
equal fury upon the next, with no other view but to
plunge his head into their bodies and drink their blood.
However, when he kills a large animal, as a horfe or a
buffalo, he fometimes does not tear out the entrails on
thefpot; but, to prevent any interruption, he drags
them off to the v/ood, which he performs with incre-
dible fwiftnefs. This is a fnfficient fpecimen of the
{l:rength of this rapacious animal. They feldom pur-
fue their prey ; but bound upon it from the place of
their ambufh, with an elafticity, and from a diftance,
fcarcely credible. It is highly probable, that, from
this circumftance, the tiger may derive its name, which,
in the Armenian language, fignifies an arrow, to the
flight of which this creature may very properly be com-
pared, in the quicknefs and agility of its bounds.

Neither force, reftraint, or violence, can tame the
tiger. He is equally irritated with good as with bad
treatment: he tears the hand which nourifhes him with
equal fury as that which adminilTers blows: he roars
and is enraged at the fight of every living creature.
Almoft es'ery natural hiftorian agrees in this horrible
charadler.

A beautiful young male tiger, lately brought over
from China in the Pitt Eaft-Indiaman, at the age of

T t 2 ten

33^ NATURAL HISTORY

ten months, was fo far domefticatcd, as to admit every
kind of familiarity from the people on-board. It
feemed to be quite harmlefs, and was as playful as a
kitten. It frequently flept with the failors in their
hammocks; and would fuffer two or three of them to
repofe their heads upon its back, as upon a pillow,
whilft it lay flretched out upon the deck. In return
for this, it would, however, now and then fteal their
meat. Having one day taken a piece of beef from the
carpenter, he followed the animal, took the meat out of
its mouth, and beat it feverely for the theft j which
punishment it fuffered with all the patience of a dog.
It would frequently run out on the bowfpritj climb
about the fhip like a cat ; and perform a number of
tricks, with an agility that was truly aftonifhing. There
"was a dog on-board the fiiip, with which it would of-
ten play in the molt diverting manner.--- From thefe
circumftances, one might be led to fuppofe, that the
difpofition of the tiger, like that of many other ani-
mals, was capable of fome degree of culture. But it
ought to be remembered, that, at the time this one
was taken on-board the fhip, it was only a month or
fix weeks old ; and, when arrived in this country, it
had not quite completed a year. How much longer
its good humour might Iiave continued, it is impoffible
to fay : but it is much to be doubted whether the fame
innocent playfulnefs would have formed a part of its
characfler when arrived at its full ftate of maturity.

There is a fort of cruelty in their devai'tations, un-
known to the generous lion ; as well as a poltroonry
in their fudden retreat on any difappointment. " I
•was informed (fays Mr. Pennant) by very good au-
thority, that in the beginning of this century, fome
gentlemen and ladies, being on a party of pleafure, un-
der a fhade of trees, on the banks of a river in Bengal,
obferved a tiger preparing for its fatal fpring ; one of
the ladies, with amazing prefence of mind, laid hold of
an umbrella, and furled it full in the animal's face,

3 which

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 333

tvhlch inftantly retired, and gave the company oppor-
tunity of removing from fo terrible a neighbour. A-
nother party had not the fame good fortune : a tiger
darted among them while they were at dinner, feized
on one gentleman, and carried him off, and he never
more was heard of." A fate fimilarly Ihocking was
experienced by the fonof Sir Hedtor Munro, who with
a fhooting party, in Saugur-ifland, in the Eaft-Indies,
Was feized by a tiger. The particulars are copied
from a letter written to England by one of the party,
dated December 23, 1792, as follows: " Yefterday
morning, Mr. Downey, of the company's troops. Lieu-
tenant Pyefinch, and poor Mr. Munro, and I, went on
ihort on Saugur-ifland to fhoot deer j we faw innu-
merable tracks of tigers and deer, but ftill were indu-
ced to purfue our fport. About half paft three we fat
down on the edge of the jungle to eat fome cold meat
fent us from the fhip, and had juft commenced our
meal, when Mr. Pvefinch and a black fervant told us
that there was a fine deer within fix yards of us : Mr.
Downey and I immediately jumped up to take our
guns — mine was the neareft, and I had but juR- laid
hold of it, when I heard a roar, like thunder, and faw
an immenfe royal tiger fpring on the unfortunate Mun-
ro, who was fitting down; in a moment his head was
in the bead's mouth, which rulhed into the jungle with
him, wifh as much eafe as I could lift a kitten, tearing
him through the thickeft buflies and trees---every
thing yielding to his monftrous drength. The agonies
of horror, regret, and, I mufi: fay, fear (for there were
two tigers, a male and female), ruihed on us at once ;
the only effort I could make was to fire at him, though
the poor youth was ftill in his mouth. I relied partly
on Providence, partly on my own aim, and fired a
mufquet. I faw the tiger ftagger and agitated. Mr.
Downey then iired two fhots. and I one more. Wc
retired from the jungle, and a few minutes after Mr.
Munro came up, to us^, all over bloodj and fell ^ we

took

334- NATURAL HISTORY

took him on our backs to the boat, and got every me-
dical afTiftance for him from the Valentine Indiaman,
which lay at anchor near the ifland ; but in vain. He
lived twenty- four hours in the extreme of torture ; his
head and fkull were all torn and broke to pieces, and
he was wounded by the bead's claws all over his neck
and fhoulders ; but it was better to take him away,
though irrecoverable, than leave him to be devoured
iimb by limb. I muft obferve, there was a large fire
blazing clofe to us, compofed of ten or a dozen whole
trees: I made it myfelf on purpofe to keep tigers off,
as I had always heard it would. There were eight or
ten of the natives about us; many (hot had been fired
at the place, and much noife and laughing at the time ;
but this ferocious animal difregarded all. The human
mind cannot form an idea of the fcene; it turned my
very foul within me. The beaft was about four and
a half feet high, and nine long. His head appeared as
large as an ox's, his eyes darted fire ; and his roar,
when he firft feized his prey, will never be out of my
recolledion."

The tiger attacks all forts of animals, even the
Jion; and it has beeti known that both have perifhed
in their combats. There is in fome parrs of India a
popular notion, that the rhinoceros and the tiger are in
friendfliip, becauic they arc often found near each
other. But, according to Mr. Pennant, the faft is,
that the rhinoceros, like the hog, loves to wallow in
the mire; and 0:1 that account trequents the banks of
l-ivers : the tiger, fo quench its raging thirft, is met
with in places contiguous to them.

Father Tachard gives an account of a battle between
a fiiier and two elephants, at Siarn ; of which he was
an eve-witnefs. The heads and part of the trunks of
the elephants were defended from the claws of the ti-
ger by a covering made for the purpDfe. They were
placed in the miail; of a large inclofure. One of them
was fuffered to approach the tiger, which was confined

by

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 335

by cords, and received two or three heavy blows from
the trunk of the elephant upon its back, which beat it
to the ground, where it lay for fonie time as if it were
dead : but, though this attack had a good deal abated
its fury, it was no fooner untied, than, with a horribla
roar, it made a fpring at the elephant's trunk, which
that animal dexteroufly avoided by drawing it up ;
and, receiving the tiger on its tufks, threw it up into
the air. The two elephants were then allowed to
come up ; and, after giving it feveral heavy blows,
would undoubtedly have killed it, if an end had not
been put to the combat. — Under fuch reftraints and
difad vantages, we cannot wonder that the ifTue was
unfavourable to the tiger. We may, however, by
this, judge of its great ftrength and fiercenefs,---that,
after being difabled by the firft attack of the elephant,
whilft it was held by its cords, it would venture to
continue fuch an unequal engagement.

Pliny has been frequently taken to tafk by the mo-
derns, for calling the tiger animal tremendce velocitatis :.
they allow it great agility in its bounds, but deny it
fwiftnefs in purfuit. Two travellers of authority, how-
ever, both eye-witnefles, confirm what Pliny fays:
the one indeed only mentions in general its vaft fleet-
nefs; the other faw a trial between one and a fvvift
horfe, whofe rider efcaped merely by getting in time
amidft a circle of armed men. The chafe of this ani-
mal was a favourite diverlion with the great Cam- hi,
the Chinefe monarch, in whofe company Mr. Bell,
that entertaining traveller, and the Pera Gerbilion, faw
thefe proofs of the tiger's fpeed.

The tiger, according to Mr. Pennant, is peculiar to
Afiaj and is found as far north as China and Chinefe
Tartary, and about lake Aral and the Altaic moun-
tains. It inhabits mount Ararat and Hyrcania, of old
famous for its wild beaftsi but the greateft numbers,
the largeft-, and the moft cruel, are met With in India
and its illands. In Sumatra the natives are fo infatu-
ated.

33^ NATURAL HISTORY

ated, that they feldotn kill them, having a notion that
they are animated by the fouls of their anceftors.

The tiger has always been a more rare animal than
the lion; and yet brings forth an equal number of
young, namely, four or five at a litter. The female is
furious at all times; but, when her young are attempt-
ed to be taken from her, her rage is redoubled: fhe
braves every danger J fhe purfues the ravifhers, who
are obliged, when hard prefled, to drop one of the
young in order to retard her motion ; flie flops, takes
it up, and carries it into fome fccret part of the foreft ;
but fhe inftantly returns and purfues the hunters into
their villages or boats.

The tiger moves the fkin of his face, grinds his
teeth, and roars, like f'^"- lion i but the found of his
voice is different. .,*"

The {kin of this animal is much efteemed all over
the Eaft, particularly in China. The mandarins cover
their feats of juftice with it; and, during the winter,
^fe it for cufhions and pillows.

The PARDUS, or PANTHER.

THIS animal is about the fize of a large dog, and
has a great refemblance to a domeftic cat. The tongue
is rough, and remarkably red ; the teeth are ftrong and
fharp ; the fl^in is exceedingly beautiful, being of a
yellow colour, variegated with roundifh black fpots,
and the hair is fhort. It has a cruel and ferocious af-
pe6t; his motions are hriflc and lively; his cry re-
fembles the growl of an enraged dog, but is more
ftrong and rough.

The panther inhabits Africa, from Barbary to the
remoteft parts of Guinea. This fpecies is next in fize
to the tiger ; next to it in cruelty, and in its general
enmity to the animal creation : it is to Africa what the
former is to Afia, with this alleviation, that it prefers
the fle/h of brutes to that of mankind ; but, when pref-
fed with hunger, attacks every living creature without

diftindiou.

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 337

dlftlndlon. Its manner of taking its prey is the fame
with that of the tiger, always by furprife, either lurk-
ing in thickets or creeping on its belly till it comes
within reach : it will alfo climb up trees in purfuit of
monkies and lefler animals ; fo that nothing is fecure
from its attacks. He is not fo perfeftly ungovernable
as the tiger : but, notwithftanding all attempts to ren-
der him obedient and traceable, he may rather be faid
to be fubdued than tamed ; for he never entirely lofes
his natural ferocity. Accordingly, when kept with a
view to the hunting of bucks, goats, or other animals,
great care is neceflary in training him, and ftill greater
in condu6ting him. When leading out to the field,
they put him in a cage and carry him on a cart. When
the game is fprung, they open the door of the cage;
he inftantly fprings towards .the animal, often feizes
him in a few bounds, throws him to the ground, and
flrangles him. But, if he happens to mifs his aim, he
becomes mad with rage, and fometimes falls upon his
mafter, who, in order to prevent accidents of this kind,
generally carries along with him pieces of fle{h, or per-
haps a lamb or a kid, which he throws to him in order
to appeafe his fury.

The ancients were well acquainted with thefe ani-
mals. Thefe, and the leopards, were the vnri^ and
par^i of the old writers : one fhould think that the
Romans would have exhaufted the deferts of Africa by
the numbers they drew from thence for their public
fhows. Scaurus exhibited at one time one hundred and
fifty panthers j Pompey the Great, four hundred and
ten J Auguftus, four hundred and twenty. Probably
they thinned the coafts of Mauritania of thefe animals,
but they ftill fwarm in the fouthern parts of Guinea. —
Oppian defcribes two fpecies of panthers, a large fpe-
cies and a fmall one ; the firft of which has a ihorter
tail than the other, and may poffibly be this kind. —
An animal of this fpecies is found in Buckharia, called
there babr : it is feven feet long, very deftrudlive to

Vol. III. No. 40. U u horfes,

338 NATURAL HISTORY

horfes, and even camels ; the fkin is fine, and valued
in Ruflia at one pound fterling. — In China there is a
moft remarkable kind, called there louchu, whofe {kins
fell at fix pounds fterling a-piece. It muft here alfb
be obferved, that there are in the furriers (hops in Lon-
don, ikins in moft- refpecfls refembling thofe of the
panther; which, they afiure us, come from the Spanifh
fettlements in the Weft Indies : thefe fkins equal thofe
of the old continent in beauty and fize.

M. Buffon denies the panther to be an inhabitant of
America, in which he was contradided by Mr. Pen-
nant, who aflerted that the fame animal was found
there ; in his third edition of quadrupeds, however,
(2 vols. 4to.) he correds this miftake, in the follow-
ing words : " In my former edition, I ufed fome ar-
guments in favour of thefe animals being alfo natives of
South America. Lhad feen the ficins at the furriers
"ihops, which had been brought from the Brazils ; but,
as that country has a great intercourfe with Congo
and Angola on account of the fiave-trade, I have no
doubt but that they were brought from thofe king-
doms, and re-exported to Europe. The largeft con-
generous animals that South America has is the Bra-
filian, hereafter to be noticed."

The LEOPARDUS, or LEOPARD.

THIS fpecies is lefs than the former; its length
from the nofe to the tail is only four feet j and its tail
is two feet long. It is of a lively yellow colour, mark-
ed on the back and fides with fmall fpots, difpofed in
circles, and placed pretty clofeiy together; its face
and legs are marked with fingle fpots ; its breaft and
belly are covered with longer hairs than the reft of its '
body, of a whitifti colour ; the fpots on its tail are
large and oblong.

It inhabits Senegal and Guinea, and fpares neither
man nor beaft. When the beafts of chace fail, the
leopards defcend in crowds from the interior parts of

Africa,

i:

^

^

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 339

Africa, and make vaft havock among the numerous
herds that cover the rich meadows of the Lower Gui-
nea : they tear their prey in pieces with both claws
and teeth, and, though perpetually devouring, they are
always thin j the panthers are their enemies, and de-
ftroy numbers of them. The negroes take them in
pitfalls covered at the top with flight hurdles, on which
is placed fome flefh as a bait ; when they have killed
one, they feaft on its flefh, which is faid to be as white
as veal, and very well tafted. The negrefTes make
beads or collars of its teeth, and attribute to them cer-
tain virtues. The fkins are frequently brought to
Europe, and are reckoned very valuable, BufFon fays,
that when it is of a bright yellow, and has its fpots
black and well defined, one fkin will fetch eight or ten
louis d'ors.

In Afia, it is found in the mountains of Caucafus,
from Perfia to India ; and alfo in China, where it is
called poupl. The Buckharian traders, who often bring
their fkins to RufTia, call them bars. It inhabits Ara-
bia alfo, where it is called nemr. It Is faid that in that
country, as well as Egypt, it does no hurt to man un-
lefs provoked; but will enter houfes by night and de-
ftroy cats. — The manners and difpofitions of the leo-
pard are fimilar to thofe of the panther j but we have
not heard of his being ever trained to hunting, or any
way tamed. This fpecies feems to be fubjecft to more
varieties than the former ; but thefe affe<5l chiefly the
darknefs or lightnefs of its colour. In the Tower of
London is a black variety of the leopard, brought
from Bengal by Warren Haflings, Efq. The colour
univerfally is a dufky black, fprinkled over with fpots
of a glofTy black, difpofed in the fame forms as thofe
of the leopard : on turning afide the hair, beneath ap-
j)ears a tinge of the natural colour.

Uu2 The

340 NATURAL HISTORY

The smaller LEOPARD.

THIS fpecles is not half the bulk of the former;
its tail is alfo fhorter in proportion, and tapers to a
point, whereas the tails of the panther and great leo-
pard are of equal thicknefs from top to bottom j its face
is fpotted with black j it has a great black fpot on each
fide of its upper lip; its breaft is marked with fmall
fpots J its belly is white fpotted with black ; its back,
fides, and rump, are covered with hair of a bright yel-
low, marked with circles of fpots like the former, but
the circles are lefs. One of thefe was kept fome years
ago in the Tower, and feemed a good-natured animal.

The hunting LEOPARD.

THIS animal is of the fize of a large greyhound,
of a long make, and has long legs and a narrow cheft ;
it has a fmall head j its eyes are of a pale orange; the
end of its nofe black j a dufky line runs from each
corner of the mouth to the corner of each eye; its
ears are Aiort, and of a tawny colour, marked with a
brown bar ; its face, chin, and throat, are of a pale
yellowifh brown ; the face is flightly fpotted, and the
body is of a light tawny brown, marked with numbers
of fmall round black fpots, not in circles, but each dif-
tindl. The fpots on the outfide of the legs are larger;
the hair on the top of the neck is longer than the reft;
that on the belly is white and very long; the tail is of
a reddifh brown, longer than the body, marked above
with large black fpots, with very long hair on the un-
der fide.

It inhabits India, and is tamed and trained for the
chace of antelopes ; it is carried in a fmall kind of wag-
gon, chained and hood-winked, till it approaches the
herd. When firft unchained, it does not immediately
make its attempt, but winds along the ground, flop-
ping and concealing itfelf till it gets a proper advan-
tage, then darts on the animals with furprifing fwift-

nefsj

OF QU ADR UP ED S. 341

nefs, and overtakes them by the rapidity of Its bounds;
but if it does not fucceed in its firfl efforts, confifting
of five or fix amaziiig leaps, it nJfTes its preys lofing
its breath, and finding itfelf unequal in fpeed, it flands
fiill, gives up the point for that time, and readily re-
turns to its mafter. This fpecies is called in India,
chittah : it is ufed for the taking of jackals, as well as
other animals.

TheOUNCE.

THIS fpecies is of a ftrong make, has a long back
and fhort f})Otted legs ; and is about three feet and an
half in length from the nofe to the tail; the tail full of
hair, with large black fpots, is upwards of three feet ;
its head is large, marked with fmall round fpots ; its
ears are fhort; the hair on the body is longj its colour
afh, tinged with yellow ; behind each ear it has a large
black fpot ; the upper part of its neck is alfo varied
with large fingle fpots ; it has alfo long fpots almofl
touching each other along the fides of the back.

In inhabits Barbary, Perfia, Hyrcania, and China,
the Bucharian and Altaic chain, and to the well of
Lake Baikil. It is an animal of a more gentle and mild
nature than moft of the preceding, and is, like the laft,
ufed for the chace of antelopes, and even hares : but,
inftead of being conveyed in a waggon like the panther
or hunting leopard, it is carried on the crupper on
horfeback, and is as much under command as a fettino-
dog, and returns at the lead call, and jumps up behind
its mafter ; it is fuppofed to be the panther of Pliny,
and. the lefTer panther of Oppian : their ficins are
brought from China, and fold in RufTia for twenty fhl!-.
Jings a- piece.

The BRASILIAN TIGER, or JAGUAR.

THE hair of this animal is of a bright tawny co-
lour; the top of its back is marked with long flripes of
l)lack j its fides with irregular oblong fpots, open in

the

3^2 NATURAL HISTORY

the middle, the middle of thefe is of the ground colour
of the hair J the thighs and legs are marked with full
black fpots J the bread and belly are whitifii ; the tail
is not fo long as the body; the upper part deep tawny,
with large irregular black fpots, the lower with fmali
fpots.

It grows to the fize of a wolf, or even larger, and in-
liabits the hotteft parts of South America, from the
ifthmus of Darien to Buenos Ayresj it is fierce and
deftrudtive to man and beaft. Like the tiger, it plun-
ges its head into the body of its prey, and fucks out
the blood before it devours it ; it makes a great noife
in the night like the howling of a hungry dog ; it is a
very cowardly animal, and eafily put to flight, either
by the fhepherds dogs or by a lighted torch, as it is
afraid of fire j it lies in ambufh near the fides of rivers,
where it fometimes fights a fingular combat with the
crocodile. When the jaguar comes to drink, the cro-
codile, ready to furprife any animal that approaches,
raifes his head out of the water j the former inftantly
ftrikes its claws into the eyes, the only penetrable part
of this dreadful reptile, who immediately dives under
water, pulling his enemy along with him, where they
commonly both perifh.

The MEXICAN TIGER.

THIS animal is about four times the fize of a large
cat, and is very ftrongly madej its upper parts are of a
bright tawny, its fides whitifh, marked length-ways
with long ftripes of black, hollow, and tawny in the
middle, in which are fprinkled fome fmall black fpots j
from the neck towards the fhoulders point others of
the fame colour i ablackftripe extends along the back
from head to tail j there is alio a black ftripe from the
noftrils to the corner.of the eyes; its forehead is fpot-
ted with black ; its legs are whitifh, varied with fmall
black fpots ; the tail is alfo fpotted with fmall fpots
near its bafe, and with larger near the end, which is

3 black.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 34.J

black. An animal, fuppofed to be the female of this
fpecies, was fhewn fome years ago in London. Its
fhouiders were both barred and fpotted ; the tail not
fo long as the body, with large fpots above and fmall
beneath.

It inhabits Mexico, the neighbourhood of Cartha-
gena and Brafil, lives in the mountains, and is very
voracious, but afraid of mankind ; it preys on calves,
and diiferent forts of game, lurks amidft the leaves of
trees, and fometimes will extend itfelf along the
boughs as if dead, till the monkies, tempted by natu-
ral curiofity, approaching to examine it, become its
prey. Buffon fays, of all fpotted animals, the fkin of
the male of this fpecies is unqueftionabiy the moft
beautiful, and the moft elegantly variegated. Even
that of the leopard is not to be compared with it for
vivacity of colours, and fymmetry of defign -, far lefs
thofe of the jaguar, panther, and ounce. But in the
female the colours are fainter, and the defign more ir-
regular. They prefer blood to flefh ; hence, they de-
ftroy a great number of animals, becaufe, inftead of
fatiating themfelves by devouring their flefh, they only
quench their thirft by drinking the blood i the males
have a remarkable fuperiority over the females ; the
latter never prefume to partake of the prey till the
former have enough. They produce but two young
Ht a litter.

The cinereous TIGER.

THIS fpecies is of a cinereous colour, paleft on the
legs and belly j irides hazel ; tip of the nofe red ; ears
fhort and rounded, black on the outfide, grey within;
from the nofe to the eye, on each fide, is a black line i
above and beneath each eye a white one -, fides of the
mouth white, marked with four rows of fmall black
fpots ; from the hind part of the head, to the back
and fhouiders, are fome long, narrow, hollow, ftripes ;
along the top of the back two rows of oval black fpots ;

the

344 NATURAL HISTORY

the marks on the fides long, hollow, and irregular, ex*
tending from fhoulders to thighs ; flioulders both bar-
. red and fpotted ; legs and belly only fpottedj tail not
.fo long as the body, with large fpots above, and fmall
beneath. It is about the fize of the preceding, and in-
habits Guinea.

The puma.

THIS animal has a very fmall head, 'ears a little "
pointed, large eyes, and a white chin j his back, neck,
rump, and fides, are of a pale brownlfh red, mixed
with dufky hairs j his breaft, his belly, and the infide
of his legs, cinereous ; the hair on his belly long ; his
tail is dufky and ferruginous, the tip of it is black -,
his teeth are of a vaft fize, his claws are white, the
outmoft one of the fore feet much larger than the o-
thers ; he is long bodied, and ftands high on his legs ;
his length from the nofe to the tail, is five feet three
inches, his tail two feet eight.

He inhabits the continent of America, from Canada
to Brafil, and has been mifl:aken for the' lion ; he is the
fcourge of the colonies in the hotter and lefs populous
parts of America; fierce and ravenous to the higheil
degree; he fwims over broad rivers, and attacks cattle
even in the inclofures; and, when much prefTed with
hunger, fpares not even th-e human fpecies. In North
America, however, their fury feems to be fubdued by
the rigour of the climate ; the fmalleft cur in company
with its maflier, makes them feek for fecurity, by run-
ning up trees ; but they are equally dell:ru6live to do-
meflic animals, and are the greateft plague the planter
has. When they lie in wait for the moofe or other
deer, they lie cJofe on the branch of fome tree, till the
animal pafTes underneath, then they drop on it, and
foon deilroy it. They alfo make the wolf their prey.
They conceal fuch part of their prey as they cannot
eat; they purr like a cat, and have foft fur of fome
value among the Indians, who cover themfelves with

it

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 345

it during the winter ; their flefh is alfo eaten, and faid
to be as good and as white as veal.

£3"

The jaguar.

THIS name having been applied to different fpc-
cies,-is apt to create fome degree of confufion of ideas ;
it is the name given by the natives of South America
to moft of thofe ravenous animals that are to them ob-
jedls of terror. This fpecies grows to the fize of a
heifer a year old, and has vaft ftrength in its limbs. It
inhabits Brafil and Guiana, and is much dreaded by the
Indians. It is cruel, and fierce ; but happily it is a
fcarce fpecies. Its head, back, fides, fore part of the
legs, and its tail, are covered with fhort and glofly
hair of a dufky colour, fometimes fpotted with black,
but sjeneraliy plain ; its upper lip is white ; it has a
black fpot at each corner of its mouth, long hairs above
each eye, and long whifkers on the upper lip ; its
lo\ver lip, its throat, belly, and the iijfide of its legs,
are whitifh, or of a very pale afh- colour ; its paws are
white, and its ears pointed. Buffon fufpects this and
the Brafilian tiger to be varieties of the fame fpecies ;
but Pennant is of a contrary opinion, as this is not
fpotted. ,

The ant-eater, though he has no teeth to defend
himfelf, is rhe moft cruel enemy the jaguars have to
encounter. As foon as the jaguar attacks the ant-
eater, it lies down on its back, and fuflbcates or {Iran-
gles him with its long claws.

The CAPENSIS, or CAPE TIGER.

THE hiilory of this animal is very little kno%vn.
Mr. Pennant defcribes it as having fliort hair, of a
bright ferrugir.ous colour ; the face marked with black
ftripes, tending downwards ; from the hind part of
the head to the tail, the back is marked with oblong
firipes of black -, the fides with very numerous fmali-^

Yql. III. No. 40. X 3C anti

346 NATURAL HISTORY

and round fpots of black -, belly white ; tail long, of a
bright tawny-colour, annulated with blacky ears long,
narrow, pointed, and very ered •, length from the nofe
to the tail near three feet. This is defcribed from a
fkin in a furrier's fhop in London. It inhabits the
neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, and as
high north as Congo. It inhabits the woods, and is
very deftrudlive to lambs, young antelopes, and all the
fmaller animals j it is well defcribed by Dr. Poller, in
Phil. Tranf; Ixxi. p. i. tab. i. The fpecimen he made
his defcription from was only eighteen inches long, and
was probably quite a young animal.

The cayenne CAT.

THIS animal, of a bright tawny colour, is of the
fize of a common cat. Its face is ftriped downwards
with black. Its fhoulders and body are alfo marked with
ftripes, and oblong large b'ack ipots j its legs with fmall
ones. Its breaft, the infide of its legs and thighs whit-
i(h, fpotted with black. The tail is very long, marked
with black, tawny, and grey. It inhabits South Ame-
rica, and perhaps Louiliana, and lives on feathered
game and poultry : it is very adive : it goes by bounds
or leaps, and lives much on trees: its voice is like that
of the common cat : it brings forth in all feafons of the
year, in hollow trees, and has two at a time. It feems
a fpecies of wildcat^ but its hair is (horterthan that of
thofe creatures in general, its head more fquare, and its
muzzle and tail longer. It is quite untameable.

The bengal CAT.

THESE cats have white whifkers, large dufky
ears, with a white fpot in the middle of the outfide $
between each eye and the nofe, a white line, and ano-
ther under each eye : their colour is a beautiful pale
yellowilli brown : the head and face is ftriped down-
ward with black : along the back there are three ftripes

of

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 347

of the fame colour, pointing towards the tail : behind
each fhoulder to the belly, there is a black line : the
chin and throat are white, furrounded with a femicircle
of black: the breaft, belly, and infideof the limbs, are
white : the fpots on thofe parts, as well as thofe on the
legs and rump, are round : the tail is long, full of
hair, brown, annulated with black.

This fpecies is diftinguifhed from the common cat
by this peculiarity, that it is not afraid of being wet,
but takes to the water like a water-dog. There was
one of them brought to England, which fwam on-board
a fhip at anchor off the coaft of Bengal. After it was
brought to England, it coupled with the female do-
meftic cats, which produced young, refembling the
male in marks on the body and in character j but the
ground colour was cinereous. Mr. Pennant fays, that
he faw one of thefe plunge into a vefTel full of water
about two feet deep, and bring up a bit of meat, flung
in by way of trial j that it was a far better moufer than
the tame cat, and in a fhort time deftroyed fwarms of
rats, which, in fpite of the domeftic breed of cats, had
made moft terrible ravages.

Thefe fmall fpotted fpecies are called by the general
name of tiger-cats. Several kinds of them are found
in the Eart Indies, and in the woods near the Cape of
Good Hope. Kolben mentions two kinds at the
Cape. One he calls the wild red catj having a ftreak
of bright red running along the ridge of the back to the
tail, and lofing itfelf in the grey and white on the
fides. The ikins of this fpecies are faid to give eafe in
the gout, and are much valued on that account at the
Cape. The other he calls the bujh caty which, he fays,
is the largeft of the wild cats in the countries about the
Cape. Thcfaka is an obfcure fpecies of wild cat, faid
to be found in Madagafcar. They are very beautiful,
and couple with the tame cats. The tails of the do-
mertic kinds in that ifland are, for the moft part,
turned up.

X X 2 The

348 NATURAL HISTORY

The MANUL.

THIS cat, of the fize of a fox, in its robuft limbs
and duiky colour very much refembling a lynx, inha-
bits all the middle parts of the northern Afia, from the
Ural to the Amur. It loves open, woodlefs, and
rocky, countries, and preys on the foialler quadrupeds.
It has a large head : its colour is univerfally tawny,
mixed with a few white and brown hairs : the crown
of its head is fpeckled with black j its cheeks are
marked with two dufky lines, running obliquely from
the eyes : its feet are ftriped obfcurely with dark hnes:
its tail is longer in proportion than that of the domeftic
cat, of an equal thicknefs in all parts, and befet thickly
with hair : it is alfo encircled with ten black rinas ;
the three next to the tip almoft touch one another, the
reft are more remote.

The Common WILD CAT.

THIS animal has long foft hair, of a yellowifh
white colour, mixed with grey : the grey is difpofed in
ftripes, pointing downwards from a dufky lift that runs
from the head to the tail, along the middle of the back:
its tail is marked with alternate bars of black and
white, its tip is black : the hind part of its legs are
alfo black. It is three times as large as the common
domeftic cat, and is very ftrongly made. It inhabits
the woods of the moft part of Europe, yet none are
found in the vaft forefts of Ruftia and Siberia. Ani-
mals of this fpecies dwell with the common lynx in all
the wooded parts of the mountains of Caucafus and
their neighbourhood j and are moft deftrucS.ive to
Iambs, kids, and fawns, and to all forts of feathered
game. This fpecies is the ftock or origin of the do-
meftic cat, which is fubjecfl to many varieties, viz.

I. The Angora caty with long hair, of a filvery
whitcne's and filky texture, very long, efjecially about
the neck, where it forms a fine ruff; has very long

O F Q^U A D R U P K D S. 349

and fpreading hair on the tail, and is of a large fize.
Irs name marks its country, the fame which produces
the fine-haired goat, to which it alfo gives name.

Cats of this f|)ecies degenerate in our climate after
the firft generation. A variety of this fpecies, with
pendent ears, is found in China. The Chinefe are
very fond of them, and ornament their necks with fil-
ver collars. They are cruel enemies to rats. Per-
haps the domeftic animals, which the Chinefe call
Jumxi or JiimxUi of a black or yellow colour, are of
this fpecies.

2. The tortcijejhell-cet has his name from his co-
lours, black, white, and orange, and the mode of their
arrangement. This is the Spanifh cat of BuiFon.

3. The blue caty le chat des chartreux of BufFon.
This variety is properly of a dun colour, or greyiih
black, or flate colour. Many of them are reared in
Siberia, on account of their fine furs but they were
brought there, as well as other fpecies of domeftic ani-
mals, by the Ruflians.

4. Th^lojig-headed caty with a fharp nofe, from New
Spain, is of the fize of a common cat. It has fhort legs,
weak claws, and flat ears. It is of a reddifh yellovv
colour, of a tame nature, and is an animal but little
known.

Such are the varieties of this fpecies that have hi-
therto been difcovered and defcribed. It were perhaps
unneceflary to enlarge on the character of the domeftic
and common cat. Thofe v</ith whom they are favour-
ites need no information with regard to the natural hif-
tory of cats j and thofe who have an antipathy a-
gainft them, will not wifti to dwell on a difagreeabic
fubjed:.---We fhall therefore be as concife as poffible.

The cat, though a ufeful, is generally allowed to be
a deceitful, domeilic. When pleafed, it purs and moves
its t^il; when angry, fpits, hiftes, and ftrikes with jts
foot. In walking, it draws in its claws: it drinks little:
h js fond of fifti, of flelh, and of milkj but does not

always

3SO NATURAL HISTORY

always rejedt vegetables : it hates wet, moifture, and
bad fmelis : it is very cleanly, and loves to repofe in a
{oft warm place, or balking in the fun : it is the
natural enemy of mice and rats, and watches tlieir
motions with great gravity : it fees by night with
very little light j the brightnefs of the noon- day fun
almoft blinds it : its eyes jfhine in the dark'; and its
hair, when rubbed in the dark, emits eledric fire : it
is fond of perfumes, marum, valerian, cat-mint, and
any thing of an aromatic flavour : it wafhes its face
with its fore-feet at the approach of a fl:orm : it always
lights on its feet, and is tenacious of life to a proverb :
its urine is corrofive, and very offenfive to the fmell :
it buries its dung: the female is very falacious, and is
a piteous, jarring, fqualling, lover; fhe brings forth in
kvQn weeks, twice, thrice, or oftener, in the year, four
or more at a litter: the male is apt to devour the young:
when young, they are very frolicfomej when old, fo-
ber and grave. ---Though fome have an unaccountable
antipathy at cats, they are beloved and carefTed by
many. The Mahometans in general are very fond of
them. Maillet fays, that the cats of Egypt are very
beautiful ; and adds, that the inhabitants build hofpi-
tals for them.

They delight in watching, attacking, and deftroying,
all weak animals indifcriminately, as birds, young rab-
bits, hares, rats, mice, bats, moles, frogs, toads, li-
zards, and ferpents. They hunt by the eye only;
neither do they properly purfue, but lie in wait and at-
tack animals by furprile ; and, after fporting with
them, and tormenting them for a long time, they put
them to death, without necefTity, even when well fed,
purely to gratify their fanguinary appetite. Unlike
the faithful dog, they are attached rather to places
than to perfons. They require fifteen or eighteen
months to come to their full growth, and live nine or
ten years. Their colours are various, black, white,
grey, red, mixed, fpotred, ftriped, and marked mui-
tiiarioufly. The

OF QUADRUPEDS. 351

The cat of JAPAN.

THIS hath upright pointed ears; colour of the
face and lower part of the neck whitldi ; breafi: and
lower belfy a clear grey ; the body is part yellow and
clear grey, mixed with black, difpofed in tranfverfe
rays. Along the back, quite to the tail, is a broad
band of black j it alfo extends over the upper part of
the tail J the lower part femi-annulated with black and
grey. It is the fize of a common cat; the tail is ten
inches and a half long ; and it is faid to be of gentle
manners. Its cry is the mewing of a great car« It
appears to be a native of Japan.

The blotched CAT.

THIS fpecies hath a round head, fhort nofe, point-
ed ears, white whi/kers, yellowifli white nofe and
cheeks J a round black fpot on each fide of the former ;
a dufky line down the middle of the forehead; back
and outfide of the limbs a reddifh brown j fides and
thighs yellowifh white, blotched with deep brown;
tail as long as the body, of a reddifli brown colour,
marked fpirally near the end with black ; and is about
the fize of a common cat. Mr. Pennant, on re-con-
fideration of this animal, is induced, not only by its
form, but alfo its manners, to transfer it to this genus.
It purs and murmurs like a cat ; its manners are alfo
treacherous ; but its appearance in general is gentle.

It inhabits the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good
Hope, and is much fought after for its flcin. Kolben
fays its fcent is of mulls:, and that it is called the fii-
guam cat.

The GUIGNA, or CHILIAN CAT,

IS of a bright tawny colour, elegantly marked with
round black fpots, about five fines in diameter, ex-
tending along the back to the tail. This alfo is about

the

352 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

the fize of the common cat. It inhabits Chili,- and all
the foreils throughout that region.

The COROLO.

THIS is of a beautiful white colour, marked with
irregular fpots of black and yellow j the tail encircled
■with black quite to the point. Like the other, it inha-
bits the foreft of Chili, and lives on birds and mice;
and fometimes infefts the poultry yards. A diftin-
guifhing charaderof thefe two fpecies is the having the
head and tail larger in proportion than the common cat.

The cat of NEW SPAIN.

THIS fpecies, though it Hands the laft of this di-.
vifion, is by no means the leaft. Its length is four feet,
and its height three : it has fmall eyes, and the tail is
the (horteft in proportion to its fize of any of thedivi-
iion of the genus : its colour is a cinereous blue, mark-
ed with long itreaks of black: its hairs are ftrong-
enough to make pencils with firm points. It inhabits
the country whence it derives its name. We may pre-
fume that its charafler is fimilar to that q^, others of
the fame genus.

LYNXES, OR CATS with SHORT TAILS.
The Mountain Lynx, or Wild Cat of Caxolina^

THE length of this ammal is two feet and a half,
and his tail, which is barred with black, meafures only-
eight inches : his ears are upright and pointed, mark-
ed with two brown bars acrofs : the colour of the head,^
and of the whole upper part of the body, is a reddifh
brown : he is marked with long narrow ftripes on the
back, and with numerous round fmall fpots on the
iides and legs. His belly is whitifh, his chin and
throat are of a pure white.

He inhabits North America, is a mild and gentle
animal, and grows very fat. The quauhpecotli of'
Mexico agrees in nature with this ; but is of a brown

I QX

OF QUADRUPEDS. :^^-

or dufky colour, darkeft on the back, and glofTy : its
feet are black ; the hair on its belly is long and white ;
and its tail is thick and long.

The SERVAL, or MOUNTAIN CAT.

THIS animal, four times the fize of a common cat,
differs widely from the preceding in thefe particulars :
the orbits of its eyes are white -, the fpots on its body
univerfally round. In its nature it is very fierce and
iintameable. It inhabits the woods in the mountainous
parts of India, lives and breeds on trees, and fcarcely
ever dcfcends to the ground. It leaps with great agility
from tree to tree. It is called by the natives of Mala-
bar marapaute, and by the Portuguefe the ferval.

T H E L Y N X.

THIS fpecies of wild cat has alfo a fhorttail, black
at its tip ; its eyes are of a pale yellow : the hair un-
der its chni is long and full ; the hair on its body is alfo
long and foft, of an afh colour, tinged with red, and
marked with dufky fpots, more or lefs diftinft on dif-
ferent fubjeds ; in fome they are fcarcely vifible : its
belly is whitifh; its ears areered, and tufted with long
black hairs j thefe pencils of hairs at the ears are cha-
rad:eriftic of the different fpecies of lynxes : its legs
and feet are very thick and ftrong. A Ruflian lynx
will meafure, from nofe to tail, lour feet fix inches,
while the tail is only fix inches long : they vary fome-
times in their colour. The irbys, from Lake Black-
afh, fituated to the weft of the river Irtifh, as alfo the
katlo of the Swedes, is whitifh fpotted with black,
and larger than the common kind. This large variety
is called by the Germans, wolf-lucks, and kalb-lucks,
on account of its fize. In the Britifh Mufeum are
two moft beautiful fpecimens, faid to have been brought
from Spain.

Vol. III. No. 41. Y y Perhaps

354 NATURAL HISTORY

Perhaps it was a variety of this which Dr. Pallas
faw killed in the pine woods, on the banks of the Vol-
ga, below Qafan. It was of an uniform whitifh yel-
low above, and unfpotted ; beneath white j the ears
tipped with black. That might alfo be the variety
feen by Dr. Forfter, in the emprefs's menagery at Pe-
terfburgh, brought from the kingdom of Thibet.
With diiiky fpots on a yellowifli white ground; and
of a fierce and piercing afped. It inhabits the vaft fo-
refts of the north of Europe, Afia, and America, but
not the hot regions of Africa, or of India, though the
poets have harnefTed them to the chariot of Bacchus,
in his conqueft of that country. The female brings
two or three at a time. It is a long-lived animal ; it
climbs trees, and lies in wait for the deer that pafs
under; drops on them; and, feizing the jugular vein,
foon makes them its prey. It does not attack man,
but is very deftrudlive to the reft of the animal crea-
tion ; fince, after fueking the blood and devouring the
brains, it frequently abandons its prey, and goes in
queft of frefh game.

The furs of thefe animals are valuable for their
foftnefs and warmth; but their colour varies accord-
ing tothe feafon and climate. Numbers of them are
annually imported from North America, and the north
©f Europe and Afia. The farther north and eaft they
are taken, the whiter they are, and the more diftind
the fpots. The moft elegant kind is the irbys already
mentioned. Their fkins leli on the fpot for one pound
fterling each.

The ancients celebrated the lynx for its great quick-
nefs of fight, and feigned that its urine was converted
into a precious ftone. Our lynx,, though his fight can-
not penetrate ftone walls, has brilliant eyes, a mild af-
pea, and an agreeable and fprightly air. His urine is
not converted into precious ftones, though it may
chance to fall upon fuch ; but, like the cat, he covers
it with earth. He is generally about the fize of a fox.

Th&

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 355

The fkin of the male is more fpotted that>that of the
female. He does not run out like the wolf, but walks
and fprings like the car. The wild cats, the pine weafels,
the ermines, and the fquirrels, are unable to efcape
him. He likewife feizes birds when opportunity
ferves. His fur is more beautiful aiid richer in winter
than in fummer.

The bay LYNX.

THIS animal, about twice the fize of a cat, derives
its name from the ground colour of its head, back,
and fides, and the exterior parts of its limbs, which
are of a bright bay, obfcurely marked with dufky
fpots. Its irides are yellow j and the orbits of its eyes
are edged with white ; its tail is fhort j its ears are
upright, fharp pointed, and tufted with long black
hairs j its face is marked with black ftripes point-
ing to the nofe. On each fide of the upper lip, there
are three rows of fmall black fpots, with long ftiff
hairs ifiliing out of themj its cheeks are marked with
black curved ftripesj its cheeks, lips, and lower parts,
are white j the infide of the fore legs is marked with
two black bars, and the upper part of the tail with
dufky firokes, and next the end with one of deep
black; its tip and under fide are white. It is a crea-
ture of a ftrong make, and inhabits the inner parts of
the province of New York.

The CASPIAN L Y'NX,

THE head of this lynx is a little more oblong than
t^iat of the common cat. Its reftlefs fiiining eyes are
adorned with a mod: brilliant golden pupil j its nofe is
oblong and bifid j its whiikers are fcarcely two inches;
its ears are eredl:, oval, and lined with white hairs ;
the outfide is reddiili, and th^'ir fjmmits are tufted
with black hairs j its hair is coarfer than that of the
cat or common lynx, but lefs fo than that of the wolf;
it is fhorteft on the jiead, but on the back it is two

Y y 2 inches

3S6 NATURAL HISTORY

inches long : the colour of its head and body is a ycl-
lowifh brown, or dufky j its breaft and belly are of a
bright brown, nearly orange j it has two obfcure tranf-
verfe dufky bars near the bending of the knee j its
feet are like thofe of the cat, clothed with hair, and
black below; its tail, thick and cylindric, reaches only
to the flexure of its leg; it is of the fame colour with
the back, tipped with black, and having three black
rings near its end. In its general appearance it has
the form of the doraeftic cat ; its length is two feet
fix inches, its tail eleven inches, its height before nine-
teen inches, behind twenty: it is fometimcs found fo
large as to meafure three feet. It inhabits the reeds
and woods in the marfhy parts that border on the
weftern fide of the Cafpian Sea. In manners, voice,
and food, it agrees with the wild cat ; it conceals itielf
during the day, and in the night wanders over the
flooded tradls, in fearch of prey j it feeds on rats,
mice, and birds, but fcidom climbs trees ; it is exceed-
ing fierce, and never frequents the haunts of men. It
is fo impatient of captivity, that one taken in a trap,
by which it had its leg broken, refufed for many days
the food placed by iti but, in its rage, devoured the
fraftured limb, with pieces of the flake it was faftened
to, and broke all its teeth in its mad efforts to get loofe,

The PERSIAN LYNX.

TFIIS is the caracal of BufFon, and is nearly of the
flze of a fox J it has a lengthened face, and fmall head j
its ears are black, very long and flender, and termina-
ted with a tuft of black hairs ; the infide and bottom
of the ears are white, its nofe- is alfo white ; its eyes
are fmall ; the upper part of its body is of a pale red-
difh brown, the tail fomcwhat darker ; its belly and
breaft are whitifhj its limbs are ftrong, and pretty-
long j the hind part of each leg is marked with black j
its tail is about half the length of its body. It inhabits
P^efia, India, and Barbary. They are often brought

3 «P

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 357

up tame, and ufed in the chace of the fmaller quadru-
peds, and the larger fort of birds, as cranes, pelicans,
and peacocks, which they furprife with great addrefs.
"When they feize their prey, they hold it taft with their
mouth, and iie for fome time niotionlefs upon it ; they
are alio laid to attend the lion, and to feed on the re-
mains of his prey. They are tierce when provoked.
Dr. Charleton fays, he faw one fall on a hound, which
it Jciiled and tore to pieces in a moment, though the;
dog defended himlelf to the utmoft.

LYBIAN LYNX.

THIS fpecies hath fhort black tufts to the ears,
which are white within, and of a lively red without;
its tail has four black rings, and is white at the tip j it
has black marks behind its legs j is greatly inferior in
fize to the former, not being larger than a common
eat. It inhabits both Lybia and Barbary.

URSUS, THE BEAR.

THIS genus, of which there are (tvcn fpecies, with
a few fubordinate varieties, is diftinguifhed by
fix cutting teeth, and two canine teeth in each jaw,
and fiv'.i toes on each foot. Animals of this genus, in
walking, reft on the hind feet, as far as the neel.

The brown BEAR.

THIS fpecies has a long head, fmall eyes, and (hort
ears, rounded at the top j its limbs are ftrong, thick,
and clumfy ; its feet are large, and its tail is very
(hort ; its body is covered with very long fhaggy hair,
the colour is various. The largeft bears of this fpe-
cies are of a rufty brown ; the fmalleft of a deep black.
Some on the confines of Ruflia are black, mixed with
white hairs, called by the Germans filver bar. Some
are found in Tartary of a pure whiter but they are
very rare. They inhabit the northern parts of Eu-
rope,

358 NATURAL HISTORY

rope, Afia, and Arabia ; the Alps of Switzerland and
Dauphine ; Japan and Ceylon, North America and
Peru ; and Dr. Shaw informs us they are found in
Barbary. Thus they appear to be confined to no one
climate, but feem to bear with almoft any, except the
burning fands of Africa. They muft have been very
plentiful, for Pliny fays that Domitius i^nobarbus
produced at one of the fhows a hundred NumiJian
bears, and as many Ethiopian hunters.

The brown bears are fometimes carnivorous, and
will deftroy cattle, and eat carrion ; but their general
food is roots, fruits, and vegetables ; they will rob
the fields of peafe ; and, when they arc ripe, they pluck
up great quantities of them, beat them out on fome
hard place, eat them, and carry off the ftraw. They
v/ill alfo, during winter, break into the farmer's yard,
and make great havock among his ftock of oats. Bears
are particularly fond of honey. They live on berries,
fruits, and pulfe, of all kinds, and feed much on the
black mulberry j are remarkably fond of potatoes,
which they very readily dig up with their great pawsj
make much havock in the field of maiz, and are great
iovers of milk and honey: they feed much on her-
rings, which they catch in the feafon when thofe fi/h
come in fhoals up the creeks, which gives their flefh
a difagreeable tarte, and the fame effe6t is obferved
when they eat the bitter berries of the tupelo.

Bears itrike with their fore foot, like a cat j they
feldom or never ufe their mouths in fighting : but
feizing the affailant with their paws, and preffing him
againft their breaft, almoft inftantly fqueeze him to .
death. Some imagine the Latin name, ur/us, to be
derived from this mode of hugging an antagonift.

The females, atter conception, retire into the moft
fecret places i lefl:, when they bring forth, the males
(hould devour the young. So impenetrable is their
retreat during their pregnancy, that out of five hun-
dred, killed in one winter in two counties of Virginia,

only

OF CLUADRUPEDS. 359

only two females were found, and thofe not pregnant.
Winter is their breeding feafon; they bring two, rare-
ly three, young at a time j the cubs are deformed,
but not a fhapelefs mafs, to be licked into fhape, as
the ancients pretended. The cubs, even of the brown
bear, are of a jetty blacknefs, and often have round
their necks a circle of white. The fleih of a bear in
autumn, when they are moft exceffively fat, by feed-
ing on acorns and other maft, is moft delicate food ;
and that of the cubs ftill finer ; but the paws of the
old bears are reckoned the moft delicate morfelj their
fat is very white and fweet. Their oil is excellent for
ftrains and old pains.

In the latter end of autumn, after they have fattened
themfelves to the greateft degree, the bears withdraw to
their dens, where they continue for a great number of
days in total ina6livity and abftinence from food -, hav-
ing no other nourlfhment than what they get by fuck-
ing their feet, where the fat lodges in great abundance.
In Lapland, they pafs the long night in dens lined
warmly in a vaft bed of mofs, in which they roll them-
felves fecure from the cold of that fevere feafon. Their
retreats are either in clefts of rocks, in the deepeft re-
cedes of the thickeft woods, or in the hollows of an-
cient trees, which they afcend and defcend with furprl-
fing agility. As they lay in no winter provifions, they
are in a certain fpace of time forced from their retreats
by the urgent calls of hunger, and come out extremely
lean. Multitudes of them are killed annually in Ame-
rica for the fake of their flefh or fkinsj v/hich laft make
a confiderable article of commerce.

There are no bears in Britain or in France, except,
perhaps, a few in the moft unfrequented mountains ot
the latter. They are folitary animals, but the young
follow the mother fo long as they need her afiiltancs -,
they are faid to live twenty or twenty -five years ; the
male and female live not together, but have each a fe-
paratc place of retreat ; their amazing fatncfs rpa'ces

thim

36o NATURAL HISTORY

them light for fwimmlng, and accordingly they traverfe
with eafe rivers and lakes. Upon their fides and
thighs their fat is fometimes ten inches thick. The
foles of their feet appear to be compofed of fmall
glands; when wounded, there ifluesout a white milky
juice : it is this perhaps that they fuck from their paws.
BufFon mentions two domeftic bears, that in 1772
were at Berne ; they had been brought from Savoy
thirty years before that period j they began to generate
at the age of five ; the female thereafter was in feafon
every year in the month of June, and brought forth in
January ; (he produced the firft time one cub only,
and afterwards fometimes one, fometimes two, but ne-
ver more than three ; fhe was exceeding fond of them ;
their eyes were fhut during four weeks. At firft they
exceeded not eight inches in length; at the end of three
months they meafured only fifteen. After the death
of the male, which happened in confequence of a fall
from a high tree, the female appeared to be much af-
fli(5led» and refufed every kind of nourifhment for fe-
veraldays; but, unlefs thefe animals be brought up to-
gether from their earlieft youth, they cannot endure
one another; and, after being accuftomed to this kind
of fociety, the furvivor will not admit another mate.
They are faid to have weak eyes, but acute fenles of
hearing, touching, and fmelling. When the bear is
hunted, and finds himfelf overpowered, he leans his
back againft a rock or tree, colledls turf and ftones,
which he throws at his enemies : it is generally in this
fituation that he receives the finifhing blow.

The black BEAR,

WITH a long pointed nofe, and narrow forehead j
the cheeks and throat of a yellowifh brown colour ;
hair over the whole body and limbs of a glofiy black,
fmoother and Ihorter than that of the European kind.
They are ufually fmaller than thofe of the old world;
vet Mr. Bartram gives an inftance of an old he-bear

' killed

t'/Ae My<rr/-' ^/^^^^z

J^/hrTuJ Ft/'^jjfue-

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 361

killed in Florida, which was feven feet long, and, as
he guefTed, weighed four hundred pounds.

Thefe animals are found in all parts of North A-
merica, from Hudfon's Bay to the fouthern extremity;
but in Louifiana and the fouthern parts they appear
only in the winter, migrating from the north in fearch
of food. They fpread acrols the northern part of the
American continent to the Afiatic ifles. They are
found in the Kurilfki iflands, which intervene between
Kamtfchatka and Japan, Jefo, Mafima, which lies
north of Japan, and probably Japan itfelf; for Ka-mp-
fer fays, that a few fmall bears are found in the north-
ern provinces.

It is very certain that this fpecies of bears feed on
vegetables. Du Pratz, v.'hojs a faithful as well as in-
telligent writer, relates, that in one fevere winter, when
thefe animals were forced in multitudes from the
woods, where there was abundance of animal food,
they rejeded that, notwithftanding they were ready to
perifh with hunger, and, migrating into the lower Loui-
fiana, would often break into the courts of houfes.
They never touched the butchers meat which lay in
their way, but fed voracioufly on the corn or roots
they met with.

The polar or WHITE BEAR.

THIS fpecies has a long head and neck, and fhort
round ears -, the end of its nofe is black, its teeth are
very large, its hair long, foft, and white, tinged in
fome parts with yellow ; its limbs are of great fize
and ftrength. Animals of this fpecies grow to a vaH:
lize J the fkins of fome are thirteen feet long. They
are confined to the coldell part of the globe, and have
been found as far as navigators have penetrated north-
ward, above the parallel of eighty degrees. The fri-
gid climates alone feem adapted to their nature ^ even
the north of Norway, and the country of Mefen in the
north of RulTia, are deltitute of them; they are found

Vol. III. No. 41. Z z on

262 NATURAL HISTORY

on the fhores of Hudfon's Bay, Greenland, and Spitz-
bergen : they are alfo met with in great abundance in
Nova Zembla, and from the river Oby along the coaft
of Siberia to the mouths of the Jcnefei and Lena ; but
are never feen far inland, unlefs they lofe their way in
mifts. None are found in Kamtfchatka or its iflands.
They have been feen as far fouth as Newfoundland ;
but they arc not natives of that country, being only
brought there accidentally on the iflands of ice that
float along the northern feas, from the polar regions
fouth ward.

During fummer, the white bears are either refident
on iflands of ice, or pafling from one to another. They
fwim admirably, and can continue that exercife fix or
feven leagues ; they dive with great agility ; they bring
forth two young at a time, and fo ftrong is the affec-
tion between their parenu and them, that they die ra-
ther than defert one another. Their winter retreats
are under the fnow, in which they form deep dens,
fupported by frozen pillars of the fame, or elfe under
fome great eminence, beneath the fixed ice of the fro-
zen ocean.

They feed on fifh, feals, and the carcafTes of whales,
and on human bodies, which they will greedily difm-
ter J they feeni to be very fond of human blood, and
are fo fearlefs as to attack companies of armed men,
and even to board fmall vefTels. When on land, they
live on birds and their eggs. Allured by the fcent of
the feals flefh, they often break into the houfes of the
Greenlanders. Their greateft enemy of the brute cre-
tion is the morfe, with which they have terrible con-
flidls, but are generally worfted ; the vaft teeth of the
former giving it a decided fuperiority. Their flefh is
white, and faid to tafte like mutton ; but their liver is
very unwholefome; their fat is melted for train oi!»
and that of tiie feet is ufed in medicine. One of this
• fpecies was brought over to England a few years ago,
and exhibited in many places. It was very furious,
» almoli

O F CLU A DH U P \ D S. 36I

almoft always in motJorij roared loud, and ieemed veiy-
uneafy, except when cooled by having pail-fuils of
water poured upon it. '

Callixenus Rhoditis, in his defcription of the pom-
pous proceffion of Ptolemasus Philadelphus at Alex-
andria, fpeaks of one great white be^r, a^xto? xs^v.r? /AtyaXij
fjna, among other wild beafts that graced the fhow j
notwithftanding the local fituation of this fpecies at
prefent, it is polTible that Ptolemy might procure one;
whether men could penetrate, in thofe early times, as
far as the prefent refidence of thefe Arctic animals, I
will not venture to affirm, nor to deny ; but, fince
the Honourable Daines Harrington, has clearly proved
the intenfe cold that in former ages raged in countries
now more than temperate, it is moft probable that in
thofe times they were ftocked with animals natural to
2. rigorous climate ^ whidh, .fince the alteration, have
neceiTarily become extin6l in thofe parts: the Polar
bear might have been one ; but that it was the fpecies
meant by Callixenus is clear to me, by the epithet
^lyxhTii or great, which is very applicable to it ; for
the white Tartarian land bear (which Ptolemy might
very eafily procure) differs not in fize from the black
or brown kind, but the bulk of the other is quite
charaderiftic.

Land bears, fometimes fpotted with white, at other
times wholly white, are fometimes {qqu in the parts of
Kuflia bordering on Siberia, in a wandering ftate, and
are fuppofed to have ftrayed out of the lofty fnowy
mountains which divide the two countries. They are
faid to dread the whale, who fcents and purfues them,
from a natural antipathy i becaufe they eat her youno-.

The wolverene BEAR.

THIS fpecies of the bear has a black fharp- pointed
vifage, and fhort round ears, almoft hid in the hair.
The hair on its head, back, and belly, is reddifh, tipt
with black i fo that, at firft fight, thofe parts appear

Z z 2 quite

3^4 NATURAL HISTORY

quite black ; its fides are of a yellowifh brown. This
colour pafies, in form of a band, quite over the hind part
of the back above the tail; it has a white "fpot on its
throat, and on its breaft another white mark, in form
of a crefcent 3 its legs are very thick and ihort, of a
deep black; it has five toes on each foot, but they are
not deeply divided. Like the brown and the black
bear, it refts on its foot as far as the firft joint of the
Jeg, and walks with its back greatly arched : its claws
are ftrong and fharp, white at their ends ; its tail is
clothed with long coarfe hairs ; thofe at the bafe are
rcddifh ; thofe at the end black : feme of the hairs are fix
inches long. The length of the animal itfelf is about
twenty- eight inches; the trunk of the tail meafures
leven inches, and its hair fix more. Its whole body
is covered with very long and thick hair, which varies
in colour according to the feafon. It inhabits Hud-
fon's Bay and Canada, as far as the ftraits of Michi-
limackinac.

It is a voracious animal, but flow of foot; It is con-
fequently obliged to take its prey by furprife. In A-
jnerica it is called the beaver eater ; for it watches
thofe animals as they come out of their houfes, and
fometimes alfo breaks into their habitations and de-
vours them.

In a wild ftate it is extremely fierce, and Is a terror
to both the wolf and the bear. They will not prey on
it when they find it dead, perhaps on account of its be-
ing fo very fetid, fmelling like a pole -cat. It makes
a lirong refiftance when attacked. If it can lay hold
on it, it will tear the flock from a gun, and pull the
traps it is caught in to pieces. It barrows, and has its
den under ground. Mr. Graham, a gentleman long
refident in Hudfon's Bay, fays, that it will lurk on a
tree, and drop on a deer pafTing underneath, and faften
on it till the animal is quite exhaufted. Charlevoix
applies the American narjie carcajou, which properly

belongs

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 365

belongs to this animal, to the puma, or brown panther
ot North America.

The glutton.

THIS is a bear with a round head, a thick blunt
nofe, and ihort ears, rounded except at the tip. Its
limbs are large, and its back is ftrait, marked along its
whole length with a tawny line ; its tail is fhort, and
very full of hair; its hair in all other parts is finely da-
mafked, or watered like a filk, and very glofTy ; but it
fomeJmes varies to a brown colour. One brought
from Siberia, and kept alive at Drefden, meafured
forty-four inches, and nineteen in height.

It inhabits Lapland, the northern and eaftern parts
of Siberia and Kamtfchatka. Thofe of Kamtfchatka
differ and vary to white and yellowilh. The natives
prefer the fkins of thefe to fuch as are black j they fay
the heavenly beings wear no other garments. The
women wear the paws of the white fort in their hair,
and erteem the ilcin of one the moil valuable prefent
their hufbands or lovers can make them.

Thefe animals derive their name from their vora-
cious appetite. That one already mentioned as being
kept at Drefden, would eat thirteen pounds of flefh in
a day, and not be fatisfied; but the report of their fil-
lincT themfelves fo full as to be obliged to go between
two trees, in order to force out a part of the food,
feems to be fabulous. The hunters of the iiatis, or
Ardtic fox, on the banks of the frozen fea, complain
much of their depredations on thofe animals when
caught in a trap or fnare, as they go in queft of thefe,
but are too cunning to be enfnared themfelves.

Like the lynx and Canadian carcajou, or wolverene,
it lurks on the boughs of trees, and falls on any ani-
mal that pafles beneath, fattens on it, and deftroys it.
Its favourite game is deer, and, about the Lena, horfes.
Jt may be tamed. It differs from the bear in its lean
habit, and by not lying inadive during the winter, and

alfo

366 NATURAL HISTORY

alfo by its living entirely on animal food j it is alio
more bold, voracious, and cunning. Being more vo-
racious than any other of our carnivorous animals, it
}ias been called the vulture of quadrupeds.

The Ruffians call it rofomak; the Kamtfchatkans,'
timmi; and the Koratfki, haeppi. An animal called
by the Greenlanders amanki, and thought by fbme to
be the fame as the glutton, Mr. Pennant thinks to be
a fabulous creature, as Greenland is deftitute of wood.

The racoon.

THIS fpecies of the bear, of the fize and figure of a
fmall badger, is faid to partake of the qualities of the
fox, the dog, and the monkey. He has a (harp-point-
ed black nofe, the upper jaw longer than the under ;
his ears are fhort and rounded : his eyes are furround«
ed with two broad patches of black; adufky liae runs
down his forehead to his nofe j the reft of his face, his
cheeks, and chin, are white. The upper part of his body
is covered with hair, afh-coloured at the root, whitifh
in the middle, and tipt with black j his tail is as long
as his body, very bufliy, and annulated with black ;
his fore legs are much (horter than the hind ones ; he
has five toes 'On each foot, armed with ftrong (harp
claws ; his toes are alfo black, and quite divided i he
fometimes varies in colour. Mr. Pennant mentions
his having feen one of a cream- colour.

He inhabits the v^arm and tenaperate parts of A-
merica; he is found alfo in the mountains of Jamaica,
and in the iflands about the mouth of the Gulph of
California J he appears not in Canada, and yet he can
•fupport exceffive cold; he is eafily tamed, very good
naturedand fportive, familiar and carelTmg, but as un-
lucky as a monkey, and implacable in his refentment ;
he is almoft always in motion, very inquifitive, exa-
mining every thing with his paws, which he ul'es as
hands; he refts upon the firft joints of his hind legs,
and fits up to eati he foftens, or rather dilutes, every

kind

O F aU A D R U P E D S. 367

kind of dry food that is given him, when confined ;
he is extremely fond of fweet things, and of ftrong li-
quors, and will get exceffively drunk ; he delights in
hunting fpiders, grafhoppers, fnails, and worms ; he
retires to a diflance to obey the calls of nature; he has
all the cunning of a fox, and is very dertrudive to
poultry, but will eat all forts of fruits, green corn, &c.
yet he prefers fifh and eggs to almoft every thing. At
low water, he feeds much on oyfters ; though he is
very dexterous at opening them himfelf, to fave him-
felf the trouble, he will watch their opening, and fnatch
out the fifh with his paw. Sometimes his foot is
caught in the fhell, and he is kept there till he is drown-
ed by the coming in of the tide : he is fond of crabs
alfo. He climbs trees very nimbly; he goes by leaps,
and rather gambols than walks ; his movements, though
oblique, are quick and light ; his fur is efteemed next
to that of the beaver for making hats.

A letter from M. Blanquart to M. BufFon gives us
an amufing delineation of the manners of this animal:
"My racoon, before he came into my pofleflion, had
always been chained. In this ftate of captivity, he was
very gentle, but had little inclination to carefs. The
people of the houfe were all equally kind to him, but
he received them differently ; for what pleafed him in
one, he revolted againft in ariCther ; and in this his con-
duct was invariable. His chain fometimes broke, and
liberty rendered him infolent. He took pofTefTion of
an apartment, and would allow none to enter it ; it
was with fome difficulty that he could be again recon-
ciled to bondage. Since he came under my manao-e-
ment, I have frequently given him his liberty. With-
out loiing fight of him, I allowed him to walk about
with his chain; and each time his gratitude was ex-
prefled by a thoufand careffing gambols ; but this is by
no means the cafe when he makes his efcape himfelf:
he then roams about, fometimes for three or four days
together, upon the roofs of the neighbouring houfer.,

defceds

3^a Isr A T U R A L HIS TOR Y

defcends during the night time into the neighbouring
court- yards, enters the hen-houres, ftrangles all the
poultry, and eats their heads. His chain does not ren-
der him more humane, but more circumrped only j he
then employs every artifice to make the fowls grow fa-
miliar with him, he permits them to partake of his vic-
tuals, and it is only after having infpired them with the
hichcft notions of fecuritv that he feizes one and tears
it to pieces. Some young cats have met with the
fame fate.

" This racoon is not very grateful for the carefle^
he receives ; but is extremely fenfible of bad treat-
ment. A fervant one day gave him feveral lafhes with
a whip, but the man has endeavoured ever fince in vairk
to accomplifh a reconciliation : neither eggs nor fiihy
of which the animal is very fond, can appeafe his re-
fentment. At the approach of the fervant, he flies into
a rage, his eyes kindle, he fprings at the man, utters
dolorous cries, andrejeds every thing that ispreiented
to him, till the objed of his refentment difappears. If
any perfon ftrikes him, or if he be attacked by an ani-
mal that he thinks Itronger than himfelf, he makes no
refiftance, but, like the hedge -hog, conceals his head
and feet, by rolling up his body in the form of a ball ;
no complaints efcape him, and in this pofition he calm-
ly fubmits to be killed. He abhors children, their
crying irritates hin), and he makes every effort to
fpring upon them. A fmall bitch, of which he is fond,
he chaftifes feverely if ihe bark too loud. I know not
why, feveral other animals equally deteft fharp cries."
This fpecies acquires not its full growth till it be two
years and a half old.

The new HOLLAND BEAR.

THIS fpecies is of the fame external form as the
American racoon, except the ears, which are pointed.
It h^th fix cutdng teeth in the upper jaw, and two in
the lower J back of a dark grey, growing lighter on

3 ^^

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 3^9

the fides; belly of a fine brown j tail as long as the
body, covered with long hair ; the lower part near the
end is naked, and has a prehenfile quality, like fome
fpecies of monkies, or the common opofTum. It in-
habits New Holland, and is called at Botany-bay
wha-tapoua-row.

The common BADGER.

THIS fpecies has fmall eyes, fhort round ears, and
a fhort thick neck ; his nofe and chin, the Tower fide
of his cheeks, and the middle of his forehead, are
white; his ears and eyes are inclofed in a pyramidal
bed of black; the hair on his body is long and coarfe;
its bottom is of a ycllowifh white, its middle is black,
and it is afh-coloured at the ends; his throat, breaft,
and belly, are black ; his tail is covered with long
hair, of the fame colour with that of the body ; his legs
are very fhort and thick ; the claws on his fore feet are
very long ; a fetid white matter exudes from the ori-
fice beneath his tail. He is an animal of a very clumfy
make, commonly two feet fix inches in length; his tail
meafures fix inches; he weighs from fifteen to thirty-
four pounds. Mr. Pennant met with a male of the
weight laft mentioned in the year 1779; ^"^^ ^'^^^ '^^^
very rare.

It inhabits mod: parts of Europe, as far north as
Norway and RuiTia, and the Step or defert beyond O-
rcnburgh in the Ruffian Afiatic dominions; in Great
Tartary, and in Siberia about the river Tom, and even
about the Lena ; but there are none to the north. It
inhabits China alfo, and is often found in the butchers
ihops in Pekin, the Chinefe being fond of them for
the table. It is a fcarce animal in moit countries ; it
is a diffident and folitary creature; itfeldom appears in
the day ; it confines itfelf much to its hole, and is an
indolent, fleepy, creature, but generally very fat. It
feeds by night, and eats roots, fruits, grafs, infotfis,
and frogs, but is not carnivorous,^ according to Mr,

Vol. III. No 4$, 3 A Pennant^

^^t> NATURALHISTORY

Penrant, while Buffou ::fl*erts that -t prefers jflefli to
everv Lhing elfe. It runs vtry flowly ; v/hcn overtaken,
it comes to bay, and defends itfelf vigorouiiy ; its bite
is hard and dangerous. It is hunted during "-he night
for the fkin, which ferves for p*.^:ol furniture, and its
Jiair for m king bruO^^s to fo'cin tht fludcs in 'vint-
ing. Its ficfK mr.^;es p;oo ba-on. The diviiion of
this fpecies into two, the fwine and the dog badger,
Mr. Penaant thi<;k.. unnecefTary, as he aflerts there
is only one. It burrows, under ground, and makes
. feveral apartments, but forms only one entrance from
the furface.

M. Buffon fays, the badger retires to the moft fe-
cret places, to the in ..oft recefies of the foreft, and
there digs a fubterranean habiiation j he feems to fly
fociety, and even the light, and fpends three-fourths
of life in his dark abode, from which he never departs
but in queft of fubfiftence. As his body his long, his
legs fhort, his claws, efpecially thofe of the fore feet,
very Jong and ftrong, he digs and penetrates the earth
with greater facility than any other animal i he makes
his hole winding and oblique. The fox, who cannot
dig with equal dexterity^ avails himfelf of the opera-
tions of the badger. Being unable to make him quit
his habitation by force, the fox pradtifes every art to
render him uneafy. He ftands centinel at the entrance
of the hole, and even defiles it with his ordure. He
afterwards takes poflefTion, enlarges, and fits it up for
his own accommodation j the badger, though obliged
to change his habitation, leaves not his country ; he
goes to a fmaJl diftance only, where he digs a frefh
hole. When hunted, and found at fome diftance from
his hole, he is foon overtaken by the dogs. They fel-
dom, however, accomplifti their purpofe without af-
fiftance. The hair of the badger is very thick, and his
Jegs, jaws, teeth, and claws, are exceedingly ftrong,
Thefe natural weapons he ufes with courage and dex-
terity. He lies on his backj and refifts all the efforts

of

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 371

of the dogs, and wounds them in the moft dangerous
manner. He is befides tenacious of life, fights long,
makes a brave defence, and perfifts to the laft extre-
mity.

The young ones are ealily tamed j they play with
the dogs, and follow the perfon who feeds them ; but,
when taken old, they continue always favage : they
are neither mifchievous nor ravenous, like the wolf
and the fox : they often remain in their holes three or
four days together, efpecially during fnow : they keep
their habitations extremely clean, and never defile them
with their ordure : the male is feldom fiaund with the
female : when about to bring forth, fhe cuts down her-
bage, bundles it up, and trails it with her feet to the
bottom of her hole, where fhe makes a commodious
bed for hcrfelf and her young ones. She brings forth
in fummer, and the litter confifts of three or four.

It is probable that the badger was quite unknown to
the Greeks, as it is not mentioned by Ariftotle in his
Natural Hiftory ; nor is there any name for it in the
Greek language. ii\ Latin it has two names, meles
and taxus j and in French it has alfo two, hjaireau and
taiffon. The circumflance of a double name has led
many to believe that there are two diftinc5t- fpecies of
the badger in Europe j but both Pennant and Buffbii
affert the contrary. The author laft mentioned fays,
this fpecies of quadruped, an original native of the
temperate climates of. Europe, has never fpread be-
yond Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Poland,
and Sweden i and it is every where very fcarce. It
does not approach to any other fpecies; its charafters
are deeply marked, and very fingular. The alternate
belts upon his head are peculiar ; his body is nearly
white above, and almoft black below, which is con^
trary to all other wild animals, Vv-hofe bellies are always
of a hghter colour than their backs. In w-alkiug^
the badger treads on its whole heel, like the bear,
which brings its belly very near the ground. It lives

3 A 2 to

372 NATURAL HISTORY

to a very great age, and, when blind and difabled, is fed
by the younger animals.

The AMERICAN BADGER,

IN Penfylvania called the ground hog. This badger
has a white line from the tip of the nofe paffing be-
tween his ears to the beginning of his back, bounded
on each fide with black, as far as tht hind part of the
head, then by a white one, and, immediately between
that and the ears, there is another of long black hair.
His back is coloured like that of the common badger;
his fides are yellowilfh, and his belly cinereous; his
thighs are dufky; his tail is covered with long, dirty,
yellow, hairs, tipped with white, the end dufky.

The INDIAN BADGER.

'I'HIS animal has a fmall head, a pointed nofe, and
fcarcely any external ears, only a fmall prominent rim
round an oval orifice : the colour of its nofe and face
a little beyond the eyes is black j its crown, the upper
part of the neck, and back, are white, inclining to grey ;
its legs, thighs, breafi:,' belly, and fides, and the upper
part of the tail, are black ; it has five toes on each
foot, the inner ones are fmall ; its claws are very long
and ftrait j its length is about two feet, the length of
its tail about four inches i its hair is fiiort and fmooth:
it derives its name from the country it inhabits :
it is very lively, playful, and good natured: it fleeps
rolled up, with its head between its hind legs. One,
that was fome years ago in the pofi"effion of Mr. John
Hunter, London, refufed all commerce with an Eng-
lifli badger that was turned in to it, and lived fome
time in the fame place. Jt was wont to climb very
readily over a divifion in its cage, and flcpt very little
during the day-time.

The

•J-IKis^S -roi^.^

.C>V^ LAJ/x/^e^, 2."-^^^ C^?urt^Ho?yt. 3 . tJy^Ae ^uz/?t^

'4^t-{W

TuhlifAed. */ufyxjSof.

O F CLU A D R U P E D S, 373

The DIDELPHIS, or OPOSSUM.

THIS genus belongs to the Order of Feras, the di-
ftinguiihing charaflers of which are, that they
have two canine teeth in each jaw, but the number of
cutting teeth differs in different fuhje(5lsi alfo five toes
on each foot ; thofe on the hind feet are formed like a.
hand, with a diftinct thumb; the tail is very long, {len-
der, and ufually naked. There are fifteen fpecies com-
prehended under this genus, which are as follow :

VIRGINIA OPOSSUM.

THIS animal has a long fharp-pointed nofe, large,
round, naked, and very thin, ears, of a black colour,
edged with pure white j it has fmall, lively, black eyes,
wit hlong ftifF hairs on each fide of its nofe, and behind
its eyes ; its face is covered with fliort, foft, white, hair j
the fpace round its eyes is dtifky ; its neck is very
ihort, its fides are of a dirty yellow ; the hind p^irt of
its neck and its back are covered with hair above two
inches long, foft, but uneven, having its bottom of a
yellowifh white, the middle part black, and the ends
whitifh i its fides are covered with dirty -coloured duf-
ky hair, its belly with foft, woolly, dirty, white, hair;
its legs and thighs are black, its feet dufky, and its
claws white ; the bafe of its tail is clothed with long
hair like that on its back, the reft of the tail is covered
with fmall fcales, the half next the body is black,
the reft white ; it has a difagreeable appearance, look-
ing like the body of a fnake : it has the fame preheii-
file qualities as that of feme monkies.

Its body is round and very thick, and its legs are
fhort ; the female has a large pouch on the lower part
of her belly, in which the teats are lodged, and where
the young fhelter thcmfelves as foon as thev are
brought forth. The ufual length of this animal when
full grown, is about twenty inches, of its tail twelve.

Ic

374- NATURAL HISTORY

It inhabits Virginia, Louifiana, Mexico, Brazil, and
Peru : it is very deftruftive to poultry, the more fo as
it fucks their blood without eating their flefh : it feeds
alfo on roots and wild fruits : it is very adlive in climb-
ing trees, will hang fufpended by its tail, and, by
fwinging its body, fling itfelf among the boughs of a
neighbouring tree : it continues frequently hanging by
the tail, with its head downwards : it hunts eagerly af-
ter birds and their nefts : it walks very flow ; when
overtaken it will feign itfelf dead, but is not eafily kil-
led, being as tenacious of life as a cat.

When the female is about to bring forth, fhe makes a
thick neft: of dry grafs, in fome clofe bufh, at the foot
of a tree, and brings four, five, or f^x, young ones at a
time. As foon as the young are brought forth, they
take fhelter in the pouch or falfe belly, and faften fo
clofely to the teats, that they are not to be feparated
without difficulty. They are fmall, Wind, and naked,
when new born, and refemble foetufes ; it is therefore
neceffary that they fhould continue in that receptacle
that nature has prepared for them, till they attain per-
fe<5l fhape, ftrength, fight, and hair, and are prepared
to undergo what to them may be called a fecond birth;
after which, they run into this pouch, as into an afy-
lum, in time of danger, and the parent carries them
about with her. During the time of this fecond gef-
tation, the female fhews an exceflive attachment to her
young, and will fuffer any torture rather than permit
the place of their retreat to be laid open ; for ftie has
the power of opening or clofing it, by the afliftance of
{bme very ftrong mufcles. The flefh of the old ones is
very good, like that of a fucking pig. Their hair is
dyed by the Indian v/omen, and woven into garters
and girdles J but their ficlns are very fetid.

Mr. Pennant fays, that Buflx)n feems not to be ac-
quamted with this animal ; but has compiled an ac-
count ot its manners, and coUeded the fynonyms that
X belong

O F QJLJ A D H U P E D S. 375

belong to it. His figures and defcriptions both be-
long to the following fpecies.

The MOLUCCA OPOSSUM.

THIS fpecies has long, oval, and naked, ears ; ita
mouth is very wide ; over each eye it has an oblong
white fpot i the lips of its upper jaw, its throat, breaft,
and belly, are of a white afh-colour, the reft of its hair i»
of a cinereous brown, tipt with tawny, and darkeft 011
the backj its tail is as long as the body ; near the
bafe it is covered with hair, the reft of it is naked ; its
claws are hooked. On the belly of the female there
is a pouch, like that of the former fpecies, in which the
young fhelter. Margrave found fix young ones in the
pouch of one female; (he had ten cutting t?eth above,
and eight below. The length of the animal is tea
inches, its tail exceeds the length of both head and bo-
dy ; its whole figure is of a much more flender and
elegant make than that of the former. Its tail pulve-
rifed, and taken in a glafs of water, is reckoned, ia
New Spain, a fovereign remedy againft the gravel, co-
lic, and feveral other diforders.

This genus is not confined to America, as Buffon^
aflerts ; it is frequently found in Java, the Moluccji
ifles, and New Holland. This fpecies is found in
great numbers in A roe and Solor. It is called in the
Indies, pelandor Aroe, or the Aroe rabbit. " They are
reckoned very delicate eating, and are very common at
the tables of the great, who rear the young in the fame
places in which they keep their rabbits. It inhabits
alfo Surinam and the hot parts of America.

Mr. Pennant mentions a larger variety of this fpe-
cies, called the philander orientalis, defcribed by Seba,
and faid to be brought from Amboina ; but complains,
that much is wanted to complete the hiftory of this
genus,

TiJE.

2j6 NATURAL HISTORY

The JAVAN OPOSSUM.

THIS fpecies of the opofium has a narrow fox-like
head, upright pointed ears, a brown ftripe pafling
through the eyes, very fhort fore legs, five toes on the
fore feet, three on the hind, two of which are very
ftrong, the outmoft fiender and weak : his tail is thick,
and fhorter thnn the body. In the upper jaw are fix
cutting teeth, two in the lower, formed like thofe of a
fquirrel. They have no canine teeth.

On the belly of the female there is a complete pouch
like that of the Virginia kind j the hair on the body
is coarfe ; the face of the animal is feemingly that of a
hare. They were firft difcovered by Mr. Le Bruyn,
"who faw, in Java, feveral of them in an inclofure a-
long with rabbits ; they burrowed like them, but pre-
ferved their young ones in their pouch ; the young
ones would often peep out when the old ones were
ftiil. Specimens of them have been fent from Java to
Koliand.

The murine OPOSSUM.

THE murine opoffum has long, broad, ears, roun-
ded at the extremity, thin and naked ; its eyes are en-
compafied with black; the face, head, and upper part-
of .the body, are of a tawny colour, the belly of ayel-
lowilTi white ; its feet are covered with fhort hair; its
toe'§-are formed like thofe of the Virginian opofium,
its tail is fiender, covered with minute fcales to the
very rump; its length from the nofe to the tail is a-
bout fix inches and a half, and the tail the fame. The
female wants the falfe belly ; but on the lower parts,
the ficin ftrms en eich fide a fold, between v/hich the
teats are lodged. This fpecies varies in colour j forne
in Guiana are brown above, and white beneath.

It inhabits the hot parts of South America, and
agi ces wita the others in its food and man .e.-s, andjhc

prel;^ nfi c

OF QUADRUPEDS. J77

■ ]prehenfile power of its tail; the female brings from
ten to fourteen young at a time, at leaft fhe has fo
many teats. The young affix themfelves to the teats
as foon as they are brought forth, and remain attached
to them, like fo many inanimate things, till they at-
tain growth and vigour to fhift a little for themfelves.
Both the Virginian, and Marmofe or murine opofl'um,
have each fifty teeth.

The MEXICAN OPOSSUM.

THIS animal has large, angular, naked, and tranf-
parent, ears; its nofe is thicker than that of the former
kind ; its whifkers are very large ; a flight border of
black furrounds its eyes; its face is of a dirty white,
with a dark line running down the middle ; the hair
on the head and upper part of the body is afh-coloured
at the roots, but of a deep tawny brown at the tips; its
legs are dufky, its claws white, its belly dull cinerous,
its tail is long, and pretty thick, varied with brown and
yellow ; hairy about an inch at its origin, the reft na-
ked : the length of the animal and of its tail are the
fime, each about nine inches; the tail is preheniile,
and (erves inftead of a hand.

This fpecies inhabits the mountains of Mexico, and
lives on trees, where it brings forth its young. When
in any fright, they embrace their parent clofely ; and
fhe carries them along with her wherever fhe goes.

The cayenne OPOSSUM.

THE Cayenne opofium has a long, flender, face,
ears eredl and poiiited, but fhort ; its coat Is woolly,
but mixed with very ccarfe hairs, three inches long, of
a dirty white from the roots to the middle, and thence '
to the ends of a deep brown ; its fides and belly are of
a pale yellow, its legs of a duf^y brown. It has a thumb
on each foot dlftindl from the toes ; on the toes of the
fore feet, and thumb of the hind, there are nails ; on
the toes of the hind feet there are crooked claws ; its
Vol. III. No. 41. 3 B tail

378 NATURAL HISTORY

tail is very long, naked, and fcaly. A young one mcs-
fured above fixteen inches, and its tail about fifteen. It
inhabits Cayenne, the country from which it has its
name; it is very adive in climbing trees, on which it
lives the whole day : in marfhy places, on the fhore, it
feeds on crabs, which, when it cannot draw out of their
holes with its feet, it hooks them by means of its long
tail. If the crab however pinches its tail, a cafe not
uncommon, it fets up a loud cry, which may be heard
a great way off. Its common voice is a grunt, like a
young pig : it is well furnifhed with teeth, and will
defend itfelf ftoutly againft dogs. The female brings
forth four or five young ones at a time, and fecures
them in a hollow tree. The natives eat thefe animals,
and fay their flefh refembles that of a hare. They are
eafily tamed, and will then refufe no kind of food.

The new HOLLAND OPOSSUM.

THIS fpecies was found near Endeavour River, on
the eaftern coaft of New Holland ; it lodges in the
grafs, but is not common : its length from the head to
the tail, that is, the length of its body, is about thir-
teen inches, the tail the fame : the upper part of the
head, the back, and iides, are covered with long, foft,
glofiy, hairs, of a dark afh-colour at the bottom, of a
rufty brown towards the ends ; the belly is of a dirty
white : its tail is taper, covered with (hort brown hair,
except four inches of the end, which fpace is white,
and naked underneath : its toes are like thofe of the
former fpecies.

The VULPINE OPOSSUM.

THIS fpecies hath remarkable long whifkers ; the
ears ered and pointed ; the upper parts of the body
greyifh, mixed with a dufsy white, tinged with ru-
fous about the fhoulders ; all the underfide of the
body and neck are of a tawny bufFj about a quarter
of the tail next the body is of the fame colour with

th«

OF QJJADRUPED S. 379

the back, the refidue is black ; its length from the tip
of the nofe to the tail is two feet two inches, and the
tail itfeif fifteen. This is hkewife an inhabitant of New
Holland, particularly defcribed in Stockdale's edition
of Botany -bay.

The SHORT-TAILED OPOSSUM.

THE (hort tailed opofTum has naked earsj its back
is of a dull red, the belly paler : the tail is fcarcely half
the length of the body, it is thick at the bafe, and ta-
pers towards the end : it has no falfe belly, but the
young, as foon as they are brought forth, adhere to
the teats of their mother. Seba fays, fhe produces ten
or twelve at a time. It inhabits South America, and
Jives in the woods.

The PHALANGER OPOSSUM.

THIS fpecies of the opofTum has a thick nofe, and
fhort ears, covered with hair: it has eight cutting teeth
in the upper jaw, and two in the lower ; the hair on
the upper part of the body is reddifh, mixed with light
afh-colour and yellow : the hind part of the head, and
the middle of the back, are marked with a black line ;
the throat, belly, legs, and part of the tail, are of a
dirty yellow white ; the reft of the tail is brown and
yellow ; the body of the female is marked with white ;
the firft and fecond toes of the hind feet are clofeljr
united ; the claws are large ; the thumb on the hind
feet is diftind, like that of the other fpecies; the bot-
tom of the tail is covered with hair for near two inches
and a half, the reft of it is naked : the length of the
animal, from the nofe to the tail, is near nine inches.
Dr. Pallas fays, that this fpecies inhabits the Eaft India
iflands, but that it is not found in Surinam, as BufFon
conjedures,

3 B 2 The

380 NATURAL HISTORT

The MERIAN OPOSSUM.

THIS animal derives its name from Sibilla Merian,
a German paintrefs, who firft difcovered and drew the
figure of this fpecies at Surinam. The. Merian opof-
fum has long, fharp- pointed, naked ears; its head
and body are of a yellowilli brown colour; its belly is
•\vhite, tinged with yellow j its fore feet are divided
into five fingers, the hind ones Into four fingers and a
thumb, each furnifhed with flat nails : its tail is very
long and flender, and, except at the bafe, quite naked.
The length of the anima}, from the nofe to the tail,
as tep inches, the tail exceeds the length of the body
and the head. It inhabits Surinam, and burrows un-
der ground. The female brings five or fix young at
a time.

- The flying OPOSSUM.

THIS Is a beautiful fpecies, and clothed with fur cf
the moft exquifite texture ; it is an inhabitant of New
South Wales. In length, from the tip of the nofe to
the root of the tail. It is twenty inches ; the tail itfelf is
twenty -two inches, at the bafe quite light, increafing
gradually to black at the end -, the ears are large and
erefti the coat or fur is of a richer and moft delicate
texture ; appearing, on the upper parts of the body, at
firft fight, of a glofiy black, but on a nicer infpedtion
found to be mixed with grey j the under parts are
white, and on each hip is a tan-coloured fpot nearly as
big as a fnillingj at this part the fur is thinneft, but at
the root of the tail it is fo rich and clofe that the hide
cannot be felt through it. The fur is alfo continued
to the claws. On each fide of the body is a broad flap
or membrane (as in the flying fquirrels), which is
united to both the fore and the hind legs. The jaws
are furniflied with teeth, placed as in fome others, of
this genus: in the upper jaw forwards are four fmall
cutting teeth, then two canine ones, and backwards

five

OF QjJX'dRUPED S. 3U

five grinders; the under jaw has two long large cutting
teeth, five grinders, with no intermediate canine ones,
the fpace being quite vacant. The fore legs have five
toes on each toot, with a claw on each ; the hinder
ones four toes, with claws (the three outfide ones
without any feparation), and a thumb without a claw,
enabling the animal to ufe the foot as a hand, as many
of the opoflum tribe are obferved to do.

The KANGUROO.

THIS curious animal, a native of N^w Holland,
has a fmall head, neck, and fhoulders, bat its body in*
creafes in thicknefs to the rump j its head is oblong,
like that of a fawn, tapering from the eyes to the noic;
the end of the nofe is naked and black, and its upper
lip is divided ; its noftrils are wide and open ; its lower
jaw is fliorter than the upper ; the aperture of its mouth
is fmall ; it has whifkers on both jaws, thofe on the
upper ftrongeft ; it has ftrong hairs alfo both above
ai)d below its eyes ; the eyes are not large, the irides
are dufky, and the pupil of a bluifh black : its ears are
eredl, four inches long,oblongly ovated, rounded at the
ends, and thin, covered with fhort hair.

It has no canine teeth ; there are four cutting teeth
in the upper jaw, and two long lance-like teeth in the
lower, pointing forward j there are four grinding teeth
in each jaw, remote from the others ; its belly is con-
vex, aiid great ; the fore legs are very fliort, fcarcely
reaching to the nofe, and are ufelefs for walking ; the
hind legs are almoft as long as the body, and the
thighs are very thick; on the fore feet there are five
toes, with long, conic, ftrong, claws ; on the hind feet
there are only three, of thele the middle toe is very
long and thick, like that of an oftrich, the two others
are placed very diftinft from it, and are fmall, with
fhort, thick, blunt, claws; the bottom of the feet and
their hind parts are black, naked, and tuberculated, as
^s the animal refts often on them. Its tail is very

long.

382 NATURAL HISTORY

long, extending as far as the ears ; it is thick at the
bafe, and tapers to a point ; its fcrotum is large and
pendulous. The hair on the whole animal is foft, and
of an afh- colour, lighteft on the lower parts. It is a-
Iwut three feet three inches long from the nofe to the
tail, the tail meafures two feet nine.

It inhabits the weftern fide of New Holland, and
has not as yet been difcovered in any other part of the
world. It lurks among the long grafs, feeds on vege-
tables, and goes entirely on its hind legs ; making ufe
f>f the fore teet only for digging, or bringing its food
to its mouth : its dung is like that of a deer : it is
very timid: at the fight of men, it flies from them by
amazing leaps, fpringing over bufhes (even or eight
fcQt high, and going progreflively from rock to rock.
When it is in motion, it carries its tail quite at right
angles to its body ; and, when it alights, it often looks
back} it is much too fwift for greyhounds to overtake
it in the chaccj but, when furprifed and fhot, it makes
very good eating. A full-grown one will weigh upr
wards of eighty or ninety pounds.

The lesser KANGUROO.

THIS fpecies hath the vlfage of a rat, with two
iharp-pointed cutting teeth in the upper, two large in
the lower, with truncated ends ; fore feet very fhort,
furnifiied with four toes ; hind legs and tail refembling
the great fpecies : three toes on each hind foot, the
middle greatly exceeding the other two in length ;
on the belly is a pouch, within which were four nip-
ples : the colour above is of a pale brown, lighter on
the belly j in fize double to that of the brown rat.
From the form of its parts, the manners probably the
fame with thofe of the former. One was (hewn in
London in 1790, but fo fhy as to elude a perfed de-
fcription, continually concealing itfelf in the ftraw of

the box.

The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 3S5

The spotted KANGUROO.

THIS hath a long canine vlfage ; upright fharp
ears ; head and body black, the firft plain ; the body*
and thighs marked with large fpots of white, thinljT
difperfed j tail covered with Ihort hairs at the bafe,
the reft very bufhy, covered with very long black
hairs; fore legs covered with ihort hairs for a fmall
fpace next to the body, the remaining part naked ; the
feet furnifhed with five toes, the hind feet with four
and a thumb, with a claw : length from the nofe to
the tail twenty-five inches : the tail about nine. It in-
habits New Holland.

The MUSTELA, or WEASEL, and OTTER.

THIS genus of quadrupeds belong to the order of
Feras. The generic charaders are, fix cutting
and two canine teeth in each jaw, a fiiarp nofe, a flen-
der body, and five toes on each foot. The weafeis
have their tect palmated or webbed ; but the otters
have their toes feparate, or unconnedted by any web
or membrane.

Infignificant as this genus may appear, there are no
fewer than fifty -fix fpecies, and fome fubordinate va-
rieties, comprehended under it. Our aim is to be as
concife as poflible, but to omit nothing material.

The vulgaris, or common WEASEL.

THE weafel has fmall rounded cars ; the whole
upper part of its head and body is of a pale tav/ny
brown, the under fide is entirely white i it has a brown
fpot beneath the corners of its mouth -, its length from
nofe to tail is between fix and (Qvcn inches; its tail'
meafures two and a half. BufFon fays, it is tipt with
yellow, even when the colour of the body is wholly
changed to white, which is the cafe in cold dimates,

and

3H NATURAL HISTORY

And fometimes even in this country, as well as m
France, during winter.

It is very common in the temperate and warm cli-
mates, but rare in the northern regions j yet it inha-
bits moft parts of Europe, and is found in Siberia, as
far as Kamfchatka. It is met with in North America,
even as high as Hudfon's Bay ; it is found alfo in
Barbary. The weafel dwells not, like the ermine, in
woods and deferts, but near the habitations of men ; it
is very deftrudive to chickens, birds, and young rab-
bits and hares ; it is alfo a great devourer of eggs : it
does not eat its prey on the fpot; but after killing it,
by a bite near the head, it carries it off to the place of
its retreat, where it eats it during the night: it is very
adlive, climbs trees, and runs up the fide of walls with
great eafe ; no place is fecure from its ravages ; it fre-
quents houfes, barns, and granaries j it is a great ene-
my to rats and mice, and foon clears its haunts from
thofe pernicious animals : as it can follow them to all
their holes and haunts, one weafel will do more execu-
tion than many cats. In fome parts of the country,
people think their bite venomous, and fuppofe their
breath dangerous to cattle j when the cattle fwell much,
they fay they are weafel-blown. The female brings
forth four or five young ones at a time; thefe, like the
young of many other quadrupeds, are brought forth
blind. By proper management they may be tamed,
and will become familiar, carelTmg, and frolicfome as
a dog or a fquirrel: their odour is never oifenfive, but
when they are irritated: they are fed with milk, boiled
flefh, and water j they move with caution and with fi-
lence, and never cry but when they are hurt ; their cry
is fharp and rough, and very exprefTive of refentment ;
they attack ferpents, water-rats, and moles ; over-
running meadow-grounds, they devour quails and par-
tridges, together with their eggs.

Their excrements and flcins are intolerably fetid. In
Norway, Sweden, Ruflia, and Siberia, they . always

3 change

y.J?^ %. fie:r.>e/...f/£,'^^aA3. .'^ r^..->-- -A- "^ ^^-^-^^ •^- '^ <^^ fW: ^^AM^^l^.T^^/'^^

. pMij/tfil t\t'iL-ii''*'

OF QUADRUPEDS. 385

change to white at the approach of winter. The fkins
of thofe of Siberia are fold to the Chinefe for three or
four rubles the hundred.

The fynonymes or appellations given to this animal,
are as follow: Mui^th. Jgricola J?t. S iker. ^S^- Gef-
Tier quad. '] ^2. Weafel or weefel, muftela vulgaris ;
in Torkjhirej the fitchet, or foumart. Rail Jyn. quad^
195. The Whitred. S'lh. Scot. iii. 11. Wiefel. Klein
quad. 62. Muftela nivalis. Lin. Jyjl. 6g. Sno-mus.
Faun.Jmc No. 18. Muftela fupra rutila, infra alba.
Brijjon quad. 173. La Belette. De Buffon, vii. 225.
tab. xxix. Weefel. Br. Zool. illujir, tab, ci. Schreber,
cxxxviii.

The TOUAN.

THE upper parts of the head and body are black-
jfh; the fize of the body, head, and legs, are of a
bright ferruginous ; the lower part of the neck and
body of a more pure white j the length from the nofe
to the tail is rather more than five inches ; and the tail
5s rather more than two inches long, and tapers to a
point. It inhabits Cayenne; lives in hollow trees;
feeds on worms and infeds, and brings two young at a
time, which it carries on its back. Le Touan de la
Cepedes, &c. vi. 252. tab. Ixi,

The stoat, or ERMINE. '

THIS fpecies meafures ten inches in length; its
tail, which is always tipt with black, is five and a half:
it is found in the north of Europe and Afia. It is
the fpecies moft frequently met with in Scotland; and
Mr. Pennant fays, that in 1780 he faw, in his own
grounds, two in the ftate of the moft perfefl and beau-
tiful ermines. They become entirely white at the ap-
proach of winter, the tail excepted, and relume their
brown colour in the fpring.

Vol. Ill, No, 42. 3 C They

NAT URAL HISTORY

' They are met with alfo in Newfoundland and Ca*
nadai their fkins are a great article of commerce in
Norway and Siberia. In the latter country, they are
found In plenty, in birch forefts ; but there are none
in thofe of fir or pine. Their fkins bring on the fpot
from two three pounds per hundred. In Norway they
are taken in traps, baited with flefhj in Siberia, they
are either fhot with blunt arrows, or taken in a trap
made of two fiat (tones, propped by a ftick, to which
38 fafiened a baited fl:ring, which, on the leaft touch of
the animal, falls down and kills it.

Pontoppidan in his hiftory of Norway fays, that the
furs of Norway and Lapland are better than thofe of
Rufiia, which fooner turn yellow ; and for this reafon
the former are in greater requefl:, even at Peterfburgh.
The ermine catches mice like the cat j and, when prac-
ticable carries off his prey. He is particularly fond of
eggs, and, when the iea is calm, he fwims over to the
iflands which are near the coaft of Norway^ where there
are vafl: quantities of fea-fowls. It is alleged, that
■when the female brings forth in an ifland, fhe conduifls
her young to the continent upon a piece of wood, pi-
loting them with her nofe. This animal, though fmall,
kills thofe of a much larger fize, as the rein-deer and
bear J he jumps into one of their ears when they are
afleep, and adheres fo faft by his teeth and claws, that
thofe creatures cannot difengage him. He likewife
furprifes eagles and heath-cocks, by fixing on them,
and never quitting them, even when they mount in the
air, till the lofs of blood brings them to the ground.

It is named by different authors as follow : Mulle-
la. Gefner quad. 753. Wiefel. Kramer Aujlr. 312.
Meyer's An, ii. tab. 23, 24. Muftela erminea. M.
plantis fifiis, caudae apice albo. Un.JyJi. 68. Wefla.
Faun.Juec. No. 17. Ermine, when white. Mus Pon-
ticus. Plinii lib. viii. c, 37. Agricola An. Subter. 484.
Armelinus, Hermelein. Gefner quad. 754. Gornoftay,
Rzaczinjki Polon. 235. Muftela Candida, animal ermi-

neum«

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 387

neum. Muftela hyeme alba, asftate fupra rutila Infra
alba, caudas apice nigro. Brijfon quad. 176. Le Rofe-
Jet. De Buffon, vii. 240. tab. xxix. Schreher^ cxxxvli.
A. Stoat. Br. ZooL i. 84. Rati fyn. quad. 198.
L'Hermine. Be Buffotiy vii. 240. tab. xxix. fig. 2.
Brijfon quad. 176. SchreberiZYxyiViu^. Ermine.//^,
Kamtjchatkaj 99. Pontop. Norway. li. 25. Br. ZooL
I, 84.

The QJ3 I QJJ I.

THIS fpecies hath a cuneiform nofe ; ears fhorfc
and round, with a white fpot in the middle ; the gene-
ral colour is brown} the legs and tail fhort; and the
feet like thofe of a lizard; its length from nofe ta
tail is thirteen inches. It inhabits Chili ; is fierce and
irritable j lives under ground, arni feeds on mice. It
is called muftela quiqui. Molina Chili. 273.

The C U J a.

THIS animal hath black eyes j nofe turned up at
the end j hair black, very thick, and foft ; the tail as
long as the body, and well furnifhed with hair ; it is
very like the ferret in fize, ihape, and teeth. It inha-
bits Chili i lives on mice ; breeds twice a year, and
brings tiflree or four at a time. It is named muftela
cuja. Molina Chili. 272,

The south AMERICAN FITCHET.
THIS is a weafel with a long fharp nofe; its
cheeks, its throat, and the fides of its neck, are black;
its forehead, and the fides of its head, to its ears, are
white ; its ears are fhort, round, and edged with white;
from each ear a narrow ftripe extends alqng the fides.
of its neck : its body is covered with coarfe hair, grey
at the bafe, black and white at the ends ; its legs and
feet are black, tinged with red ; its toes are not unlike
thofe of a rat : the length of this animal is above twen-
ty-one inches i its tail is bufhy, of a bright chefnut,

:^^ % mixed

38S NATURAL HISTORY

mixed with white ; it is rather fhorter in proportion
than the EngluTi fitchet, to which it bears a near re-
femblance. It inhabits Guiana. It is la fouine de la
Guiane. De Buffon, Suppl. iii. i6i. tah, xxiii.

The POLE-CAT, or FITCHET.

THIS is an animal well known, and eafily diftin-
guifhed. There is a proverbial expreilion, " I fmell
a ratj" but any one coming near it may Toon fmell a
■pole-cat, as it is exceffively fetid. He has a white
fpace round the mouth j the tips of his ears are alfo
white i his head, body, and legs, are of a chocolate
colour, almoft black j his fides are of a tawny caft,
and his tail is black; his body meafures feventeen
inches, his tail fix. It inhabits moft parts of Europe ;
it is common in the temperate parts of Ruflia, but
grows fcarcer in Siberia, except in the defert of Baraba,
and beyond the lake Baikal ; none are found north of
thofe places ; there they are ufually found with white
or yellowifii rumps, bounded with black.

The pole-cat burrows under ground, forming a fhal-
low retreat, about two yards in length, generally ter-
minating under the roots of fome large tree. It fome-
times forms its lodging under hay-ricks, and in barns;
it avoids the cold; its fi:eps are never iz^n in the fnow,
either in the woods or in the fields j it is never found
in warm climates, fo that it feems to fiiun both ex-
tremes. In winter, it frequents houfes, and will rob the
dairy of milk; it preys on poultry, game, and rabbits;
a fingle family of pole-cats is fufficient to dcftroy a
whole warren ; they are alfo very fond of honey ; they
attack bee-hives in the winter, and force the bees to
abandon them ; they climU trees in queft of the nefts
of birds, fo that neither eggs nor birds are fafe from
their ravages, high or low. The fpring is their feafon
of love : the male fights for the female ; they after-
wards leave her, and go to pafs the fummer in fields or
woods; fhe, on the contrary, continues in her habita-
tion

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 3S9

tion till fhe brings forth; the female brings five or fix
young at a time: the time of geftation of this and the
former fpecies is faid to be eight weeks : their fkins arc
drefl^ed with the hair on, and ufed, as other furs, for
tippets, &c. they are alfo fent abroad to Hne clothes.

The fynonymes are as follow : Putorius. Gejner quad,
767. Yltis. Agrtcola An. Suhter. 485. Pole-cat, or
fitchet. Raiijyn. quad. 196. Tchorz. Rzaczinjki Po-
lon. 236. Muftela foetida. litis. TeufFcls kind. Kle'tJi
quad. Muftela putorius. M. pedibus fiffis, corpora
flavo nigricante; ore auriculifque albis. Lin. Jyjl. 67.
Iller. Faun. Juec. ISo. 16. Muftela pilis in exortu ex
cinereo albidis, colore nigricante terminatis, oris cir-
cumferentia alba. Brijfon quad. 186. Le Putois. l)e
Buffony vii. 199. tab. xxiii. Schrebej-j cxxxi. Pole- cat.
Br. Zool. i. 77.

The SARMATIAN WEASEL.

THIS fpecies has broad, ftiort, round, ears, edged
with long white hairs ; its mouth alfo, like that of the
former fpecies, is furrounded with white ; its head,
feet, and the under fide of its body, are quite black ;
its head is crofted beyond each eye with a white band,
pafling beneath the ears along the fides of the neck,
and down to the throat ; from the hind part of the head
another band of yellow pafies on each fide obliquely
towards the flioulders, above is a third ; the upper
part of the body is of a brovvnifti black, ftriped and
ipotted irregularly with.ob(cure yellow ; its tail, about
fix inches long, is dufKy, with longer white hairs in-
termixed, but wholly black at the end. The animal is
about fourteen inches lonp-.

It inhabits only Poland and the fouthern provinces
of Ruftia; in Afia, the mountains of Caucafus, Geor-
gia, and Bucharia. It is a moft voracious creature,
feeding on the marmots, mice, and leffer animals,
where it refides. It feizcs its prey, and firft fucks out
the blood. Unlike the former fpecies, it does not

meddle

390 NATURAL HISTORY

meddle with eggs : it lives ufually in holes made by
other beafts; but is not incapable of digging a burrow
for itfelf : it fleeps little^ preys by night, and is very
fierce and untameable; its eyes are of a flaming" bright-
nefs, it is very a(5live, and moves by frequent jumps ;
it? fmell is very fetid, efpecially when it eredls its tail,
■which it does when it is angry. It copulates in the
fpring, goes two rnonths, and brings from four to eight
young ones, according to the report of the natives.

Its fynonymes are, Muftela farmatica, Rujis Peru-
gufna, Pallas Itin. i. 453. Gueldenflaedty in Nov.
Com. Petrop. xiv. 441. tab. x. Zimmermajiy 486,
ScJprebery cxxxii. P/'zewia/kay or the girdled weefel ?
RzaczinJJ:ii aud. hid. Polcn. 328.

The SIBERIAN WEASEL.

TPIIS hath a black face, whitifh about the noilrils,
and fpotteJ towards its eyes; the reft of the animal is
of a deep yellow, nearly approaching to fox or orange
colour; its throat is fometimes fpotted with white ; its
tail is very bufhy, and of a deeper colour than the bo-
dy; its hair in general is loofe and long, and the foles
of its feet are deeply covered with fur; its body is
more jlender than that of the fitchet or pole-cat, and
approaches nearer to the form of the ftoat ; its length
i^ about twelve inches, its tail fix.

It bep^ins to appear in the Altaic mountains, be-
tween the Oby and tiie Irtilh; from whence it is com-
mon on wooded mountains, to the Amur and the lake
Baikal. In its haums, manners, and food, it has a
great refemblance to the fable ; but it does not extencj,
fo far north. It is called muftela Siberia, Kolonnok,,
Rujfis. Pallas Itin. 701,

The ferret.

THIS fpecles of the weafel has a fharp nofe, red-
aild fiery eyes, and round ears; the colour of its whole

body

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 391

body is a very pale yellow ; it meafiires about four-
teen inches, and its tail only five. In its wild ftate it
inhabits Africa, from whence it was originally brought
into Spain, to free that country from the multitudes of
rabbits with which that kingdom was over-run, and
from thence the reft of Europe was fupplied with it.
It is a lively, a<5live, animal, and the natural enemy of
■ rabbits. Whenever a dead rabbit is prefented for the
firft time to a young ferret, he flies upon it, and bites
it with fury; but, if prefented alive, he feizes it by the
throat or the nofc, and fucks its blood. When let into
the burrows, they are muzzled, that they may not kill
the rabbits in their holes, but oblige them to come out.
Boys likewife ufe the ferret for catching birds in the
holes of walls or old trees. It fucks the blood of its
prey, but feldom tears it j it breeds in ou^- climate,
and brings from five to nine young ones; but it is apt
to degenerate, and lofe its favage nature. The keepers
of rabbet-warrens are therefore obliged to procure an
intercourfe between the female ferret and a pole- cat, by
leaving it near the haunt of the latter. The produce
is a breed of a much darker colour than the ferret, par-
taking more of that of the pole-cat. The ferret has
the fame difagreeable fmell as that animal.

The fynonymes are: Viverra. Pliniilib. viii. c, ^5.
Agricola An. Subtcr. 486. Muftela ruftica, viverra,
Furo, L^Is. Cejner quad. 762. Rail fyyi. quad. 198-
Fret. Klein quad, d 2,. Schreher,cxyLiim. Viverra pilis
fubflavis, longioribus, caftaneo colore terminatis (mafc. )
M. pilis ex albo iubflavis veftita. (Icem.) Brijfon quad.
177- Muftela Furo. M. pedibus fiffis, oculis rubi-
cundis. Lin.JyJl, 68.

The M a R T E N.

THIS fpecies of the weafel has broad rounded ears,

and lively eyes; its head is brown, with a tinge of red;

its body, fides, and legs, are covered with hair, afh-

coloured at the bottom, bright chefiiut in the middle,

I and

39^ NATURAL HISTORY

and tipped with black j its throat and breaft are white;
its belly is of a deep brown; its tail is bufhy, of a
dufky colour ; its feet are broad, covered at the bot-
tom with thick down J its claws are white; its length
eighteen inches, its tail ten. It inhabits moil: parts of
Europe, even to the warmer parts of Ruflia, but does
not extend far eaft in that empire. It is a moft elegant,
lively, animal, capable of being tamed, good-natured,
and fportive. It lives in woods, and breeds in hollow
trees ; it brings from four to fix young ones at a time.
During winter, it frequently fhelters itfelf in a mag-
pie's neft. It deftroys poultry and game, and will eat
rats, mice, and moles ; is alfo very fond of honey, and
prefers hemp-feed to every other kind of grain : its
ikin and excrements have a mufky fmell. Their fur is
of fome value, and is ufed to line the robes of magiftrates.
Its fynonymes are as follow : Martes gutture albo.
Agricola An. Suhter. 485. Gefncr quad. 764. Stein-
marter. Klein quad. 64. Martes, alias foyna, martin,
or martlet. Raiijyn. quad. 100. Kuna. Rzaczinjki Po-
lon. 222. Muftela pilis in exortu albidis caftaneo co-
lore terminatis veilita, gutture albo. Brijfon quad. 178.
Muftela martes, M. pedibus fiflis, corpore fulvo nigri-
cante, gula pallida. Lin. Jyjl. 67. Mard. Faun. Juec.
No. 15. La Fouine. De Buffony vii. 186. tab. xviii,
Schrebery cxxix. Martin. Bi'. Zocl. \. 79.

The GREY-HEADED MARTEN.

THE head, and upper part of the fides of the neck,
are grey ifli; the throat, and under fide of the neck,
white; and all the reft of the body, limbs, and tail,
black : its length from the tip of the nofe to the tail is
above two feet ; of the tail (which is full of hair),
eighteen inches. It inhabits Guiana. It is called, Le
grand marte de Guianne. de la Ce^edes. dc Buffon^
5uppl. vi. 250. tab. Ix.

The

O F (i_U A D R U P E D S. 293

The pine WEASEL.

THIS fpecies is diftingulfhcd by a yellow brcaft and
throat i its hair is of a dark chefiiut colour, and is far
fuperior in finenefs to that of the former fpecies , in
other refpe(5ts it agrees with the common marten. It
inhabits the north of Europe, Afia, and America j it
is found alfo in Great Britain, but in no part of Sibe-
ria. It refides in large forefts, efpecially thofe of pines,
but never lodges near houfes, as the other fpecies are:
faid to do. It brings two or three young at a time :
its prey is much the fame with that of the former; but
its fur is of far greater value. The peninfula of Kam-
fchatka and North America abound with them : their
fkins furnifn a prodigious article cf commerce: thofe
found about Mount Caucafus, with an orange throat,
are efteemed the finefl.

The fynonymes are : Martes gutture luteo. j^grico-
la An, Subter. 485. Martes fylveftris. Gefner qtiad^
765. Martes abietum. Rai fyn. quad. 200. Baum-
Marter. Klein quad. 64. Muftela pilis in exortu ex
cinereo albidis caftaneo colore terminatis, gutture flavo.
Brijfon quad. 179. La Marte. Buffon. vii. 186. tab.
xxii. Schrebery cxxx. Yellow-breailed martin. Br»
ZooL i. 81, F annul, Sinens. -

The sable.

THIS fpecies, highly valued for its fine fur, has
long whifkers, round ears, large feet, white chws, and
a long and bufliy tailj the colour of the hair is black
at the tips, cinereous at bottom; its chin is cinereous,
fometimes white, yellow^ or fpotted; the edges of its
ears alfo yellowifli: fometimes its hair has a tawny
caft; for in fpring, after changing its coat, its colour
varies : there are inftances of fome being found of
a fnowy whitenefs. In frze, it is equal to that of the
marten, which it alfo very much refembles in form ;

Vol. in. No. 42. * ^^ but

394 NATURAL HISTORY

but there is one fpecific diftindlion worthy of notice ;
the tail of the marten is much longer thr.n the hind
legs, when extended: that of the fable is fKorter. It
inhabits Siberia, Kamfchatka, and the Kurile ifles,
between Kamfchatka and Japan. There are none to be
found weft of the Urallian mountains ; but they in-
creafe in numbers as you advance thence to the eaft-
ward: they live in holes in the earth, or under the
roots of trees : like the marten, they form nefts in the
trees, and will leap with great agility from one tree to
another: they are very lively, and much in motion du-
ring the night, but fleep much m the day : they prey,
during fummer, on ermines, weafels, and fquirrels ;
but, above all, on hares ; in winter, on birds ; in au-
tumn, on hurtle- berries, cranberries, and the berries of
the fervice-tree ; but in that feafon their fkins are the
worfl: ; as that kind of diet, it is faid, caufes them to
Itch, and to rub off their fur againft the trees : they
bring forth at the end of March or beginning of April,
and have from three to five at a time, which thev fuckle
for four or five weeks : their excrements are moil ex-
ceffively fetid.

In the moft barbarous times of the Ruflian empire,
the hunting of thefe animals was the employment, or
rather the tafk, of thofe unhappy exiles that were fent
into Siberia. As that country is now become more po-
pulous, the fables have, in a great meafure, quitted it,
and retired further north and eaft, to live in defert fo-
refcs and mountains. They ufually refide on the banks
of rivers, or on the little ifiands in them.

At prefent, the fab!e hunters form themfelves into
parties or troops, from five to forty each-; the laft
fubdivide into Icfier parties, and each choofes a leader ;
but there is one commander in chief that direds the
whole. A fmall covered boat is prepared for each
party, laden with provifion, a dog and a net for every
two men, and a vclTel to bake their bread in: each
party has alfo an interpreter for the country they in-
tend

O F QU A D R U P E D S. ^pS

tend to penetrate: every party then fets out, according
to the courfe their leader points out : they afcend the
rivers, drawing up their boats, till they arrive in the
hunting country: there they flop, build huts, and wait
till the waters are frozen, and the feafon commences.
Before they begin the chace, their leader affembles
them, they join in praver to the Almighty for fuccefs,
and then feparate. The firft fable each party takes is
called God's fable, and is dedicated to the church :
they then penetrate into the woods, and mark the trees
as they advance, that they may know their way back.
In their hunting-quarters they form huts of trees, and
bank up the fnow around them : near thefe they lay
their traps, then advance farther, and lay more traps ;
ftill building new huts in every quarter, arid returning
fucceffively to every old one, to vifit the traps, and to
take out the game, and to fkin it, which none but the
chief of the party muft do. During this time they are
fupplied with provifions by perfons who are employed
to bring it on fledges from the places on their route,
where they are obliged to form magazines. The traps
are a fort of pit- falls, with a loofe board placed over
each, baited with fifh or flefh. When fables grow
fcarce, the hunters trace them on the new-fallen fnow
to their holes, place their nets at the entrance, and fome-
times wait, watching, two or three days, for the com-
ing out of the animal. It has happened that thefe poor
people have, by the failure of their provifions, been fo
pinched with hunger, that, to prevent the cravings of
appetite, they have been reduced to take two thin
boards, one of which they apply to the pit of theflo-
mach, the other to the back, drav/ing them tight toge-
ther by cords placed at the ends. Such, fays Mr. Pen-
nant, are the hardfhips our fellow-creatures undergo, to
fupply the wantonnefs of luxury !

The feafon of chace being finiihed, the hunters re-
aflemble, report to their leader the number of fables
each has taken, make complaints of offenders againft

3 1^ 2 iheiF

39^ NATURALHISTORY

their regulations, punifh delinquents, and fhare the
booty : they then continue at their head-quarters till
the rivers are clear of ice j when they return home,
and give to every church the dedicated furs.

The price of thefe furs varies from one to ten pounds
fterling, and above. Fine and middling fkins are fold
without the bellies; the coarfe ones with them : the
£neft fables are fold in pairs perfedly fimilars and fuch
pairs are dearer than fmgle ones of the famegoodnefsj
for the RufTians want thofe in pairs for facing cans,
cloaks, and tippets : the blackeft are reputed the be it :
fables are in feafon from November to February : thofe
caught at any other time of the year are fnort haired :
the hair of fables differs in length and quality i the long
hairs, which reach far beyond the inferior ones, are
called OS :. the more a fkin has of fuch long hairs, and
the blacker they are, the more valuable is the fur : the
very befi: have no other but thofe long black hairs : be-
low the long hairs there are, in the greater part of
fable furs, fome (horter, called podofie or under os.
The more podofie a fur has, the lefs valuable it is.
Between the os and podofie there is a low woolly kind
of hair called podfada : the more podfada a fur has,
the lefs valuable it is reputed; for the long hair will,
in that cafe, take no other diredion than the natural
one ; but the charafter of fables is, that notwithftand-
ing the hair lies from the head towards the tail, yet it
will in any diredion you ftroke your hand over it. Be-
iides various other particulars refpeding the fur, the
furriers attend much to the fize, always preferring,
caieris -paribus J the biggeft, and thofe that have the
greatert glofs. The glofs vaniilies in old furs ; the
frefh ones have what dealers in furs call a bloomy ap-
pearance; the old ones are faid to have done blooming.
The dyed fables always lofe their glofs, and become
lefs uniform, whether the lower hairs have taken the
dye or not; and the hairs are commonly twifted or
crifped, and not fo ft rait as the natural ones. Some

fumigatQ

O F QXJ A D R II P E D S. 397

fumigate the fkins to make them look blacker; but
the fmell, and the crifped condition of the long hair,
betray the cheat : but dying and fumigating are both
detected, by rubbing the fur with a moift linen cloth,
which grows black in iuch cafes. The Chinefe, how-
ever, have a way of dying the fables, fo that the colour
not only \i\{\.s, which is more than the Ruflian cheats
can rth'ed:, but the fur keeps its glofs, fo that the fraud
can oniy be dete«S:ed by the crifped hairs.

The country about the river Ud affords fometimes
fabk'S, of which one is often fold for twelve or four-
teen pounds fterling. The bellies of fables, which are
fold in pairs, are about two fingers breadth, and are,
liice the fkinSj tied together in parcels of forty each.
One of theie parcels fells from one to two pounds fter-
ling; tails are fold by the hundred j the very beft furs
nfull have their tails, but ordinary ones are often crop-
ped : d hundred fells from lour to eight pounds. White
fables are rare; they are not common merchandize,
but bought only as curiofities : fome are yellowifh, and
are bleached in the fpring on the fnow : the common
fables are fcarcely any thiug better in hair and colour
than the marten.

The fabie is alfo found in North America. The
Rufluins have often difcovered the fkins mixed v/ith
thofe of the martens in the fur drefies, Vv'hich they get
from the Americans by way of exchange. Their fur
is more glofTy than that of the Siberian fable, and of a
bright chefnut colour, but of a coarfer quality. The
length of the American fable is about twenty inches ;
the trunk of the tail is only five; but from the rump
to the end of the hairs eight : his ears are more pointed
than thofe of the Afiatic fable ; its feet are large and
hairy, both above and below; it has live toes, with
white claws on each foot : the colour of its head and
ears is whitifhj its whiflcers are fhort and black; its
whole body of a light tawny j its feet are brown.

The

J9^ NATURAL HISTORY

The fynohymes are as follow : Zobela. Agricola
An. Suhter. 485. Muftela fobella. Gejner quad. 768.
Muftela zibellina, the fable. Rail fyn. quad. 201. Klein
quad. 64. Muftela zibellina, Arifiotels fatherius, Ni-
^ho cebalus, Alciato Mus Samarticus et Scythicus.
Charleton Ex. 20. Muftela zibellina. M. pedibus fif-
lis, corpore obfcure fulvo, fronte exalbida, gutture ci-
nereo- Lin.Jyft. 68. Muftela zibellina. Nov. Com. Pe-
trop. V. 330. tab. vi. Martes zibellina. Muftela ob-
fcure fulvo, gutture cinereo. Brijfon quad. 180. La zi-
beline. De Buffon^ xiii. 309.

The fisher.

THIS fpecles, notwithftanding its name, is not am-
phibious : it has a black nofe, ftrong and ftiff whifkers,
iix fmall weafel' like teeth above and below j it has
fix large canine teeth, four grinding teeth in each up-
per jaw i three of thefe are ftiarp-pointed, the fourth
flat J in the lower jaw fix, the laft flatted, the next with
three points, the next to thofe with two j its ears are
round, dufky on their outfides, but edged with white;
its face and the (ides of the neck are of a pale brown,
or afh colour, mixed with black j its back, belly, legs,
and tail, are black, but the roots of the hair are brown ;
its fides are brown, its feet very broad, covered with
hair even on their foles; it has five toes on the fore
feet, on the hind feet generally four, but fometimes
Ave, with fharp, ftrong, and crooked, white, claws ^ its
fore feet are longer than thofe behind; its tail is full
and bufhy, fmalleft at the end, feventeen inches long :
the length of the animal itfelf is twenty-eight inches.
It inhabits North America; above five hundred fkins
are brought in a feafon from New York and Pennfyl-
vania. Many of thefe vary in colour.

The MADAGASCAR WEASEL.
THIS fpecies hath fhort ears ; the hair on its whole
body is brown at the roots, and barred above with

black

OF QUADRUPEDS. 399

black and a ruft colour; as is alfo the tail, which is
near ten inches long : the animal itfelf is about four-
teen inches in length ; it inhabits Madagafcar ; whence
it has its name. It is called le vanfire. Bufforiy xiii.
167. tab. XX. dt\2iCepedes, de BuffoUt Suppl. vii. 249.
tab. lix.

The PEKAN WEASEL.

THE pekan has very long and ftrong whifkers,
and his ears are a little pointed : the hair on his head,
back, and belly, is cinereous at the roots, of a bright
bay at the ends, and is very foft and glofly; there is a
tinge of grey on the fides, and between the fore legs a
white fpot ; the legs and tai lare black; its toes, armed
with fharp claws, are covered with thick hair, both
above and below. In form it refembles the marten.
Its length is one foot feven inches ; the length of its
tail is about eleven. It is an inhabitant of North A-
merica. It is called le pekan. Buffon xiii. 304. tab.
xiii. Schreber^ cxxxiv.

The VISON WEASEL.

THE vifon has rounded ears, brown hair tinged,
with tawny, very bright and glofTy, with a thick afh-
coloured down beneath, tipt with ruft colour : its legs
are very fhort, its tail duiky : its length is about fe-
venteen inches, its tail nine. It inhabits North Ame-
rica. It is called le vifon. Buffon xiii. 308. tab. xhii.

The WHITE-CHEEKED WEASEL.

Mr. pennant defcribed this fpecies from a
living animal at London in 1774, but could not learn
its native country. It had rounded ears, a broad and
blunt nofe, dulky irides, and a flat head: its face,
crown, legs, rump, and tail, were black ; its chin and
cheeks white, its throat of a rich yellow, its back and
belly vyere of a pale \ellow, intimately mixed with afh
J colour.

400 NATURAL HISTORY

colour. Its body was eighteen inches long, its tail was
of the fame kngtli, covered with long hair.

The GRISON WEASEL.

TFIIS fpecies has a large head and eyes, and fhort,
but broad, ears : the upper part of its body is of a
deep brown, each hair being tipped with white, which
gives it a hoary look: from each fide of the forehead
extends a broad white line, pafling over the eyes, and
reaching as far as the fhoulders; its nofe, throat, and
and the whole under fide of its body, its thighs, and-
legs, are black : its length feven inches, ; its tail is a
little more than half the length of the body. It inha-
bits Surinam, but is a very fcarce animal. It is called
le grifon. Bufon xvi. \6^, tab. xxv. Allamandy v. G^.
tab. vii. Schreber^ cxxiv.

The GUINEA WEASEL.

THIS fpecies has the upper jaw much longer than
the under: its eyes are placed mid-way between its
ears and the tip of its nofe : its ears are like thofe of
the human fpecies, its tongue is rough ; its tail de-
clines downward, and grows lefs toward the point ;
its feet are ftrong, and formed for digging : the fhape
of its body is like that of a rat : it is of the fize of a
fmall rabbit, of a duflcy colour j its hair is rough.

It is common about*the negro fettlsments in Guinea,
burrows like a rabbit, and is very fierce; when driven
to necefiity, it will fiy at cian or beaft : it is very de-
flrutftive to poultry. Its fynonymes are: Galera, fub-
fufca, Cauda, elongata, auribus fubnudis apprefiis.
Browne's Jamaica, 485. tab. xlix. Le tayra, ou le ga-
lera. Buffcnyxv. 155. Schrebefjcxxxv.

The GUIANA WEASEL.

THIS has round ears covered with down, an afh-
coloured fpace between its eyes, and a trilobated fpot

oa

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 40'

on the lower part of its neck. It is of a black colour,
of the fize of a marten; its hair is coarfe. It inhabits
Brazil and Guiana. When it rubs itfelf againft the
trees, it leaves an un<5luous matter, that fcents of mufk.
The fynonymes are Muftela barbara. M. pedibus fif-
fis, atra, collo fubtus macula alba triloba. Lin.JyJl. 67.
Muftela maxima atra mofcum redolens. 'Tayra, grofle
Belette. Barrere France jEquin, 155.

The woolly WEASEL.

THIS fpecies has a long {lender nofe, the upper ^
jaw longer than the lower, very {hort and round ears,
its body covered with woolly hair, and a tail, above
eight inches long, tapering to a point: its body mea-
fures between fifteen and fixteen inches. Mr. Pennant
copies BufFon in this article, at the fame time that he
acknowledges he has fome doubts whether it be not of
the fame fpecies with the former. It inhabits Guiana;
and is called la petite fouine de Ja Guiane. BuffoUy
Su^pl. iii. 162. tab. xxiv.

The ICHNEUMON.

THIS fpecies of the weafel, frequently called Pha-
raoh's rat, has bright, flame-coloured, eyes ; fmall
rounded ears, almoft naked ; a long and flender nofe,
but a thicker body than others of this genus : its tail is
very thick, and tapers to a point ; its legs are fnort,
its hair hard and coarfe, the colour is various in differ-
ent animals of this fpecies from different counf^ries.
Some are alternately barred with a dull yellowifh
brown and white; others are of a pale brown or moufe-
colour, and appear mottled : the throat and belly are
of a uniform brown : beneath the tail it has an orifice
not unlike that of a badger. • Mr. Pennant mentions
a fpecimen in the Afhmolean Mufeum, that meal'ured
thirteen inches and a half to the origin of the tail, and
the tail itfelf eleven ; but the Egyptian variety is the

Vol. III. No. 42. 3 E largeft.

402 NATURAL HISTORY

largeft. Some of thefe meafure forty-two inches, front
the point of the nofe to the extremity of the tail.

It inhabits Egypt, Barbary, India, and its iflands,
and is a moft ufeful animal, being the inveterate enemy
of ferpents, and of other noxious reptiles that infeft the
torrid zone. It attacks without dread that moft fatal
of ferpents, the naia, or cobradi capello ; and fhould ic
receive a wound in the combat, it inftantly retires, and
is faid to obtain an antidote from a certain herb ; after
which it returns to the attack, and feldom fails of a
viftory. This faft, however, does not feem well eftab-
lifhed ; nor are botanifts agreed about the fpecies of
this fanative plant, whofe ufe, it is pretended, this wee-
fel pointed out to mankind ; thofe who have {qqii the
combats between the ichneumon and naia, never could
difcover it: Ksempfer, a writer of the firft authority,
■who vifited India, and who had a tame ichneumon, and
been witnefs to its battles with the ferpent, fays no
more than it retired and ate the roots of any herb it
met with. It is from the Indians he received the ac-
count of the root, whofe veracity he fpeaks moft con-
temptuoufly of. Amcen. Exot. 576. Rumphius never
faw the plant growing, but defcribes it from a fpecimen
fent him from Java ; for he fays the Indians would
perfuade him that it had no leaves. Vide Herb. Am-
boin. App. 'ji. All that feems certain is, that the In-
dians have a plant, of whofe alexipharmic virtues they
Jiave a high opinion, and are faid to ufe it with fac-
•cefs againft the dreadful macaflar poifon, and the bite
of ferpents. Ksmpfer fays he had good fucccfs with
one fp€cies, in putrid fevers, and found it infallible for
the bite of a mad dog. As there is no doubt but a
moft ufeful plant of this nature does exift in the Indies,
it is to be hoped that ftri(5l enquiry will be made after it.
The ichneumon is a great deftroyer of the eggs of
the crocodile, which it digs out of the fand, and even
kills multitudes of the young of thofe terrible reptiles;
it was not therefore without reafon that the ancient

Egyptians

t^ EJ^urJ^Jci

2. t-^'Ae C9ayJtJ*/7?i J'cAt

a? I ^^c/inettn^en

P^HUhrjatx, i.aA>«.

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 403

Egyptians ranked the ichneumon amongft their deities.
It is at prefent domefticated, and kept in houfes in India
and Egypt : it is alfo more ufeful than a cat, in de-
ftroying rats and mice : it eafily worries a cat, though
larger and ftronger than itfelf, and declines not the com-
bat even with the dog : it grows very tame, and is very
adlive: it fprings with great agility on its prey, and
will glide along the ground like a ferpent, and feem as
if without feet J it immediately catches any thing that
is flung to it : it is a great enemy to poultry, and will
feign itfelf dead till they come within its reach : like
the cat, it is a great lover w fifh : after fucking out the
blood, it draws its prey to its hole. When it fleeps, it
brings its head and tail under its belly, and appears
like a round ball, with two legs fticking out, Rum-
phius obferves how fkilfuily it feizes the ferpents by
the throat, fo as to avoid receiving any injury j and
Lucan beautifully defcribes the fame addrefs of this
animal in conquering the Egyptian afp :

Affidas ut Pharias Cauda Jolertior hqftis
Ludit-y et iratas incerta provocai umbra :
Obliquanfque caput vanas/erpentis in aurasy
Effujie toto comprendit guttura morju
Letiferam citra Janiem : tunc irrita pefiis
Exprimitury faucejqiie flaunt pereunte veneno.

Lib. iv. 724.

Thus oft tb' ichneumon, on the banks of Nile,
Invades the deadly afpic, by a wile;
While artfully his flender tail is play'd.
The ferpent darts upon the dancing fhade :
Then, turning on the foe with fwift furprife.
Full on his throat the nimble creature flies :
The gafping fnake expires beneath the wound.
And fheds his baneful poifon on the ground.

RowB.

Its fynonymes are as follow : i^nvfAut. Ariliot. Hifi,
An, lib, ix. (, 6. Oppian Cyneg, iii. 407. Ichneumon.

3 E 2 P//«;>*

404 NATURAL HISTORY

Plinii Jib. viii. c. 24. L*Icneumon que les Egyptiens
TiOniment rat de P'^-'araon. Belon. obf, 95. 'Portraits.
\^6. Projp. Alp. i. 234. Gefner quad. 566. Rait Jyn.
quad. 202. Shaw's Travels, i^g, 376. Muftela JE.-
gyptiaca. Kletn quad. 64. Indian, quil, vel quirpele.
Garcia. Arom. 214. Raii Jyn. quad. 197, Viverra mun-
go. K^empfer Ajncen. 574. De mongkos. Valentyn Am-
boyn, iii. Serpeiiticida five moncus. Rumfh. herb. Am-
hotn. App. 69. tab, xxviii. Indian ichneumon. Ediv.
I99. Ichneumon feu vulpecula Ceilonica. Meles ich-
neumon digitis mediis longioribus, lateralibus aequali-
bus, unguibus fubuniformibus. Hajfelquiji itin. 19. Ich-
neumon: Mus Pharacnis vulgo. Brijon quad. 181, Vi-
verra ichneumon. V. cauda e bafi incraflata fenfim atte-
nuata, policibus remotiufculis, Lin. Jyjl. 63. Schreber,
cxvi. Seb. MuJ. i. 66. tab. yX].fig. i. La rnangoufte.
Bufforiy xiii. 150. tab. xix. Le nems, torn. xvi. 174.
tab. xxvii. Viverra indica. V, ex grifeo rufefcens, jSrj/"-*
Jon quad. 177. Raii Jyn. quad. 198. Schreber^ cxvi.

The CAFFRE WEASEL.

THIS hath fhort hairy ears; the hairs on the body
^lining, rude, mixed with yellow, black, and brown ;
the tail grows gradually more flcnder from the bafe, and
its tip is black. It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope,

The four toed WEASEL,

THIS fpecies hath a very fharp-pointed nofe, de-
prefled he:?-d, inflated cheeks, and a long upper jaw i it
has bl'ick whiikcrs, arifing from warty tubera ; its
irides are du(ky, the fpace about its eyes is black ; its
ears are fmall, rounded, ar.d black, and lie clofe to the
head J its tongue is oblong, blunt, and rough; it has
fix fma'l cutting teeth, two long canine teeth in each
j;}w, and five grinders on each fide; its back is very
broad, and a little convex j its belly is broad and flat,
jits legs are Ihort, its feet fmall, and naked at the bot-

tom^i

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 405

torn, with four toes on each. This and the hyaena are
the only quadrupeds whi.li have four toes on all their
feer. The claws on the fore feet are long, like thofe
of the baugeri thofe on the hind feet are (hort. Jts
hair is brown near the bottom, black near the ends, and
hoary at the points ; that on the back is undulated or
wavy, the in/ide of its legs a yellowifh brown; its tail
is tufted with black. It is eleven inches long ; its tail,
which is tliick at the bafc, ending pretty abrupt, mea-
fures eight inches.

It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, where it is cal-
led mecr rat. It feeds on flefh, preys on mice, and is
a great enemy to blattae. Like the fquirrel, it employs
its fore paw to convey its viduals to its mouth, and
laps water like a dog ; it is much in motion, and always
makes a grunting noife : it utters two kinds of founds;
when uneafy or difcuri^-ed, it barks like a young dog;
when plealed, itemis a found like that of a fmaJi rattle
in rapid njotion. It may be tamed, but it bites thofe
ifvaofe fmell it finds difagreeable. It fits quite ered:,
dropping its fore legs on its breafi:, and moving its head
with great cafe, as if on a pivot, and appearing as if it
liftened, or had juft fpied fjmefhing new: when pleafed,
it makej a rattling nqife with its tail; for which reafon
the Dutch, at the Cape, call it klapper-maus : it is alfo
found in J'iVa, where the Javanefe ilile it jupe; the
Dutch fiiracatije. Jt is callej le furicate. Bujjoriy xiii,
"^l. tab. \i\i. Scbrshrj cxv'n. Miher^s plates yXYi,

The yellow WEASEL.

THIS hath a fhort dufky nofe, and fmall eyes ; its
ears are fhort, broad, and flapping, and placed at b,
great diflance from each other ; iis head is flat and
broad, and its cheeks fwell out; its tongue is very
long; its legs and thighs are fhort, and very thick; it
has five toes on each toot, feparated, and fianding all
forward ; its claws are large, a little hooked, and of a
fiefh-colour; its hair is fhort, clofe, foft, and gloffy ;

OtK

4o6 NATURAL HISTORY

on the head, back, and fides, it confif^s of a mixture of
yellow and black ; its cheeks, belly, and the infide of
its legs, are yellow : half way down the middle of its
belly there is a dufky lift, ending at the tail; and ano-
ther along the middle of the back to the tail; the tail
itfelf is of a bright tawny, mixed with black j it is
round, and has the fame prehenfile faculty with that of
the fapajous. The body meafures nineteen inches, the
tail feventeen.

There was one fhewn fome years ago in London.
Its keeper faid it came from the mountains of Jamaica,
and called it a potto, the name given by fome writers
to a fpecies of (loth found in Guinea. It was very good-
natured and fportive, and would catch hold of any
thing, and fufpend itfelf by its tail. It lay with its head
under its legs and belly. It is called yellow maucau-
co. Syn. quad. No. 108. Viverra caudivolvola. Schre-
ieVi tab. xlii.

The MEXICAN WEASEL.

THE Mexican weafel has a fhort dufky nofe, a
tongue of vaft length, and fmall eyes, encircled with x.
dufky colour ; its ears are fhort, rounded, and placed
verv diftant from each other; its hair is fhort. On the
head, the upper part of the body, and the tail, the co-
Jours are yellow, grey, and black, intermixed ; the
throat and infideof the legs of a lively yellow; the bel-
ly is of a dirty white, tinged with yellow ; its toes are
.feparated; the claws crooked, white, and guttered be-
neath.

This animal is about two iztt four inches long, its
tail near one foot three : the tail is taper, covered with
hair, except beneath, near the end, where it is naked, and
of a fine fiefh- colour. It is extremely Hke the former,
"but larger in all its parts. Li Ice the former, it has a
prehenfile tail, and is naturally very good-natured. It
goes to fleep at the approach of day, wakes towards
night, and becomes very lively : it makes ufe of its

J feet

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 407

feet to catch any thing, and has many of the adlions of
a monkey: it eats like a fquirrel, holding its food in its
hands : it has a variety of cries during the night, one
like the low barking of a dog; its plaintive note is
cooing like a dove; its menacing, hiding like a goofe
or a ferpent ; its angry is confufed : it is very fond of
fugar, and all fweet things; it eats fruits and vegetables
of all kinds; it will fly at poultry, catch them under
the wing, fuck the blood, and leave them without tear-
ing them : it prefers a duck to a pullet, yet hates the
water. It is called kinkajou. Buffoiiy xvi. 244. tab, i.

The BRAZILIAN WEASEL.

THE Brazilian weafel has the upper jaw lengthen-
ed into a pliant, moveable, probofcis; it is much longer
than the lower jaw : its ears are round, its eyes fmall,
its nofe dufky j its hair is of a bright bay colour, and
is fmooth, foft, and gloffy : its tail is annulated with
dufky and bay: it has a whitiih breaft: its body mea-
lures eighteen inches, its tail thirteen.

The dulky Brazilian weafel is a variety of the form-
er : its nofe and ears are formed like thofe of the pre-
ceding, but beneath each eye it has two fpots of white;
the hair on its back and fides is dufky at the roots,
black in the middle, and tipt vvith yellow : its chin and
throat, the fides of its cheeks, and its belly, are yel-
lowifh; its feet are black, and its tail is annulated vvith
black and white: fometimes the tail is of an uniform
dufky colour. Linnaeus has defcribed the variety with
the tail of a uniform dufky colour, as a diflind fpecies.
Thefe inhabit Brazil and Guiana, they feed on fruits
fggs, and poultry; they run up trees very nimbly;
they eat like a dog, holding their food between their
fore legs; they are eafily tamed, are very good-natured,
and feem much inclined to fleep during the day. They
make a fort of whiftiing noife. Margrave obferves,
that they are very apt to gnaw their own tails.

Th8

4oS NATURAL HISTORY

The fynonymes of this animal are as follow: Coati.
Man-grave Brafil. 288. De Laet, 486. Rail fyn. quad,
180. Kkin quad. 72. Vulpes minor, roftro fuperiore
longiufculo, Cauda annulatim ex nigro et rufo variegata,
Quachy. B arr ere France Mquin. 167. Viverra nafua.
V. rufa, Cauda albo annulata. Lin,fyfi. 64. Urfus
nafo produdo et mobili, cauda annulatim variegata.
Brijfon quad. 190. Coati brun. Buffotij viii.358. tab.
xlviii. Schreber, cxviii. Badger of Guiana. Bancroft^ 141,

The stifling WEASEL. :

THIS weafel has a (hort flender nofe, fhort ears and
legs, and a long tail, of a black and white colour ; its
body is black, well covered with hair ; its length from
nofe to tail is about eighteen inches. It inhabits Mex-
ico, and perhaps fome other parts of America. This
and the four following fpecies are remarkable for the
peftiferous, fuffocating, and mof^ fetid, vapour they
emit from behind, when attacked, purfued, or fright-
ened. This is their only means of defence. Some
turn their tail to their enemies, and keep them at a dif-
tance by a frequent crepitus ; others fend forth their
urine, tainted with its horrid effluvia, tothediftance of
eighteen feet; thepurfuerr. are vtopped by the terrible
ftench. Should any of this liquid fall into the eyes, it
almoft occafions blindnefs; if on the clothes, the fmeli
will remain for feveral dsys. In fpite of all wafhing :---
in order to be fweetened, they muft even be buried in
frefb foil. Dogs that are not true bred to the chace,
run back as foon a'^ they perceive the fmell ; thofe who
have been ufed to it, will kill the animal, but are often
obliged to relieve themfelves, by thrufting their nofes
into the ground. There is no bearing the company of
a dog that has killed one, for feveral days.

Profefibr Kalm was one ni^ht in great danger of be-
ing fuffbcated by one of them tnat was purfued into a
houle where he fiept. When driven into a houfe where
cattle are kept, they bellow through pain '.---indeed

they

C F QjJ A D R U P E D §. 409

they are much di'fliurbed at the fight or fmell of atiy
weafel in their ftalls. One of thefe, that was killed ill
a cellar by a mald-fervant, fo afFeded her with it3
flench, that fhe lay ill for feveral days ; and all the
provifions that were in the place were fo tainted, that
the owner was obliged to throw them away*

Notwithltandingr this, the fiefli is reckoned good
meat, and not unlike that of a pig; but it muft be fkin*
ned as foon as killed, and the bladder taken carefully
outi, The Virginian fpecics, or fkunk, is capable of
being tanred, and will foilow its mafter like a dog, and
never emits its vapour except it be terrified. It breeds
in hollow trees, or holes under ground^ or in the clefts
of rocks. It climbs trees with great agility, kills poul-
try, eats eggs, and deftroys birds.

The fyncnymes are t Yzquiepatl. Hernandez Mex.
332. Raiijyn. quad. 181. Klein quad. 72, Meles Su-
rinamenfis BriJjG7i quad. 185. Ichneumon de yzquie-
patl. Seb, MuJ. i. tab. xlii. Le cpafe. BuffGn, xiii. 288.
tab, XXXV iii. Schreber^ cxx.

The STRIATED WEASEL.

THIS ftriped fpecles of the weafel is about the fizc
of an European pole-cat, but its back is miore arched ;
its ears are rounded, its head, neck, belly, legs, and
tail, are blackj its back and fides are marked with five
parallel white lines ; there is one on the top of the
back, and two on each fide ; the fecond extends fome
way up the tail, which is long and bufliy towards the
end; but it varies in the difpofitlon of its flripes. It
inhabits North America. When attacked, it briflles
up its hair, and flings its body into a round formi its
vapour, like that of the lafl:, is horrid. Du Fratz fays,
that the male is of a fhining black. Its fynonymes are :
Pole-cat, or fkunk. Laivfon Carolina. Pole-cat. Ca-
tejhy Carolina^ ii. Muilela Americana fcetida. Klein
qiiad. 64. Muftela nigra ta?niis in dorfo albis. B-riJf'.n
Vol, III. No. 42. 3 F quad.

4IO NATURAL HISTORY

quad. i8i. Viverra putorlus. V. fufca lineis quatuor
dorfalibus paralielis albis. Lin. fyji. Gof. Le conepate.
Buffon, xiii. 288./^/'. xl. Schreber, cxxii.

The skunk.

THIS fpecies of the vveafel, like the reft, has /hort
rounded ears j its cheeks are black; it has a white ftripe
from thenofe, between the ears, to the back; the up-
per part of the neck, and the whole of the back, is
white, but divided at bottom by a black line, commen-
cing at the tail, and paffing a little way up the back ;
its belly and legs are black ; its tail bufliy, being co-
vered thick with long coarfe hair j it is generally black,
fometimes tipt with white j the nails on all the feet are
very long, like thofe on the fore itQ.t of the badger j it
is rather iefs than the former fpecies.

It inhabits Peru and North America, as far as Ca-
nada, and is of the fame manners, and equally a ftink-
ard as the others. Synonymes: Chinche. Feuille obf,
PerUi 17 14, p. 272. Skunk, fifkatta. Kalrns voy. For-
fter's tr. i. 273. tab. ii. Jojplyn's voy. 85. Enfant du
diable, bete puante. Charlevoix Nouv. France ^ v. 196.
Le chinche. Buffon xiii. 294. tab. xxxix. Schreber, cxxi.

The C I N G H E.

THIS weafel is cloathed with black hair, changeable

into blue ; along the back a bed of white round fpots

from head to tail; the headlong; the ears large, well

covered with hair, and pendulous ; and the hind legs

longer than the fore. It inhabits Chili ; carries its

head low ; its back arched ; which it generally covers

■with its bufliy tail, like the fquirrei ; it digs holes in

the ground, in which it hides its young. In manners

and food it agrees with the ftifling; and alfo in its

dreadful flench. Molina denies that the fmell cotnes

from the urine, but from a greenifh oil coming from a

bladder feated near the anus, from which it ejed:s the

fetid

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 411

fetid liquor. The Indians value the fkins highly, and
ufe them as coverlets for their beds. It is called viver-
ra cinghe, Molina Chili. 269.

The Z O R R I N a.

ITS back and fides are marked with ihort ftripes of
black and white, but the latter is tinged with yellow j
its tail is long and buftiy, part white, part black i its
legs and belly are black : in fize it is lefs than the pre-
ceding. It inhabits Peru, and other parts of South
America. Its peftilential vapour overcomes even the
American panther, and ftupifies that formidable enemy.
Its fynonymes are, Annas of the Indians, zorrinas of
the Spaniards, Gardlajfo de la Vega^ 331. Mariputa,
mafutiliqui. Gumilla Orenoque iii. 240, Bufforij Schre-
bevj cxxiii.

The RATEL.

THIS creature has a blunt nofe : it has no external
cars ; in their place, it has only a fmall rim round the
orifice of the auditory pafTage : its tongue is rough, its
legs arc fhort, and its claws very long and flirait, like
thofe of the badger, and guttered beneath ; the colour
of its crown, and of the whole upper part of its body,
is grey, the refl: black ; but that from each ear to the
tail, there runs along the fides a dufky line, leaving an«
other of grey beneath it. The length of its body is
forty inches, of the tail twelve 3 its fore claws meafui:e
an inch and three quai'ters, the hind ones one inch.

It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope. It lives on ho-
ney, and is a great enemy to bees, which, in that coun-
try, ufually inhabit the deferted burrows of the Ethio-
pian boar, the porcupine, jickal, and other animals that
lodge under ground. It preys in the evening ; it af-
cends the higheft part of the defert to look about, and
will then put one foot before its eyes, to prevent the
dazzling of the fun. The reafon of it^i going to an

3 F 2 eminence.

412 NATURAL HISTORY

cnjm>?nce is, for tiie fake of feeing or hearing the honcy%
guide cuckco, which lives on bees, and, as it were, con-
tiuds it to their haunts. 1 he Hottentots follow the
fame i^uide. "i his animal cunnoi; climb, but, when he
iinds d.r bees lod9,ed in trees, through rage at the dif-
appointijjeat, hevill bite the bark from their bottoms.
By this {i[^i; .ifo, the Hottentots know that • here is a
jitfl of bees above, The hair is lo iziff, ^nd the hide
fo tou^h, probally formed fo by nature as a defence
^gainit U'G liing of bees, thac this animal is not CrUily
killed. By biting and fcratchmg, it makes a iiout re-r
iiilance, a^id tiie dogs cannot fafttn on its ikin. A pack,
which could tear a middk-fized lion to pieces, can
make no impreirion on the hide of this bead. By wor-
rying, they will leave it for dead, yet without having
jnfii'^ted on it any wound. The Hottentots give it the
name of ratel, Synonymes : Viverra ratel. ^parman
^tock. Wettjk. HondL 1777, 148. tab, iv. Stink-bing-
fem. Kolben^ ii. i^j. Blaireau puant. Voy. de la CailUi
182,

The M a R I P U T O.

THIS weafel is of a black colour, with a white bed,
reaching from the forehead to the middle of the back j
no ears i length twenty inches i tail nine. It was cb-
ferved by Mutis, in New Spain, about the mines of
Pampelunai it fleeps in the day s forms deep boroughs i;
wanders about in the ni>Thtj feeds on worms and in-
feds J and is very fwil't. It is called viverra mariputo,
Gm. Lin, 88.

The CEYLON WEASEL.

THIS fpecies is grey above, mixed with dufky
l^airs ; below white, it is about the fize of the marten.
If: inhabits the Philippine ifles, and Ceylon.

OF <i.U ADRUPED S. 413

The HERMi^PHRODITE weasel.

THIS animal hatU thre. du/ky lines along the back ;
the tail longer than the body, with the tip black. It
inhabits Barbary ; and is defcnbed by Dr. Pallas.

T H E QJJ O L L.

, TO the weafel tribe muft be referred, in all proba-
bih'ty, the quoUof New Holland, which is defcribed as
refembling a pole- cat, with a brown back, fpotted with
white, and the belly of a pure white; in which it dif-
jfers from the others of thefe fetid animals. It was {qqh
by Captam Cook in New Holland j the natives call it
quoll. 1 he laie fettlements may in time be the means
Pt throwing more light on its hiftory.

The TAPOA TAFA.

THIS weafel hath long ere(5l earsj colour brown,
lighteft on the tail; the tail is about the length of th«
body, covered with long hairs, and ending in a point.
It is about the Hze of s. rat. It inhabits New Holland.
According to Mr. White's defcription in his Voyage
to Botany-bay, the teeth are fo anomalous as to render
it dirficult to reduce this animal to any certain genus.

The spotted TAFA.

THIS, according to Mr. White's account and fi-
gure, aiffers from tne former only m having the body
and fides marked with irregular white fpots, with its
tail plan.

The MUSKY WEASEL,

THE nofe, lower part of the cheeks, legs, and end
of the tail, are black; on the middle of the cheeks is a
white fpot ; the body cinereous, dafhed with yellow;
fpme obfcure dufky lines and fpots rnark the body and

lower

414 NATURAL HISTORY

lower part of the tail. It inhabits Bengal, and fmells
of mufk. Sir Elijah Impey gave the fir/l defcrijM:ion
of this animal.

The civet WEASEL, or CIVET CAT.

THIS fpecics, though it has been called by that
name, has no other refemblance to a cat than agility :
it has fliort rounded ears, fky blue-eyes, and a /harp
nofe, tipped with black j the fides of the face, the chin,
breaft, legs, and feet, are alfo black ; the reft of the
face, and part of the fides of the neck, are white, tinged
with yellow. From each ear there are three black
Ilripes, ending at the throat and fhoulders. The back
and fides are afh-coloured, tinged with yellow, and
marked with large duflcy fpots, difpofed in rows : the
hair is coarfe j that on the top of the body ftands up
like a mane. The tail is fometimes wholly black,
fometime fpotted near the bafcj its length is about two
feet three inches, the length of its tail about fixteen
inches. Its body is pretty thick.

It inhabits India, the Philippine ifles, Guinea, Ethi-
opia, and Madagafcar, The famous drug, called mufk
or civet, is produced from an aperture between its pri-
vities and its anus, in both fexes, fecreted by certain
glands. The perfons who keep them, procure the
mufk by fcraping the infide of this bag twice a-week
with an iron fpatula, and get about a dram each time ;
but it is fcldom fold pure, being generally mixed with
fuet or oil, to make it more weighty - the males yield
the moft, cfpecially when they are previoufly irritated:
tliey are fed, when young, with pap made of millet,
and with a little flefh or fifh ; when old, with rav/ flefh.
In a wild ftate, they prey on fowls, &c.

There is a variety of the preceding fpecies, having
fhort rounded ears, a fharp long nofe, and a pale afh-
coloured facej its head, and the lower part of its neck,
are mixed with dirty white, brown, and black j the
fides of its neck are mr4rked v/ith ftripes of black, be-

3 ginning

OF Q^UADRUPEDS. 415

ginning near the ears, and ending at the brcaft and
fhoulders. From the middle of the neck, along the
ridge of the back, there is extended a black line, reach-
ing feme way up the tail; on each fide of this there are
two others : the fides are fpottcd with afh-colour and
black ; the tail is barred with black and white ; the
black bars arc broader on the upper fide than the lower.
This variety was firft diftinguifhcd from the other by
Buffon, though it had been figured long before by
Hernandez and Gcfner. It was unknown in Mexico,
till introduced there from the Philippine ifles. Thefe
animals feern not to have been known to the ancients.
It is probable the drug was brought to Europe with-
out their knowing its origin; for it is certain the fine
gentlemen at Rome ufed perfumes, either this kina,
or fome other. Pajiillos Riifillus olet.

The fynonymes, or names given it by different au-
thors, areas follow : Lacivette qu'on nommoitancien-
nement Hyaena. Belon obf. ^/^. Zibettus. Caii opu/c,
43. Felis zibethus. Gefner quad. 837. Animal zibe-
thicum, mafc. et foem. Hernandez Mex. 580, 581.
Civet cat. Rail Jyn. quad. 178. Coati civetta vulgo.
Klein quad. 73. Meles fafciis et maculis albis nigris et
rufefcentibus variegata. Brijfon quad. 186. Viverra zi-
betha. V. cauda annulata, dorfo cinereo nigroque un-
datim ftriato. Lin.fyft. 6^. La civette. Bufon, ix. 2gg,
tab. xxxiv. SchrelcVy cxi.

The zibet.

THIS hath fhort rounded ears ; fliarp long nofe ;
pale cinereous face; head, and lower part of the neck
mixed with dirty white, brown, and black ; fides of
the neck marked with ftripes of black, beginning- near
the ears, and ending at the breaftand fhoulders ;"'from
the middle of the neck, along the ridge of the back,
extends a black line, reaching fome way up the tail ; on
each fide arc two others; the fides fpottcd with afh-
colour and black ; the tail baned with black and white

the

4t6 NATURAL HISTORY

the black bars broader on the upper fide than the lowef^
This variety was firlt diftinguiihed from the other by
M. de Buffon; but figured long before by Hernandez
and Gefner ; unknown in Mexico till introduced there
from the Philippine ifles. Thefe animals feem not to
be known to the antients. Its fynonymes are, animal
zibethicum Americanum. Hernandez Mex. 538. Felis
zibethus. Gefner quad. 836. Le zibet. Buffon, 299.
tab. xxxi. Scbreber, cxii.

The MALACCA CIVET.

THIS fpecies hath a long nofe, fhort ere^^ ears; the
ground-colour of the whole animal perlaceous grey ;
face, black ; above each eye four black fpots j from the
hind part of the head are three black Hnes; one pafies
down the hind part of the neck, and one down each fide
of the neck and over part of the fhoulders ; from the
breaft another extends along the middle of the belly ;
three others begin at the fmall of the back, and reach
to the tail; on the bodv and thighs are forty-one round
black fpots ; the tail annulated v^ith black and grey ; legs
and feet black j fize of a common cat.

This animal lives by the chacej it leaps with great
agility from tree to tree ; is very fierce; emits a ftrong
Tnufl<:y fmell, produced from a liquor which exudes
from an orifice above the parts of generation. The
Malayes colled it, and pretend that it ftrengthens the
ftomach, and excites to love. The Chinefe efteem it
highly on account of the laft quality; and buy it from
the Malayes. Ic inhabits the peninfula of Malacca,
and there is a good figure of it given in Sonnerat's
Voyages, vol. ii. 144. tab. 91.

TheGENET.

THE ears of the genet are a little' pointed ; the
body is flender, and the tail very long ; the colour of
the body is a pale tawny, fpotted with bLick ; and the

ridge

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 417

Hdgt of the back is marked with a black line j the tail
is annulatd with black and tawny, and the feet are
black i fometimes the ground-colour of the hair in-
ch'nes to grey. It is about the (ize of a marten, but
the fur is fhorter. It inhabits Turkey, Syria, and
Spain. It frequents the banks of rivers and rivulets,
and other moift places] Buffon fays there are fome
found in the fouthern provinces of France.

They fmell faintly of mulk, and, like the civet, have
^n orifice beneath the tail. They are kept tame in the
houfes at Conftantinople, and are ufeful as cats, for th«
purpofe of catching mice. The fynonymes are, La ge-
netta. Bi:kfi chj. 74. Genetha. Gejner quad. 549, 550.
Genetta vel ginetta. Raiifyn. quad. 201. Coati, ginet-
ta Hifpanis. Klein quad. 73. Muftela cauda ex annu-
lis alternatim albidis et nigris variegata. BriJ^on quad,
186. Viverra genetta. V. cauda annulata, corpore ful-
vo nigricante maculato. Lin. Jyft. 6^. La genette,
Bufon^ ix. 343. tab. xxxvi. Schreber, cxiii.

The PILOSELLO.

THE nofe is of a deep brown ; the face and chin
cinereous; with a dark line up the forehead ; under
fide of the neck cinereous, mixed with ruft ; back and
whole body of the fame colour, varied with irregular
black fpots ; outfide of the hind legs and thighs duf-
ky ; fbles of the feet and upper part down to the claws,
clothed with down ; tail tawny, annulated with black.
It is lefs than the common ferret. It inhabits the
rock of Gibraltar, and the mountains of Ronda : cal-
led by the Spaniards pilofelloj and it is found alfo in
France. After the famous vidory near Tours, gain-
ed over the Saracens in 726 by Charles Martel, fuch
quantities of rich garments, made of the fkins of thefe
animals, were found, as to give occafion to the hero to
eftablifh an order of knighthood called L'ordre de la
genette. On the firft inilitution there were fixteeii
knights ; among them were the moft illuflrigus princes
YoL= HI. No. 43. 3 G g>f

4i8 NATURAL HISTORY

of the time. Martel himfelf was the fovereign. The
collar confifted of chains of gold, mixed with enamel-
led rofes of red J pendent was a genet of gold, enamel-
led with black and red. The order continued during
the fecond race of kings. It is faid to have given way
afterwards to the order of the ftar. It is called La ge-
nQttQde la France, Buffon, Suppl. iii. tab. xlvii. p. 236.

The FOSSANE.

THE foflane weafel has a {lender body, rounded
ears, and black eyes; its back and legs are covered
with cinereous hair, mixed with tawny j the fides of its
face are black: from the hind part of the head, four
black lines are extended towards the back and Ihoul-
ders; the tail is femi-annulated with black; the whole
under fids of the body is of a dirty white. It inhabits
Madagafcar and Guinea, Cochin China, and the Phi-
lippine ifles. It is a fierce creature, and hard to be
tamed. In Guinea it is called berbe, and by the Eu-
ropeans, wine-bibber, as it is very greedy of palm-
wine. Like the refl; of its genns, it is defi:rudive to
poultry* When young, it is reckoned good to eat.

There is a fpecimen of this fpecies in the Leveriaii
mufeum, which Mr. Pennant defcribes thus : it is a
weafel with a white fpot on each fide of its nofe, and
another beneath each eye; the reft of the nofe, cheeks,
and throat, are black; its ears are very large, upright,
rounded, thin, naked, and black; its forehead, fides,
thighs, rump, ?.nd upper parts of the legs, cinereous.
On the back there are many long black hairs; on the
fhoulders, fides, and rump, there are difperfed fome
black fpots ; its tail is black towards the end ; near the
bafe it is mixed with tawny and fiightly annulated with
black; its feet are black, "with white claws. It is of
the fize of the genet, to which it bears a great refem-
bkince; its tail is of the fame length with the body. Its
fynonymesare: La fofiane, Bujjvn, xiii, i6j. tab. xx^
^crhcbeVi cxiv.

The

OF CtUADRUPEDS. 419

The greater OTTER.
BESIDES the generic diftia^lions with regard to
teeth and toes already mentioned, this fpecies has the
following marks ; fhort ears, eyes placed near the nofe,
thick lips, and large whifkers. The colour of his
whole body is a deep brown, except two fmall fpots
on each fide of the nofe, and another beneath the chin ;
the throat and breaft are afh-coloured ; his legs are
fliort and thick, loofely joined to the body, capable of
being brought on a line with the body, and of per-
forming the part of finsj each toe is connedled to the
other by a ftrong broad web. Kis ufual length is
twenty -three inches, his tail meafures fixteen s the
weight of the male from eighteen to twenty-fix pounds,
of the female from thirteen to twenty-two. Mr. Ives
fays that the otters of the Euphrates are no larger than
the common cat. The otter inhabits all parts of Eu-
rope, the north and north- eaft of Afia, as far as Kamf-
chatka, and in the eafternmoft of the Fox iflands. It
abounds in North America, particularly in Canada,
where the moft valuable furs of this kind are produ^
ced. It dwells on the banks of rivers, and burrows,
forming the entrance of its hole beneath the water,
whence it Vv'orks upward, making a fmall orifice or
air-hole in the midfh of feme bufn. It ia a cleanly
animal, and depofits its excrements only in one place.
It fwims and dives with great eafe : it is very deilruc-
tive to fifh, but, when they fail, it makes excurfions on
land, and preys on lambs and poultry: it is faid to
hunt its prey againft the ftream, that it may return
with greater eale vvith its booty : it frequents not only
frefh waters, but alfo fometimes ventures out to fca,
though it never goes far from the fliorc, in queft of
prey : it frequently gives a fort of loud vvhifilc, by way
of fignal to another. It is a fierce animal, and its bite
dangerous; yet it is capable of being tamed, and made
to follow its mafier like a dog, and even to fith for

J Cx 2 him.

420 NATURAL HISTORY

him, and to return with its prey. They fometimes
breed in finks and drains : they dread neither cold nor
moifture: the female comes in feafon in winter, and
brings forth in the month of March, four or five
young ones at a time. Contrary to what happens to
j-noft other animals, the young otter is not fo hand-
fome as the old.

Mr. Pennant thinks that the latax of Ariflotle was a
larcre variety of the otter. Its fynonymes are, Lutra.
Jgricola An. Subter. ^%i. Gefner quad. 6%-] . Rati fyn,
quad. 187. Wydra. Rzaczinjki Polon. 221. Otter.
Klein quad. 91. Muftela Lutra. M. plantis palmatis
nudis Cauda corpore dimidio breviore. Lin, Jyji. 66.
Utter. Faun. Juec. No. 12. Lutra cafl:anei coloris.
Briton quad. 201. Le loutre. Behn Aquat. 26. Buffon^
vii. 134. tab. xi. Screber^ cxxvi. A. B. Otter. Br. ZooL
I. No. 19. Br. Zocl. illufir. tab. c.

The BRAZILIAN OTTER.

TLIE Brazilian otter has a round head hke that of
a cat y it has feline teeth too ; eyes fmall, round, and
black : large whiikers, and round ears ; feet like thofe
of a monkey, with five toes, the inner ones the fhort-
eft, all armed with fiiarp daws j its tail, which is fiat
and naked, reaches no lower than the feet j its hair is
foft, and not long; it is entirely black, except the head,
which is duiky, and the throat, which is yellow: it is
about the bulk of a middling dog: it inhabits Brazil,
Guiana, and the borders of Oronoko : it lives on fifii,
and cruftaceous animals, fuch as cray-fifh, and is very
dextrous in robbing nets and vveels of what it finds in
them : it makes a noife like a young puppy. Its flefli
is reckoned delicaie eating, and does not tafl:e fifhy,
notwithftanding its food. They are extremely clean-
ly, live in fociety, and go in troops; they are fierce,
and make a vigorous defence againft dogs; but, when
taken young, are foon tamed. Its fynonymes are,
biya & cariguibviu. Marcgrave Brafil 234. Des Mar-
' ■ " ' cbaiSi

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 421

(haisy iii. 306. Lutra Brafilienfis. Raiijyn. quad. 189,
Brijfon quad. 102.

The lesser OTTER.

THIS fpecles is of the form of the greater otter ;
but it is only one-third of its (ize. Linn^us and forne
other v/riters have clafTed it with the weafel tribe, as a
fort of amphibious pole-cat; it has roundifh ears, a
white chin, and a tawny and dufky body; the fhort
hairs being yellowiili, and the long ones black : its
feet are broad, webbed, and covered v/ith hair; its tail
is dufky, and ends in a point. It inhabits Poland and
the north of Europe; but none of them are found be-
yond the lake Baikal, or in the north-eaft parts of Si-
beria. It lives on fifh, frogs, and water-infecfls : its fur
is very vakiable : it Is next in. beauty to that of the
fable: it is caught with dogs, and in traps; but, like
the pole-cat, it is mod exceflively fetid. \t is the
fame animal with the minx of North America. The
flcins are often brought over to England. The fyno-
nymes of this fpecies are, Noerza. Agricola An. Subter.
485. Gejfier quad. 'jG^. Latax. Ge-rm. nutz. nobis nu-
rek. Rzaczhifizi Polon. 218. Mui^ela lutreola, M. plan-
tis palmatis hirfutis ore albo. Lin. fyft. 66. Femus^ ti-
churt; Suecisy masnk. Faun. fuee. No. 13. Norka.
Ritchkofforenb. 'Topagr. i. 1^^. ScbrebcTj cxxvi.

The C H INC him en.

THIS fpecies hath its head, whifkers, ears, eves,
fliape, and length of the tail, exadly refemblin^r' tlie
domeftic cat; its feet are furnifhed with five toes^ pal-
mated, and with flrong and crooked claws ; body co-
vered with two forts of hair, one very fhort and fine, the
other long and rude ; length from nofe to tail twenty-
inches. It inhabits the fea of Chili, and very fcldom
quits that element; goes always in pairs; loves to baflc
in the funj creeps to the fummics of the reck, where

it

422 NATURAL HISTORY

it is taken in traps ; has a hoarfe voice, and all the
fiercenefs of the wild cat. Molina Chilis 265.

The SARICOVIENNE.

THIS otter -is alfo of the fize of a cat, with a fur
as fine as velvet, grey and black ; and web-footed. It
lives more in the water than on land; the flefh is very
delicate and good to eat. This appears to be the very-
fame with la petite loiitre d'eau douce de Cayenne, de-
fcribed and figured ,by M. Buffon» Suppl. iii. 159. tab.
xxii. probably from a young animal. The body, fays
he, is feven inches (French) in length; the tail fix
inches and (^wtn lines, flender, taper, tuberculated,
convex above, flat beneath j ears rounded, and longer
than ufual with otters ; head, cheeks, and back, dufky,
and the fides marked regularly with the fame colours,
ifTuing from the back, extending almoft to the belly ;
the fpaces between of a yellowifh grey ; above each
eye is a white fpot; the throat, and whole under-fide
of the body, of the fame colour; the toes before are
divided, thofe behind webbed.

M. de la Borde, as quoted by M. de BufFon, men-
tions another fpecies of otter frequent in the rivers of
Guiana, weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds,
and of a yellowifh colour.

Jhe sea otter.

THE fea otter has a black nofej his upper jaw 19
both longer and broader than the under; he has lonp-
white whiflcers, hazle irides, fmall, ered, conic, ears ; fix
cutting teeth in the upper jaw, in the lower four; his
grinders are bro^d, for breaking and comminuting
(hell-fifli ; his fkin is thick, his hair is thick and long,
exceflively black and glofTy, beneath there is a foft
down; his colour fometimes varies to filvery ; his legs
are thick and fhort; his toes are covered with hair, and
joined by a web; his hind feet are exactly like thofe of

a feala

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 423

a feal, and have a membrane fklrting the outfide of the
exterior toe, iike that of a goofe : the length of his
body is about three feet, of his tail thirteen inches and
a half J the tail is flat, fulleft of hair in the middle,
and fliarp-pointed. Thebiggeft of thefe animals weigh
feventy or eighty pounds. They are found in great
abundance in Bering's ifland, and the Fox iflands be-
tween Afia and America, and in the interior fea as far
as has been difcovered to the eaft of De Fuca's ftreights.
They are fometimes {ten in troops of hundreds, and a
hundred leagues from land : they are entirely confined
between lat. 49. and 60 north; and between eafl; long,
from London 126 to 150. During winter they are
brought in great numbers by the eaftern winds from,
the American to the Kurilian iflands. They are m.ofl:
harmlefs and inoffenfive creatures, moft affediionate to
their young; they will pine to death for the lofs of
them, and die on the very fpot where they have been
taken from them. Before the young can fwim, they
carry them in their paws, lying in the water on their
backs : they are fwift in running, and very fportive :
they embrace, and even kifs each other : they fwim.
often on their backs, on their fldes, and even in a per-
pendicular pofture: they inhabit fuch fhallows as a-
bound with fea-weeds, and feed on lobfters, fifh, fepiie,
and fliellrfifli : they breed only once a-year, bring buC
one a time, and fuckle it for a year : they are dull
fighted, but of a very quick fcent : they are hunted
for their flcins, which are of great value ; they are fold
to the Chinefe for feventy or a hundred rubles a piece.
Each flcin weighs three pounds and a half. The young
are reckoned fuch delicate meat, that their fiefli is
fcarcely to be difliinguiflied from that of a fucking lamb.
The fynonymes of this animal are, Mufl:ela lutris. M.
plantis palmatis piloiis, cauda corpore quadruple bre-
v'lovQ Lhi. fyji. 66. Schreber^ cxxviii. Lutra marina,
Kalan. Nov. Ccmp. Feirof. ii. 367. iab.xwi. Sea otter,
Hij}. Ka?njcbatkaj 122. Mullcr's voy. 57, 58.

I Ths

424 NATU RAL HI ST ORY

The slender OTTER.

'^HIS fpecies, from the nofe to the tip of its tail, is
four feet four inches ; of the tail about thirteen inches ;
diameter of the bodv fcarcely more than five inches
and a half; the fore legs are about three inches and
a half longs hind legs about four inches; head fmallj
eyes fmall, ears moft extreniely fmall, fcarcely vifible ;
fore feet webbed, hind feet more ftrongly foj colour of
the whole animal a very rich deep chefnut or dark
brown, rather paler beneath ; cheeks and throat paler
than the other parts, or more inclining to whitifh. It
inhabits Staten-Land»

CAVIA, or CAVY, of the Order of GLIRES.

O'^HE dillinguiiliing charadlers of this genus arc,
X two wedge-like cutting teeth in each jaw ; ge-
nerally four toes on the fore, and three on the hind^
feet; fliort ears, and no tail, or elfe a very fhort one.
Their pace is flow and creeping; and they are numer-
ous breeders, but fhort lived. Mr. Pennant reckons
eleven fpecies of this genus, which are as follow :

The CAPIBARA CAVY.

THE capibara has a very large and thick head and
nofe, fmall rounded ears, and large black eyes. Its
upper jaw is longer than the lower. It has two flrong
and great cutting teeth, and eight grinders in each
jaw. Each of thefe grinders forms, on its furface,
feemingly three teeth, each fiat at their ends. Its legs
are fhort; its toes are long; thefe are connected, near
their bottoms, by a fmall web, and guardsd at their
ends by a Ihiall hoof: it has no tail: the hair on the
body is fhort, rough, and brosvn : on its nofe it has
long and hard whifkers : it grows to the fize of a hog
©f two years old : it inhabits the country from the Ifth-

miis

R^lrjAed Jar^^.i^o^

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 425

tnus of Darien to the Brazils, and even to Paraguay,
and lives in fenny parts, not remote from the banks of
great rivers, fuch as the Oronoko, Amazon, and the
Rio de la Plata. It runs flowly, but fwims and dives
remarkably well, and keeps under water fo long, that
the hunters frequendy give up for loft thofe they have
been in chace of. It feeds on fruits and vegetables,
and is very dextrous in catching fifh, which it brings
on fhore, and eats at its eafe. It fits up, and holds
its prey with its fore-feet, feeding like an ape. They
keep always in pairs, a male and a female, or.elfe in
great herds, feed in the night, and commit great rava-
ges in gardens : they make a noife fomewhat like the
braying of an afs : they are of a gentle and peaceable
difpofition, eafily made tame, and grow very familiar.
Their flefh is eaten ; it is tender, but has an oily and
fiihy tafte^ in confequence of its food. BufFon thinks
they might be propagated in Europe.

The following are the fynonymes of this animal :
Caby-bara. Marcgrave Braftl. 230. Pifo Brajil. 99.
Rail Jyn. quad. 126. River hog. Wafer in JDampier,
'in. 400. Cochon d'eau. Des Manhais, iii. 314. Sus
maximus paluftris. Cabiai, cabionora. Barrere France
ALquin, 160. Capivard. Froger's voy. 99. Sus hy-
drochajris. S. plantis trydadylis cauda nulla. Lin.Jyfi.
IC3. Hydrochsrus, le cabiai. Bri/fon quad. So. BuffoHy
xii. 384. tab. xlix. Irabubos. Gumilla Or^noque, iii. 238.

The RESTLESS CAVY, or GUINEA PIG.

THIS fpecies, befides the generic charafVers already
enumerated, has its upper lip half divided: its ears are
very large, broad, and rounded at the fides ; its hair
is ere^t, not unlike that of a young pig ; its co!our is
white, or white varied with orange and black, in irre-
gular fpots : it has no tail ; it has four toes on the
fore-feet, and three on the hind. It inhabits Brazil.
Writers make no mention of its manners in a wild
• Vol. III. No. 43. 3 H ilatcj

4^6 NATURAL HISTORY

ftate ; but it is domefticated and well known in Europe,
as a reftlefs grunting little animal, perpetually running
from corner to corner. Ife feeds on bread, grain, and
vegetables ; breeds when two months old ; has young
every two months, and brings from four to twelve at a
time. A fingle pair might be multiplied, fo as to pro-
duce a thoufand within a year : they are fo prolific, that
they would be abfolutely innumerable, were not num-
bers of their young eaten by cats, and killed by the
males, or deftroyed by other means ; they are very ten-
der J multitudes of both young and old perifh with
cold or moifture j they never drink, though they fre-
quently urine: their temperament is very hot. When
under the influence of love, they are fufceptible of an-
ger, fight cruelly, and even kill each other, in difputing
the poffefTion of a female: they pafs their lives in
fleeping, eating, and amours: a kind of chirping noife
marks the time of thefe ; they raife a fharp cry when
they feel pain : their fleep is (hort, but frequent j they
cat precipitantly, like the rabbit, little at a time, but
often, every hour indeed, both day and night j and in-
dulge in mutual embraces as often as they eat : they
feed on all kind of herbs, but efpecially parfley, which
they prefer to grain or to bread ; they are likewifc
fond of apples and other fruits : their (kins are hardly
of any value, and their flefli, though eatable, is not fo
good as to be much demanded j but it might perhaps
be improved, by keeping them in warrens, where they
could have the benefit of frefh air, and the liberty of
choofing herbs agreeable to their tafte. Thofe kept in
houfes have nearly the fame tafte with warren rabbits :
thofe kept in gardens, during fummer, have an infipid,
but lefs difagreeable, favour. BufFon concludes their
character and hiftory thus : " By nature they are gentle
and tame ; they do no mifchief, but they are equally
jincapable of good, for they never form any attach-
ments J mild by conftitution, docile through weakncfs,
almoft infenfible to every objed j they have the ap-
pearance

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 427

pcanmce of living machines conftrucfled for the pur
pofes of propagation, and of rq^refenting a fpecies/'
They are called Guinea pigs in England, from a fup-
pofition that they came originally from that country.
Rats are faid to avoid their haunts. They ai-e called
by different authors as follows : Cuniculus vel por-
cellus Indicus. Gefiier quad^ 367. Caviacobayau Mm-c-
grave BrafL 224. Ptjo Brafd, 102, Mas fus cunicu-
lus Americanus et Guincenfa, porcelli pilis et voce, ca-
via cobaya. Raiijyn. quad, 223. Cavia cobaya ^ri?^/.
quibufdara miss Pharaonis. Tatu pilofus. Klein quad.
49. Mus porcellus. M . cauda nulla, paimis tetradac-
tylis, plantis tridadylis. Un.jy^. 79. Amcsn. Acad. iv.
J 90. tab. ii. Cunicuius ecaudatus, auritus albus, aut
rufizs, aut ex utroque variegatus. Brijpin quad, 1 02. Lc
<;ochon d'Inde. Buffon^ viii. 1^ tah, L

The rock CAVY, or APEREA.

THIS fpecies has al^ its upper lip divided, fliort
ears, four toes on the fore- feet, and three on the hind:
it has no tail : the colour of the upper part of its body
is black, mottled with tawny; but its throat and hd\y
are white : it is one foot in length, and inhabits Brazil,
Jiving in the holes of rocks, whence it is driven out,
and taken by dogs. For the table it is preferable te>
our heft rabbits ; its motions are like thofe of the
hare. Some of them refemble the hare in colour tooj
but the head is longer, and the ears are not above an
inch in length ; the fore- legs exceed not three inches,
thofe behind are a little longer. The f/nonymes of
this fpecies are as follow : Ajxrea, Braf.licnf.hus nobis
veldratte, vel bofchratte. KLrrc grave Br ajil. 122- P^Jo
Brafil. 103. Rail Jyn. quad, 206. Cavia aperea. Klein
quad. 50. Cunicuius ecaudatus auritus, ex cinereo ru-
fus^ Brijfonquad, loj. L'Aperea. Btiffon^yi^, 160.

3 H 2 Th«.

428 NATURAL HISTORY

The MAGELLANICA, or PATAGONIAN

CAVY.

THE ears of the Patr.gonian cavy are long and
much dilated near the bottom: its, upper lip is divi-
ded : on each fide of its nofe, there are tufts of foft
hair, and long whifkers : the tip of its nofe is black ;
its face, its back, and the fore parts of its legs, are ci-
nereous and ruft coloured; its breaft and fides are
tawny, its belly is of a dirty white : on each thigh it
' has a white patch : its rump is black, its legs are very
long, its claws are long, flrait, and black j it has four
on the fore- feet, three on the hind : its tail is a mere,
naked fiump. Some of thefe creatures weigh fix-and-
twenty pounds : they are found in plenty about Port
Defire in Patagonia : they hve in holes of the earth
like the rabbit: their flefli is of afnowy whitenefs, and
of an excellent flavour. Sir John Narborough, and
other voyagers, call it a hare.

The PACA, or SPOTTED CAVY.

'THIS fpecies hath the upper jaw longer than the
lower, large noftrils, long whifkers, fhort and naked
ears, and a thick neck : its hair is fhort and hard, and
on the upper part of the body dark brov/n : its fides, .
on the lower part, are marked lengthways with lines of
grey fpots: its belly is white: in fome, perhaps young
ones, the fides and fpots are of a pale yellow : it has
five toes on each foot, and only the mere rudiment of
a tail : its make and voice refemble thofe of a pig. In
fome places it is called the hog- rabbit. It inhabits
Brazil and Guiana, and lives in fenny places. It bur-
rows under ground, grows very fat, and is efteemed a
great delicacy in Brazil; even its fliin is eaten, like that
of a pig. it eats its meat on the ground, not fitting upas
fome others of this genus 'do. i^hey are difcovered by
dogs, who point out the places they lie in : the maf-

ter

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 409

ter digs over theni, and, when he comes near, trans-
fixes them with a knife; othcrwife they generally efcape.
When they hr.vc an opportunity, they >yiil bite dread-
fully. There is a variety of them quite white, found
on the banks of the river St. Francis.

Mr. Pennant fays, that in fize this fpecies meafijres
only ten inches ; but Buffon fays they are larger tliaa
any rabbit. Speaking of one that was kept in France,
" Though our animal (fays he) had not acquireid
his full growth, he was eighteen inches long in his na-
tural coi;tra6led fituation; but, when he extended hini-
felf, he was near two feet : his head, from the nofe to
the top of the front, was five inches 3 his eyes were
about two inches diftant: vv'hen upon his legs, his
height before was kv.en inches, behind about nir.c
inches and a half: the pofterior part of the body mca-
fured nineteen inches and a half in circumference, the
fore part only fourteen : five longitudinal rows of
white fpots ran along the fides, and approached each
Other at the extremities: his tail was hardly vifible:
upon fearchj we found a fmall button of two or three
inches long." The count gives a long detail of the
manner of living and a(5ling of the above animal,
which he kept in his houfe from the month of Auouft,
1774, to the 28th of May, 1775, during which pciiod
its fize continued to augment. Provided with a wooden
cage or box, it remained perfedly tranquil during the
day, efpecially when plentifully fupplied with food.
After feeding, he retired, of his own accord, to his
box ; but, when night approached, he difcovered a
violent inclination to get out. He was remarkably
cleanly, and, when about to void his excrements, he
always retired to the moft private ornerhe couid find.
All obfcure corners fcemed agreeable to him. He
would make himfelf a new neli in the bottom of an
open prefs, or under the kitchen grate ; and nothng
but force would make him leave his new abode : he
was fond of adulation, and licked the hand of the per-

fon

430 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

fon that careiled him : when gently ftroked on the
back, he ftretched himfelf out, and Jay down on his.
belly : his fkin was fo fenfible, th;if: the flightefl touch
was Sufficient to excite the mofl lively emotions. This
greatfenfibility produced fometimes the m oft violent pji-
roxyfiiis of paiTion : the bare %ht of an unknown dog
- was fufficientj he would dart fuddenly oi* the dog,
however innocent, and bite him feverely : he was apt
to treat people, with whom, he was not acquainted, in
the fame manner, if they tried to irritate him : he had
an averfion to children,, and purfued them: -he expref-
fed his paflion by chattering his teeth : he often fat on
his pofteriors, and Teemed to comb his head and whis-
kers with his paws, which he licked, and moiftened
with his filiva : in this operation, he often irfed both
paws at a time, and would afterwards drefs all his.
body : he would eat bread equally well, v/hether it had,
been foaked in water, wine, oi- vinegar. When fugar
or fruits were offered him, he expre/Ted his joy by
bounding and leaping : he ate, with equal relifh,
grapes, celery, onions, and garlic j he did not refufe
grafs, mofs, or the bark of trees : he would eat wood
even half charred : he feemed to like the fiefli of any
kind of food : he lapped like a dog. Mr. Buffbn
thinks he might be naturalized in Frai7ce ,- and ima-
gines, the introducing him would be a valuable acqui-
iition, as a fingie individual of this fpecies would fur-
nifh as much good meat as (kven or eight rabbits.
M. de la Borde fays, that there are two or three fy^~
cies of the cavy ai Cayenne, which are faid not to in-
termix. Some of thun wei^h from fourteen to twenty-
pounds, and others from twenty-five to thirt)'.

The fynonymes of the fpotted cavy, or names given
it by different authors, are as follow : Paca. Mare-
gyofue Brafil. 224. Pijo BrafA, loi. Dt? Lnei^ 484.
iVlus Brafilienfis magnus, porcelli pilis et voce, paca
didus. Rait fyn, quad. 226. Cavia paca. Kk'm quad,
50. Cuniculus major, paluftris, fafciis albis notatusv

1 Paca*

OF QJJ AD lU PED S, 431

"Paca. Marcgrave, Barrcre. France Mquin. 152. Mus
paca. M. Cauda abbreviata, pedibus pentadaftylis, la-
teribus flavefcenti-lineatis. Lin. fy(i. 81. Cuniculus
caudatis, auritus, pills obfcure fulvis, rigidis, lineis ex
olbo flavefcentibus ad latera diftine'lis. Brijfcn quad. 99,
Le paca. BiiffoUt x. 269. tab. xliii. Su;pplem. iii. 20J.
tub, xliii.

The bristly CAVY.

THIS rpecies hath fhort oval ears, covered within
and without with hair ; colour of the whole animal
above grev and ferruginous ; from the chin to the ex-
tremity of the belly white ; on the upper lip a ftrong
briftly muftachio, about three inches long j above the
efyes another tuft, two inches and two eighths long ;
all over the body are fcattered fimilar briftles, two
inches and a quarter m length j the toes are ilefhy, the
lower part naked, the upper covered with black hairs;
the claws fomewhat refemble nails, and are ill adapted
for burrowing; it has no tail; the length of the whole
animal is about feventeen inches.

This fpecies was firft taken notice of by Profper Al-
pinus, who calls it Agnus f.Uorum IJraei\ the daman
Ifrael of the Arabs. He fays that it is larger than a
rabbit, an objed of the chace, and that the flefh is
fweeter than that of the rabbit. It inhabits, according
to Mr. Bruce, mount Libanus, the mountain of the
fun in AbyiTinia, and in great numbers Cape Maho-
met on the Arabian gulph, not far to the eafr of Suez,
By Alpinus we find they are alfo inhabitants of /Eo-ypt,
They are gregarious, and (it by dozens on the great
ftones to ba(k in the fun, before the mouths of caves,
or clefts in the rocks, their places of refuge at the fif^ht
of man. They arejuftly fuppofed by Mr. Bruce x.o
have been the faphen (millranflated the coney) of
Holy Writ. Solomon fays, " The hills arc the re-
fuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies,"
See his faphen. " The (aphea (adds he) are but a

feeble

4.72 NATURAL HISTORY

feeble folk, yet make they their houfes in the rocks.'^
They retire into the depths of the clefts, and there
make themfelves a houfe j i. e. a neft of ftraw. Nei-
ther the Chriftians of Abyffinia, nor the Mahometans,
eat the flelh of thefe animals; but the Arabs of mount
L/ibanua, and of Arabia Petraja, ufe them as food. The
ftefn is as white as a chicken, and free from any rank-
nefs. Synonymes : Agnus filiorum Ifrael. Profp, Alp^
Algy-pt. i. 232. Daman Ifrael. Buffotty Suppl. vi. 276.
tab, xlii. Afhnoko. Brace's travels , v. 139. Hirax
Syriacus. Gmel. LAn.Jyft. 167. Schrebery tab, ccxi. B.

The LONG-NOSED CAVY.

THIS fpecies derives the name here given it from
the length of its nofe. Its upper lip is divided : it has
ihort rounded ears, and black eyes : its hair is hard and
fhining on the body, mixed with red, brown, and black :
its rump is of a bright orange colour, its belly is yel-
low : its legs are almofl: naked, flender, and black : it
has four toes on the fore- feet, three on the hind, a
fhort naked tail, and is of the fize of a rabbit : it in-
habits Brazil, Guinea, &:c. It grunts like a pig, and is
very voracious : it fits on its hind legs, and holds its
food with its fore- paws wJien it eats, and hides what it
cannot confume : it hops like a hare, and goes very
faft : v.'hen purfu^d, it takes fhelter in the hollow trees :
when angry, it fets up the hair on its back, and ftrikes
the ground with its hind feet : both its eye and its
ear are very fine : it ftops and liftcns to the found of
muiic: it is capable of being tamed, and is eaten by the
inhabitants of South America: they annually produce
two or three, but generally two : they feem to require
a v;arm climate, in order to fubfift and multiply : they
remain in their holes during the night, uniefs the moon
fnines bright i but rhey run about during moil: of the
day. M. de la Borde fays it is the moft coinmoh qua-
druped in Guiana, and multiplies as fail as the rabbit;

thae

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 433

that they are eafily tamed, and return to the houfe of
their own accord.

Synonymes. — AgutI vel acuti. Marcgrave Brqfih
224, Pifo BrafiU 1 02. Acuti ou agoutis. Laet^ 484.
Rochefort Antilles, \. 287. Miis fylveftris America-
nus cuniculi magnitudlne, pills et voce porcelli, aguti.
Rail Jyn. quad. 226. Cavia aguti. M. cauda abbre-
viata, palmis tetradadylis, plantistridadylis, abdominc
flavefcente. Lin. Jyft. 80. Cuniculus caudatus, auri-
bus, pilis ex rufo et fufco mixtris rigidis veftitus. Erif-
Jon quad. 98. L'agouti. Buffon^ viii. 375. tab. 1. Small
Indian coney. Brown* s Jamaica^ 484. Long-nofed rab-
bit. Wafer's voy. in Dampier, in. 401. Cuniculus om-
nium vulgatiflimus, aguti vulgo. Barrere France Al-
quin, 153.

The olive CAVY.

THIS is a fpecies of the cavy of an olive colour,
lefs than the former, and more delicate eating. It inha-
bits Guiana, and the iflands of St. Lucia and Grenada.
It lives on fruits in the wooAj, but is eafily made tame :
it makes a cry, but very rarely, like the reftlefs cavy :
it abhors water.

Synonymes :---Cunicu!us minor caudatus, oliva-
ceus, akouchy. Barrere France ^quin. 153. Des Mar-
chaisj iii. 303. L'akouchy. Buffon, xv. 258. Suppl. Hi,
211. Sab. xxxvi.

The JAVAN CAVY.

THE Javan cavy has a ilender fmall head, promi-
nent naked ears, rounded at the tops : its hair is very
ftiff, hke briftles, efpecially on the back, and reddifh
on the upper part of the body : its breaft and belly
are white, its legs are long, its hind parts are large:
it has four toes on the fore- feet, three on the hind ;
and is of the (ize of a hare. It inhabits Surinam, and
the hotter parts of South America, where it is a com-
mon article of food. Its flefh is white, but dry. It
Vol. III. No. 43. 3 I is

434 NATURAL HISTORY

is not found in Sumatra as Catefby aflerts, nor in Java,
notwithftanding its name.

Synonymes.--- Java hare. Catejhy Carolina^ Afp. tab.
xviii. Cavia Javenfis. i^/^/> ^a^(^. 50. Cuniculus cau-
datus auritus, rufefco admixto. Brijfon quad. 98. Mus
Jeporinus. Lin. Jyft. 80. Cunicula Americanus. Seb,
Muf. i. 67. tab. xlii. fig. 1.

The CAPE CAVY.

THIS fpecies, well known at the Cape of Good
HopCj where they are found in great abundance among
the rocky mountains, like feveral of the others, bur-
rows under ground, has a flow creeping pace, and a
fharp voice, which is often repeated. It is diftinguifh-
ed by a thick head, and full cheeks, and oval ears, half
hid in its fur : its head is the colour of a hare, the top
of the back dufky, mixed with grey ; its fides and bel-
ly are of a vvhitifli grey : its toes are like thofe of the
refl:, and its tail is fcarcely vifible : it is of the fize of a
rabbit, but the fhape of the body thick and clumfy j its
flefh is efteemed very good meat.

Synonymes^ — Cavia capenfis. Pallas Mijcel. ZooL
30. tab. ii. Spicil. 16. tab. ii. Africaanfch bafterd-
mormeldier. Vojmaer Mo}wgr. Buffon Supplem. iii. 177,
fisb. xxix.

The musk CAVY.

THE upper part of the body of the mufk cavy is of
a black or tan colour : its belly is white : it is almofl: as
big-as a rabbit, and inhabits Martinico and the reft of
the Antilles : it burrows like the rabbit, and fmells fo
ftrong of mufk, that its retreat may be traced by the
perfume. This is rather an obfcure fpecies, and has
not been hitherto accurately examined and defcribed by
any naturalift ; fo that it remains for thofe who have
ikill and opportunity to elucidate its hiftory.

Synonyraes

O F QJLJ A D R U P E D S. 435

Synonymes.---Les rats mufques, piloris. Rochefort
Antilles y i. 20^. Du Tertre hift. Antilles ii. 302. Buf-
fon, X. 2. '

LEPUS, the HARE and RABBIT, of the Order

of GLIRES.

THE charadleriftics of this genus are, two cutting
■ teeth in each jaw, a fhort tail, or none j five toes
before, and four behind. This genus contains twelve
fpecies befides feveral fubordinate varieties; and they
may be divided into two clafTes, thofe with, and thole
without, tails. They are as follow :

The common HARE.

THE hare is a well known animal. Its long ears

are tipt with black, its eyes are very large and promi-
nent, its chin is white, and it has long white whi/kers:
the hair or fur on its face, back, and fides, is white at
the bottom, black in the middle, and tipt with tawny
red : its throat and breaft are red, its belly white j its
tail is black above, and white beneath ; its feet are co-
vered with hair even at the bottom. A large hare
weighs eight pounds and a half. It is faid, in the Ifle
of Man fome have been known to weigh twelve. Per-
haps the hares in that ifland are larger nearly in the
fame proportion as the native breed of horfes are lefs
than others. The length of a common hare, from the
nofe to the tail, is two feet. It inhabits all parts of
Europe, mofi: parts of Afia, Japan, Ceylon, Egypt,
and Barbary. It is a v/atchful timid animal, always lean,
and runs fwifter up hill than on even ground j hence,
when itarted, it endeavours to run up hill. It frequent-
ly efcapes the hounds by various artful doublings. It
keeps all day in its feat, and feeds by night : it return?
to its form by the fame road that it left it ; it does
not pair. Their rutting feafon is February or March,
when the male purfues the female by the fagacity of

:J I 2 it9

436 NATURAL HISTORY

its nofe : they breed often in the year, go with young
only thirty or thirty-one days, and bring three or four
&t a time : they admit the male during the time of their
geftation, and have frequently fuperfetations. The
male and female are liable to be miftaken the one for
the other. The mother fuckles her young about
twenty days. Their fur is of great ufe in the miinufac-
ture of hats. They are very fubjeA to fleas j yet the
Dalecarlians make a cloth of the fur, which, it is faid,
preferyes the wearer from their attacks.

Hares feed on vegetables, and are very fond of th6
bark of young trees, except that of the alder and lime,
which, it is faid, they never touch : they are great lo-
vers of birch, parfley, and pinks. Their flefh was a
forbidden food among the ancient Britons ; the Ro-
mans, on the contrary, held it in great efteem:
Infer quad-rupedes gloria prima lepus,

was the opinion of Martial; and Horace, who was
likewife a bon vivanf, fays, that every man of taite muft
prefer the wing :

Fectmdi leporis Jafiens Je5lahitur armos.

Even at prefent the flefh of the female is preferred to
that of the male ; and that of thofe bred on dry hilly
ground to that of thofe that refide In marfhy or wet
places.

The hare and the rabbit afix)rd to man the double
advantage arlfing from their number and utility. Hares
fleep much, but always with their eyes open. They
have neither eye-Tds nor eye-la(hes : their eyes feem
to be bad, but they have an acute {eni^ of hearing, and
enormous ears in proportion to the fize of their bodies,
Thefe long ears they move with great facility, and em-
ploy them as a rudder to dire6l their -(:ourfe, which is
fo rapid, that they outilrip all other aninials. The pe-
riod of their natural life is faid to be about ^&vQn years;
but, it is faid, the males live longer than the females :
il.ey paf^ their days in foiitude and filence^ frec^uently
3 in

OF QUADRUPEDS. 437

in fear and trembling ; as a falling leaf is fufficlent to
alarm them : their voice is never heard but when they
are feized or wounded : it is a fharp loud cry, and has
fome refemblance to the human voice. They are eafily
tamed, but never acquire that degree of attachment
which is neceffary to make them domefticj they always
take the firft opportunity of regaining their liberty : they
have been trained to beat a drum, to perform geftures
in cadence, &c. they want not inft:in<5t fufficient for
their own prefervation, nor fagacity for efcaping their
enemies. The fportfman has frequent opportunities
of obfervation, and can recount many inftances of theic
furprifing fagacity, though they have not all equal ex-
perience and cunning. They turn more or lefs white
with age. They are thought to be larger and ftronger,
in proportion to the coldnefs of the climate. A oer-
petual enmity is carried on againft them, not only by
men and d:gs, but alfo by cats, foxes, wolves, and
birds of pvey, fuch as owls, buzzards, vultures, and
eagles ; fo that it is almoft a miracle that any of them
efcape deftruftion.

There have been feveral inftances of what may be
called monfters in this fpecies, horned hares, having
excrefcences growing out of their heads, the likeft of
any thing to the horns of the roebuck. Such inftances
have occurred in Saxony; and Dr. Pallas adds another
found near Aftracan. In Cook's voyages mention is
made of ftraw-coloured animals like dogs, which run
like hares, in New Holland.

Synonymes. -— Lepus. Plinii lib. viii. c, 55. Gefner
quad, 605. Rait Jyn. quad. 204. Hafe, Klein quad,
51. Lepus timidus. L. cauda abbreviata auriculis a-
pice nigris ? Linjyfi. 77. Hafe, Faun. Juec. No. 25.
■ Lepus caudatus ex cinereo rufus. Bri£hn quad. 94,
Le iievre. Buffon^ vi. 246. tah. xxxviii. Br. Zool. i.
No 20. Arnaeb. Forjkal. iv. Lev. MuJ. in which are
feveral curious varieties of coloured hares.

Ths

43« NATURAL HISTORY

The varying HARE.

THE varying hare has a foft down upon it, which
is grey in fummer, with a flight mixture of black and
tawny : its ears are fliorter, and its legs more flendcr
than thofe of the common hare j its tail is entirely-
white, even in fummer ; its feet are moft clofely and
warmly covered with fur. In winter, the whole ani-
mal changes to a fnowy whitenefs, except the tips and
edges of the ears, which remain black ; as do alfo the
foles of the feet, on which, in Siberia, the fur is doubly
thick. It is lefs than the common fpecies. It inha-
bits the higheft Scottifh Alps, Norway, Lapland, KuC-
fia, Siberia, Kamfchatka, the banks of the Wolga, and
Hudfon's Bay. In Scotland, it keeps on the tops of
the higheft hills, and never defcends into the vales, nor
mixes with the common hares. It does not run fail:,
but takes flicker in the clefts of rocks j it is eafily
tamed, is full of frolic, and fond of honey, and cara-
way comfits ; it eats its own dung before a ftorm ; it
changes its colour in September, and refumes its grey
coat in April. In the extreme cold of Greenland only,
it is always white. Both this and the preceding fpe-
cies are common in Siberia, and on the banks of the
Wolga. The one never changes colour, the other, a
native of the fame place, conftantly afllimes the white-
nefs of the fnow during the winter. This it does, not
only in the open air and in a ftate of liberty; but, as
has been proved by experiment, even when kept tame
and prefervedin apartments kept warm with ftoves, in
which it experienced the fame changes of colour, as if
jt had remained on the fnowy plains.

They aflemble, and are ken in troops of five or fix
hundred migrating in fpring, and returning in autumn.
Compelled by the want of fubfiftence, they quit in win-
ter the lofty hills, and feek the plains and wooded
parts, whe-j-e vegerables abound. Towards fpring, they
return to their mountain quarters. Mr, Muller fays

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 439

he once faw two black hares in Siberia, of a wonderful
fine glofs, and of as full a black as jet. Another of
the fame kind was taken near Cafan in the winter of
1768. Thefe fpecimens were much larger than the
common kind. In the fouthern and weftern parts of
Ruflia, there is a mixed breed of hares, between this
and the common fpecies. It fuftains, during winter
only, a partial lofs of colour. The fides, and more
expofed parts of the ears and legs, in that feafon, be-
come white J the other parts retain their colour. This
variety is unknown beyond the Urallian Chain. It
is called by the Ruffians ruflack : they take them in
great numbers in fnares, and export their flcins to Eng-
land, and other places, for the manufadure of hats.
The Ruffians and Tartars, like the ancient Britons,
hold the flefh of hares in deteftation, efteeming it im-
pure ; that of the variable hare, in its white itate, is
exceffively infipid.

Synonymes. — Lepus hieme albus. Forfter. h'lfi. nat^
Volgas. Phil, l^ranf. Ivii. 343. Alpine hare. Br. ZooL
i. No. 20. Lepus variabilis. Pallas. nonj.Jp. i.

The AMERICAN HARE.

THESE have their ears tipt with grey, the upper
part of the tail black, the lower white i the neck and
body mixed with afh, ruft colour, and black: their legs
are of a pale ferruginous colour, their belly white; their
fore-legs are fhorter, and their hind ones longer, in
proportion, than thofe of the common hare: they mea.
fure eighteen inches in length, and weigh from three
to four pounds and a half: they inhabit all parts of
North America. In New Jerfey, and the colonies to
the fouth of that province, they retain their colour du-
ring the whole year : but to the northward, on the ap-
proach of winter, they change their fhort (ummer fur,
for one very long, filky and filvery, even to the roots,
the edges of the ears only prefcrving their colour. At
that time it is in the higheft feafon tor the tabic, and is

cf

440 NATURAL HISTORY

of vaft ufe to thofe who winter in Hudfon's Bay, where
they are taken in great abundance in fpringes made of
brafs wire, placed in hedges, conftruded on purpofe,
with holes before the fnares for the hares or rabbits to
pafs through.

They breed once or twice a^^fear, and have from
five to feven at a time : they do not migrate, like the
preceding, but always haunt the fame places : they do
notburrow, but lodge under fallen timber, and in hollow
trees : they breed in thegrafs, but, in the fpring, ihel-
ter their young in hollow trees, to which they alfb run
when purfued. The hunters force them out of thofe
retreats, by means of a hooked ftick, or by making a
fire, and driving them out by the fmoke. It is called
hedge-coney, Lawjony 122. Catejby, App. xxviii.

The rabbit.

THE ears of the rabbit are almoft naked : the co-
lour of its fur, in a wild ftate, is brown j its tail black
above, and white beneath : in a tame ftate, it varies to
black, pied, and quite white : of thefe laft, the eyes arc
of a fine red. It inhabits, in a wild ftate, the tempe-
rate and the warm parts of Europe, and even the hot-
teft' parts of Afia and of Africa. It is not originally
Britifti, but fucceeds here admirably well. It will not
live in Sweden, and the northern countries, except it
be kept in houfes. Strabo tells us, that they were im-
ported into Italy from Spain. They are not natives
of the weftern hemifphere, but have been carried thi-
ther, and increafe greatly in South America. They arc
exceedingly prolific j they breed (^wtn times in a year,
and produce eight young at a time. If we fuppofe this
to happen regularly, one pair may produce in four
years the amazing number of one million two hundred
and feventy-four thoufand eight hundred and forty.
They are ftill more prolific than the common hare*
Thefe two fpecies, though fimilar, never intermix^
Rabbits pair, and arc faid to be faithful to their mates.

They

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 441

They live to the age of eight or nine years. A French
gentleman, who amufed himfelt long with rearing rab-
bits, and obferving their manners, remarked, that the
offspring paid great deference to their firft hither. Up-
on a call, which they were accullomed to obey, he al-
ways put himfelf at their head, and arrived firft. He
then llood at the mouth of their hole till they had all
got in. In warrens, they keep in their holes during
the middle of the day, and come out in the morning
and evening to feed. The males arc apt to deftroy the
young ; but their holes proted them from thofe ene-
mies that deflroy fuch vaft numbers of young hares.
Their fkins are a great article of commerce ; vaft num-
bers of them are exported to China : their fur, Lke
that of the other hares, is of great ufe in the hat ma-
nufadture.

The Angora rabbit, like the goat and cat of the
fame place, is remarkable for the elegance of its hair,
which is long, waved, and of a lilky finenefs.

The hooded rabbit is another variety flill more fin-
gular. It has a double fkin over its back, into which
it can withdraw its headj and another under its throat,
into which it can withdraw its fore-feet : it has fmali
holes in the loofe {idn on its back, to admit light to its
eyes when its head is covered : its body is afh- colour-
ed; its head and ears brown. It is preferved in the
Mufeum, infcribed " A Ruffian rabbit ;" though Mr.
Pennant fays it is unknown in that empire.

Synonymes. — Cuniculu's. Plimi^ lib. viii. c. 55.
Gefner quad. 362. AgricfAa An. Siibt. 482. Rabbit, or
coney. Rail fyn. quad. 205. Lepufculus, cuniculus
terram fodiens, kaninchen. Klein quad. 52. Lepus cu-
niculus. L. Cauda abbreviata, auriculis nudatis. Lin.
Jyft. 77. Kanin. Faun.fuec. No. 26. Br. Zocl. i. No.
11. Lepus caudatus, obfcure cinereus. BriJJln quad,
95. Le lapin. Bufjlny vi. 303. tab. 1. li.

Vol. III. No. 43. 3 ^ Trne

442 NATURAL HISTORY

The BAIKAL HARE.

THE tail of the Baikal hare is longer than that of
the rabbit j in the male, the cars are longer in propor-
tion than thofe of the varying hare -, its fur is of the
fame colour with that of the common hare. It is red
about the neck and feet : its tail is black above, and
white beneath : its flze is between that of the common
and that of the varying hare. The name here given it
marks its country. It extends from the lake Baikal as
far as Thibet. The Tanguts call it rangwo, and con-
fecrate it to the fpots of the moon. It agrees with the
common rabbit in the colour of its flefh, but does
not burrow. When purfued, it runs for fhelter ftrait
to the hole of the rocks, without any circuitous doub-
lings, like thofe of the common hare ; fo that it agrees
in nature neither with the hare nor the rabbit. The
Mongols call it tolai. Its fur is bad, and is of no ufe
in commerce.

Synonymes. — Cuniculus iniigniter caudatus, colo-
rls leporini. Nov. Comp. Petrop, v. 357. tab. xi. Lepus
Cauda in fupina parte nigra in prona alba. Brijfon quad,
.97. Le tolai. Buffhnjy.v. 138.

The cape HARE.

THE long ears of the Cape hare are dilated in the
middle. On the outfide they are naked, and of a rofe
colours the infide and edges are covered with fhort grey
hair: its crown and back are dufky, mixed with tawny ;
its cheeks and fides afh-coloured j its breait, belly, and
legs, ruft-coloured : its tail, which it carries upwards,
is of a pale ferruginous colour : it is of the fize of a
rabbit, and inhabits the country for three days march
north of the Cape of Good Hope. It is there called
the mountain hare; for it lives only in the rocky
mountains, and does not burrow. It is difficult to
Ihoot it, as, on the fight of any one, it inftantly runs

in 10

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 445

into the fifTures of the rocks. The fame fpecles pro-
bably extends as high as Senegal.

Allied to this, feems the vifchachas, mentioned by
Acofta and Feuillee in their accounts of Peru. They
compare them to hares or rabbits, and fay, that they
inhabit the colder parts of the country j that their hair
is very foft, and of a moufe colour; that the tail is
pretty long, and turned up ; that the cars and whif-
kers are like thofe of the common rabbit. In the time
of the Incas, their hair was fpun, and wove into cloth,
which was fo fine, as to be ufed only by the nobility. It
is called Lepus Capenfis. L. cauda longitudine capitis,
pedibus rubris. Lin. Jyft, 78.

The VISCACCIA.

THIS hath the appearance of a rabbit, excepting
the tail j in that part and colour it is like a fox ; the
tail is long, and turned up, and covered with coarfc
hair ; the reft of the hair foft j fize fuperior to that
of a rabbit.

Inhabits Peru and Chili ; lives under ground, and
forms two burrows one above the other j in the one it
keeps its provifions, in the other fleeps ; goes out only
in the night ; its flefii is white and tender. The an-
cient Peruvians made fluffs of the hair, which were fa
fine as to be worn only by the nobility. In Chili it
^oes into the hat-manufadory ; its tail is its weapon of
defence. It is called Lepus vifcaccia. Molina Chili,
289. Acofta in Purchas's Pilgrims, iii. 966. Feuillee
PerUy 1725. p. 32. Garcilajfo de la Vega^ 331.

The C U Y.

THIS hath a conoid body j ears fmall, pointed, and
covered with hair ; nofe long j tail fo fhort as fcarcely
to be feen j is domefticated, and varies in colour to
white, brown, and fpotted with divers colours; fur
very line; fize of a field moufe.

3 K 2 Inhabits

444 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

Inhabits Chili; breeds every month, and brings
from fix to eight young; is delicate eating. It is
termed Lepus pufiilus. Molina Chili. 288.

The BRAZILIAN HARE.

THE Brazilian hare, like the common kind, has
very large ears, and a white ring round its neck. Its
face is of a reddifh colour, its chin is white, its eyes are
black, and its colour like that of the common hare,
only a little darker; its belly is whitifli i it has no tail,
and fome want the ring round the neck. They live
in the woods, and are very prolific ; and are reckoned
very good meat : they do not burrow. They are
found both in Brazil and in Mexico, where they are
called citli.

Synonyraes. — Tapeti. Marcgrave Brafil. ii';^. Pijo
Brafil. IC2. Cunicul us 5r^y?/zV/^//j tapeti didus. Rail
Jyn. quad. 205. hepus Bra/ilie?i/is. L. cauda nulla. Lin,
jyfi, 78. Lepus ecaudatus. Bri£on quad. 97. Le tapeti.
Bufcjt^ xvi. 162. Collar'd rabbit. fVafer's voy, in
Damper i iii. 401.

The alpine HARE.

THE Alpine hare has fhort brown 1 ounded ears, a
long head, and very long whi/kers, v/ith two very long
hairs above each eye. Its fur is ferruginous, tipt v ith
white, and intermixed with feveral long dufky hairs j
but, at the firft look, the whole animal Teems of a
bright bay. It is only about nine inches long. They
are firfi it^w on the Altaic Chain, and extend to lake
Baikal in Tartary, and from thence to Kamtfchatka and
the Fox Ifles. They inhabit always the middle region
of the fnowy mountains, in the rougheit phtces, wood-
ed, and abounding with herbs and moilture. They
fomctimes b urrov/ ; but are more frequently found in
crevices between the rocks, in pairs, or more; accord-
ing to conveniency. In cloudy weather they affcmble

and

t^/?/2'/MJ^nijfJ^/af^. 9 t^AeS^<^ime . '^uW:^^^//^'laft/tfi^J^ir?'('.4t ^^>ot//'///hiHn'/

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 445

and He on the rocks, and emit a found, fo like tliat of
fparrow, as to deceive the hearer. On the report of a
gun, they run into their holes ; but foon come out
again, fuppofing it to be thunder, to which they are fo
inuch ufed in their lofty habitations. By wonderful
inftin^l, they make a provifion againft the rigorous
feafon in their inclement feats. Towards autumn a com-
pany of them colled vaft heaps of choice herbs and
grhffes, nicely dried, which they place either beneath
the overhanging rocks, or in the chafms, or round the
trunk of fome tree : the way to thefe heaps is marked
by a worn path : the heaps are formed like conoid ricks
of hay, and are of various fizes, according to the num-
ber of the fociety employed in forming them : they are
fcmetim.es of a man's height, and many feet in diame-
ter, but ufually about three- feet. Thus, they wifely
provide their winter's flock, otherwife they muft pe-
rifli, being prevented by the depth of fnow from c|uit-
ting their retreats in quejR: of food.

They feled the beil: of vegetables, and crop them
when in the fulleft vigour : thefe they make into the
bcft and greeneft hay, by the judicious manner in which
thev dry them : thefe ricks too are the origin of ferti-
lity amidft the rocks.; for their remains, mixed with
the dung of the animals, rotting, in the otherwife bar-
ren chafms, creates a foil productive of vegetables.
Theie ricks are alfo of great fervice to thofe men who
devote themfclves to the laborious employment of fable
hunting. Being obliged to go far from home, their
horfes would often perifh for want, if not fupported by
the provifions of thefe induftrious little animals. The
people of Jakutz are faid to feed both their horfes and
cattle with the reliques of the winter iiock of thefe
hares. Such fupply may be ferviceable to fome in the
fpring, when their own ftock is exhaufted; but, (hould
they depend folely on thefe feeble mountaineers, they
would deferve to lofe both horfes and cattle every
hard winter.

Thefe

446 N A T U R A L n I S T O R Y

Thefe hares are negledled as food by man; but they
are the prey of fables, and of the Siberian weafel, which
are joint inhabitants of the fame mountains. They are
iikewife greatly infefted by a fort of gadfly, which, in
Auguft and September, lodges its eggs in their fkin,
and often proves fatal to thefe feeble and defencelefs,
though induftrious, creatures. It is called Lepus Al-
pinus. Pallas J no v. fp. fafc. i. 52. tai?, ii. Ilin, ii. 701.
ialf. A. Zimmerman.

The OGOTONA HARE.

THE Ogotona hare has oblong oval ears, a little
rounded ; ihorter whifkers than the former fpecies, fur
long and fmooth, light grey in the middle, white at
the ends, intermixed with a few dulky hairs, with a
ycliowilh fpot on the nofe, and a fpace about the rump
of the fame colour: its limbs alfo are yellowifh on the
outfides, and its belly white. It is only about fix
inches long. The male weighs from fix ounces and a
half to kw^n and a quarter; the female, from four to
four and three quarters. It inhabits the fame countries
as the Alpine hare, and lives in the open vallies, and
on gravelly or rocky naked mountains, under heaps of
ftones ; but in a findy foil they burrow, leaving two or
three entrances. Their holes run obliquely ; in thefe
they make their nefts of fliort grafs : they wander out
cliiefly in the night : their voice is exceflive fhrill, in a
Eote like that of a fparrow, twice or thrice repeated, but
very eafily to be diftinguiihed from that of the Alpine
hare : they are fond of the bark of the fervice tree,
and of the dwarf elm. Before the approach of fevere
cold, they collect great quantities of herbs, and fill
their holes with them. Diretfted by the fame inftindl
as the former fpecies, they form, in autumn, their
ricks of hay, of a hemifpherical form, about a foot
high and wide. In the fpring, thefe elegant heaps dif-
ap'pcar. They copulate in the fpring. About the lat-
ter end of June, their young are obferved to be full

grown.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 447

grown. They are the prey of hawks, magpies, and
owls ; but the cat manul makes the greateft havock
among them. The ermine and fitchet are equally their
enemies. It is called Lepus Ogotona. Pallas nov. fp.
fafc, i. 59. tab. iii.

The calling HARE.

THIS fpecies, called by the Tartars itt{itfkan,or the
barking moufe, has a longer head in proportion to its
llze, which is very diminutive, than is ufual with hares :
the head is thickly covered with fur, even to the tip of
the nofe : it has large whifkers ; its ears are large and
rounded ; its legs are very fhort, and its foles are fur-
red beneath : its whole coat is very long, foft, and
fmooth, with a thick long fine down beneath, of a
brownifh lead colour : the hair is of the fame colour,
of alight grey towards the ends, and tipt with black :
the lower parts of the body are hoary ; the fides and
ends of the fur are yellowifh : its length is about fix
inches ; its weight from three ounces and a quarter
to four and a half : in winter they are fcarcely two and a
half. They inhabit the fouth-eaft parts of RufTia; but
are found no where, in the eaft, beyond the river O by:
they delight in funny vallies, and hills covered with
herbs, efpecially thofe near the edges of woods, to
which they run on any alarm : they live fo concealed a
life, as very rarely to be feen j but are often taken in
winter in fnares laid for the ermines : they choofe, far
their burrows, a dry fpot, amidft bufhes, covered with
a firm fod, preferring the v/eftern fides of the hills :
their places would fcarcely be known, but for their ex-
crements ; and even thofc they drop, by a wife inftind,
under fome bufh, left their dwellings fhould be difco-
covered by their enemies among the animal creation.
It is their voice alone that betrays their abode : their
cry is like the piping of a quai), but deeper ; and (o
loud, as to be heard at the diftance of half a German
mile ; it is repeated, by juft intervals, thrice, four

J times.

44S NATURAL HISTORY

times, and often fix : this cry is emitted at night, and
in the morning; but feldom in the day, except in rainy
or cloudy weather : it is common to both (exes ; but
the female is filent for fome time after parturition,
which happens about the beginning of May: fhe brings
forth fix at a time, blind and naked ; (he fuckles them
often, and covers them carefully with the materials of
her neft. Thefc moft harmlefs and inoffenfive crea-
tures never go far from their holes : they feed and make
their little excurfions by night; drink often, fieep little,
and are eafily made tame : they will fcarcely bite when
handled ; yet the males have been obferved, when in
confinement, to attack each other, and to exprefs their
anger by a grunting noifc. It 'S called Lepus pufillus.
Pallas J Nov. fp. i. 31. tab. i. Nov. Com. Petrop. xiii,
531. tab, xiv. Zimmerman.

CASTOR, the B E A V E R, of the Order of

GLIRES.

THE diftinguifiiing charaftcrs of this genus of qua-
drupeds arc, tw^Q cutting teeth in each jaw, thofe
in the upper truncated, and hollowed in a tranfvcrfe
angular diredlion ; they have five toes on each foot ;
the tail comprefi^ed, and covered with fcales. There
are only three fpecies of this genus of animals.

The fiber, or CASTOR BEAVER.

THIS wonderful animal has fi;rong cutting teeth,
well adapted for the purpofes for which nature dcfigned
them ; fhort ears hid in its fur, a blunt nofe, hair of a
deep chefnut brown, a tail broad, almoft oval, com-
prefled or flatted horizontally, and covered with fcales.
Its fore- feet are fmall, the hind ones are large : its
length from nofe to tail is about three feet: its tail is
eleven inches lonor and three broad. It inhabits Eu-
rope, from Lapland to Languedoc : they are found in
great plenty in the north : a few are yet found in the

Rhone,

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 449

Rhone, the Garden, the Danube, the Rhine, and the
Viftula. They abound in the Afiatic part of the Ruf-
fian empire; and are found in companies on the rivers
that flow into the Oby. They are met with difperfed,
or in the ftate of terriers, as thofe are called, in the
wooded parts of Independent Tartary, and in the
mountains which border on Siberia. None of them
are to be d^en in Kamfchatka, owing to the interrup-
tion of the woods, beyond the river Kowyma; nor
yet in the new difcovered iflands weft of that country :
only in the ifle of Kadjak, the neareft to America, fome
fkins have been procured by the Ruffians, which pro-
bably were got by the natives from America, in whofe
northern parts they are found in prodigious abundance.

They are the moft induftrious of all animals. No-
thing equals the art with which they ccnftruct their
dwellings : they choofe a level piece of ground, with a
fmall rivulet running through it : this they form into a
pond, by making a dam acrofsj firft by driving in the
ground ftakes five or fix feet long, placed in rows, wat-
tling each row with pliant twigs, and filling the inter-
ftices with clay or mortar, ramming it down clofe. The
fide next the water is fioped, the other is perpendicular.
The bottom of the dam-dike is from ten to twelve
feet thicks but the thicknefs gradually diminifhes, ow-
ing to the flope on the one fide. At the top, it is a-
bout two or three feet thick. The length of thefe dams
is fometimes not lefs than an hundred feet.

Their houfes are made in the water, collefhed by the
dam, and are placed near the edge or fiiore : they are
built on piles, and are either round or oval; but their
tops are vaulted ; fo that their infi.^e refembles an oven,
the top a dome. The walls are two feet thick, made
of earth, ftones, and fticks, mofl: artificially laid toge-
ther, and as neatly plaiftered as with a trowel. In each
houfe there are two openings, one to the water, the
other towards the land : the height of thefe houfes
above the water is eight feet : they frequently make

Vol. in. No, 44. 3 L two

450 NATURAL HISTORY

two or three ftories in each dwelling, for the conve-
nience of change, in cafe of floods. Each houfe con-
tains from two to thirty beavers ; and the number of
houfes in each pond, is from ten to twenty- five. Each
beaver forms its bed of mofs ; and each family forms
its magazine of winter provifion, which confifts of bark
and boughs of trees. This they lodge under water,
and fetch into their apartments, as their wants require.
Lawfon in his hiftory fays, they are fondeft of the faf-
fafras, afh, and fweet gum. Their fummer food is
leaves, fruits, and fometimes crabs and craw-fifh: but
they are not fond of fiib, and will not eat flefh.

To effedt thefe works, a community of two or three
hundred afiembles ; each bears a fhare in the labour :
fome, by gnawing with their teeth, fell trees of great
fize, to form beams or piles i thefe are gnawed all round,
in as regular a manner as a cutter cuts in felling a tree,
bringing the bottom of the wood to a point : others
roll the pieces along to the water : fome dive, and, with
their feet, fcrape holes to place them in; while others
exert their eff^orts to rear them in their proper places.
Another party is employed in colledling twigs to wattle
the piles with ; a third in colledting earth, ftones, and
clay; a fourth is bu/ied in beating and tempering the
mortar : others in carrying it on their broad tails to
proper places, and, with the fame inflrument, they ram
it between the piles, or plaifter the infide of their
houfes. A certain number of fmart ftrokes with the
tail, is a fignal given by the overfeer, for repairing to
fuch and fuch places, either for mending any defers,
or on the approach of an enemy i and the whole fo-
ci-^ty attend to it with the utmofl- care. Their time of
building is early in the fummer; for in the v/inter they
never ilir but to their mngazines of provifions ; and,
during that feafon, they are very fat. They breed
only once a-year, and bring forth, in the latter end of
winter, two or three young at a birth.

Befides

es^-tnLJj

AiKrHttlOrc^tjfcfl.

OF QJLTADRUPEDS. 451

Befides thefe aflbclated beavers, there is another fort,
called terriers, which either want induftry or fagacity
to form houfes Hke the others. They burrow in the
banks of rivers, making the mouth of their holes be-
neath the freezing depth of the water, and work up for
a great number of feet. Thefe alfo form a winter ftock
of provilions.

Beavers vary in their colours : the fineft are black ; but
the general colour is a chefnut brown, more or lefs dark:
fome have been found, but very rarely, entirely white;
others fpotted : their fkins are a prodigious article of
trade, being the foundation of the hat manufadorv.
There were fold, in a fingle fale of the Hudfon's Bay
Company in 1763, no fewer than fifty-four thoufand
fix hundred and feventy ikins. They are diftinguifh-
ed by different names. Coat beaver is what lias been
worn by the Indians; parchment beaver, has its name
from its refemblance to parchment ; but Itage beaver
is the worft, and is that which the Indians kill out of
feafon in their (lages or journies.

The valuable drug caftoreum is taken from the in-
guinal glands of thefe animals. The Ruffian cafto-
reum fells for two guineas a pound; the American for
eight fhillings and fixpence only; yet vaft numbers of
beavers flcins are imported to Ruffia. Their flefh is
reckoned good eating, being preferved, after the bones
are taken out, by drying it in the fmoke. The an-
cients had a notion that the caftoreum was lodf^ed in
the tefticles, and that the animal, when hard purfued,
Vv'ould bite them off", and leave them to its purfuers, as
if confcious of what they v/anted to deftroy him for :

Imitatus cafloray qui Je
Eimuchum ipfefacit, cupiens evader e damno
'iejiiculorum. Juvenal, xii. 34.

Juft as the beaver, that wife thinking brute.
Who, wiftiing to efcape the hard purfuit.
Bites off the parts, the caufe of all the ftrife.
And leaves them as a ranfom for his life, Dryden.

3 L 2 la

45i NATURAL HISTORY

In hunting the beavers, the favages fometimes (hoot
them, always getting on the contrary fide of the wind ;
for they are very fhy, quick in hearing, and of a keen
fcent. This is generally done when the beavers are
at work, or on fhore feeding on poplar bark. If they
hear any noife when at work, they immediately jump
into the v/ater, and continue there feme time; and,
when they rife, it is at a diiiance from the place where
they went in. They fometimes are taken with traps:
thefe ace nothing but poplar fticks laid in a path near
the water ; which, when the beaver begins to feed up-
on, they caufe a large log of wood to fall upon their
necks, which is put in motion by their moving of the
fticks, and confequently requires an ingenious contri-
vance. The favages generally prefer this way of ta-
king them, bccaufe it does not damage their fkins. In
the winter time they break the ice in two places at a
diflance from the houfe, the one behind the other.
Then they take away the broken ice with a kind of
racket, the better to fee where to place their ftakes.
They faften their nets to thefe, which have large mefh-
es, and fometimes are eighteen or twenty yards in
length. When thefe are fixed, they proceed to demc-%
lifh the houfe, and turn a dog therein j which terrify-
ing the .beaver, he immediately leaves it, and takes to
the water ; after which, he is foon entangled by the net.

Synonymes. — Kotaru^. Arift. hijt. An, Ub. viii. c, 5.
Opfian. Halieut. i. 398. FilDer. FUnii Ub. viii. c. 30.
Agricola An. Subt. 482. Belcn Aquat. 25. Caftor.
Gejner quad. 309. Rondel. •i;^6, Scho'de\}dd Icth. 34.
Beaver. Raii Jyn. quad. ^og. Bobr. Rzac-zinj¥i Po-
lon. 215. Biber. Klein quad. 91. Kramer Aiijlr. 315.
Caftor caftanei coloris, caudit horizontaliter plana.
Brijfon quad. 90. Caltor Fiber. C. cauda ovata pla-
na. Lyn.fyji. 78. Bafwer, Biur. Faun.Juec. No. 27.
Le Caftor, ou le bievre. Buffon, viii. 282. tab. xxxvi,
BeJiver. Br, ZcqI, i. Fl. 9;

The

OF QUADRUPEDS. 453

The musk BEAVER.

THIS fpecies is of a fmaller fize; but, in the form
of its body, it exacflly refembles the caftor beaver. It
is only one foot in length i and its tail meafures nine
inches. It has a thick blunt nofe ; fliortears, almoft
hid in the fur, like thofe of the former fpecies ; and
large eyes. The toes on each foot are feparated j thofe
behind are fringed on each fide with ftrong hairs,
clofely fet together. Its tail is comprefTed fideways,
and is very thin at the edges, and covered with fmall
fcales, intermixed with a few hairs. The colour of its
head and body is a reddifh brown : its breaft and belly
are of an afh colour, tinged with red : its fur is very
fine. It inhabits North America; breeds three or four
times in a year ; and brings from three to fix young at
a time. During fummer, the male and female live to-
gether : at the approach of winter, they unite into fa-
milies, and retire into fmall round edifices, covered
with a dome, formed with herbs, and reeds cemented
with clay. At the bottom of their habitation are feveral
pipes, through which they pafs in fearch of food j for
they do not form magazines like the caftor beavers.
During winter their houfes are covered many feet deep
with fnow and ice ; but they creep out, and feed on
the roots that lie beneath. They quit their old habi-
tations annually, and build new ones. 1 heir fur is
fine, and much eftcemed. During fummer the whole
animal has a moft exquifite mufky fmell, which it lofes
in the winter.

Perhaps the fcent is derived from the calamus aro-
maticus, a favourite food of this animal. It is faid they
are very good to eat.

It has been alleged, that the beaver is among qua-
drupeds what the bee is among the infed tribes -, and
that, as the bat forms the link that conneds bcafts and
birds, fo the beaver refembling a land animal in his
fore-part, and fifh in his hind, he is tlie link that joins

beafts;

454 NATURAL HISTORY

hearts and fifhes : but, perhaps, the flying macauco and
the feal, as well as fome others, may, with equal juf-
tice, claim thofe honours. We fhall not take it upon
us to fettle the difpute.

Muflafcus. Smith's Virginia., 27. Mufquafh. Jof-
Jelyn's voy. New England^ 86. Mufk Rat. Law/on
Carolina, 120. Caftor Zibethicus. C. cauda longa
compreflb-lanceolata, pedibus fiffis. Lin.JyJi. Caftor
Cauda verticaliter plana, digitis omnibus a fe invicem
feparatis. Brijfon quad. 93. L'Ondatra. De Buffon,
X. i. tab. i. Rat Mufque. Charlevoix Nouv. France^
V. 157. Lejcarbot N. Fr. 350.

The GUILLINO BEAVER.

THIS fpecies hath a fquare head ; fhort and round
ears; fmall eyes; colour grey; dark on the back,
whitifh on the belly. It has two forts of hair, like the
common beaver : one fhort and fine, and fufceptible of
any dye ; the other long and hard : the toes of the
fore feet bordered with a miembrane ; the hind feet
webbed : the back very broad : the tail long and hairy,
and length from the nofe to the tail three teet; height
two feet.

It inhabits the deepeft rivers and lakes of Chili : has
the foramen ovale half clofed : can live long under
water : feeds on fi(hes and crabs : is fierce and bold,
and will feize its prey in fight of mankind : is killed
by the hunters when it comes to difcharge its excre-
ments, which it dees always in the fame place : moll
beautiful ft uffs are made of the fur, refembling velvet;
is atfo of great ufe in the manufadure of hats. M.
Molina calls it Huidobrius, from the family name of
his patron, the Marquis of Cafa Reale.

HYSTRIX,

O F QJU A D R U P E D S. 455

HYSTRIX, the PORCUPINE, of the Order of

GLIRES.

THIS genus is dlftinguiflied by the following cha-
ra6lers ; they have two cutting teeth, obliquely
divided both in the upper and under jaw, befides eight
grinders ; the body is covered with long, hard, and
iharp, quills ; and it hath a divided upper lip. There
are fix fpecies, as follow :

The CRESTED PORCUPINE.

THIS fpecies derives its name from a long crefl: of
ftiff briftles on the top of its head, reclining backwards.
The quills on the hind part of the body are nine inches
in length, very fharp at the ends, and varied with
black, brown, and white. Between the quills there
are a few hairs. Its head, belly, and legs, are covered
with ftrong briftles, terminated with ftrong hair of a
dufky colour. It has long whiikers, and ears like
thofe of the human body; four toes before, and five
behind. Its length is about two feet : Its tail, which
alfo is covered with quills, meafures four inches only.
It inhabits India, the fand hills to the fouth-weft of
the Cafpian fea. Southern Tartary, Perfia and Pale-
fline, and all parts of Africa. It is found wild in
Italy i but at the fame time it is thought not to have
been originally a native of Europe. It is bought in
the markets of Rome for the table. The Italian por-
cupines have fhorter quills, and a lefs crefc, than thofe
of Afia and Africa. It is harmlefs ; lives on friuts,
roots, and vegetables ; fleeps by day, and feeds by
night. The ftory of its darting its quills whci irri-
tated, is fabulous : when attacked, it retires and runs
its nofe into a corner i eredls its fpines, and oppofes
them to an aflailant : it makes a kind of fnorting noife.
Some of -thefe animals produce a bezoar, Thefe be-

zoars

45^ NATURAL HISTORY

zoars were once very highly valued, and have been
fold for five hundred crowns a-piece.

Tr^i|, A'ijlot. hift. An, lib. i. c.6. Oppian Cyneg. Hi.
391. Hyftrlx. Plinii lib. viii. c, ^c^. Gejner quad. c^G^.
Rail. fyn. quad. 206. Acanthion criftatus. Klein quad.
66. Hyftrix orientalis criftata. Seb. MuJ. i. 79. tab. 1.
Hyftrix criftata. H. palmis tetradadlylis, plantis pen-
tadaiftylisj capite criftato, cauda abbreviata. Lin. fyfi.
76. Haffelquift. itin. 290. Hyftrix capite criftato.
Briton quad. 85. Le Pore-epic. De Buffon^ xii. 402.
tab. li. lii. Faunul. Sineus,

The MALACCA PORCUPINE.

THESE have large pendulous ears, but no creft :
quills like the preceding, with the interftices filled with
long hairs, refembling briftles : eyes large and bright ;
hair on the legs, and belly covered fhort reddifti
prickly hairs ; toes, five in number, which might have
determined Linnaeus to place this animal among the
hedge-hogs. It hihabits the peninfula of Malacca. —
Erinaceus Malacenfis. Gm. Lin. 116. Seb. Mus.i. p.
81. tab. 41. fig. I.

The LONG-TAILED PORCUPINE.

THE long-tailed porcupine has alfo long whifkers ;
large bright eyes ; and (hort naked ears. His body is
fhort and thick, and covered with long ftiff^ hairs, as
fharp as needles, of difiFerent colours, as the rays of
light fall on them. His feet are divided into five toes;
that which ferves as a thumb turns backwards. The
tail is as long as the body, very flender at the end,
which confifts of a thick tuft. The briftles are thick
in the middle, appear as if jointed, and rife one out
of the other like grains of rice. They are tranfparent,
and of a filvery appearance. It inhabits the ifles of the
Indian Archipelago, and lives in the forefts.

Porcus aculeatus fylveftris, feu Hyftrix orientalis
iingularis. Seb, MuJ. i. 84, tab. lii, Acanthion cauda

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 457

pra?Ionga, acutis pills horrida, in exitu quafi pannicu-
lata. Klein quad. 67. Hy fa ix ca-jda longifTima, aculeis
undique obfita, in extremo panniculata. Bri£cn quad.
89. Hyftrix macroura. H. pedibus pennadailylisj
Cauda longiffima : aculeis clavatis. Lin,Jyfi. 77.

The BRAZILIAN PORCUPINT..

THE Brazilian porcupine has a fhort blunt nofe,
long white whifkers, and a bed of" fmall fpines beneath
the nofe : the top of the head, its back, its fides, and
the bafe of its tail, are alfo covered with fpines : the
longeft of thefe on the lower part of the back and
tail are about three inches long, very iliarp, and white,
barred near the points with black: they adhere clofe
to the ikin, which is quite naked between them ; and
are fhorter and weaker as they approach the belly : on
the breaft, belly, and lower parts of the legs, they are
converted into dark brown briil^les : its feet are divi-
ded into four toes each, with very long claws, and a
great protuberance on the place of the thumb: its tail
is eighteen inches long, flender and taper towards the
end ; for the laft ten inches it is almoft naked, having
only a few hairs upon itj but, for that fpace, it hiis a
ftrong prehenfile quality.

It inhabits •Mexico and Brazil; it lives in the woods,
and feeds, not only on fruits, but alfo on poultry ; it
fleeps by day, and preys by night, and generally makes
a noife with its noiirils, as if out of breath i it grunts
alfo like a fow. It climbs trees, but very flowly ; in
defcending, for fear of falling, it twills its tail round
the branches , it fpends no more arrows in darting; its
quills than the relt ; its grows very fat, and its fledi is
faid to be very white and good. They may be tamed,
Pifofays there is a greater andalefTerkinl of this fpecies.

Synonymes.--- riaquatzin. Hernandez, Alex. 330.
Cuandu. BrafJienfibiis^ Liyltanis. Ourico cachiero,
Marcgrave Brafil. 233. Pljo Brafil. 99. 325. Iron
pig. Nieuhoffi 17. Hyftrix Aniericanus. liaii fyn.
quad. 208. Hyftrix prehcaiills, H. pedibus tetradac-

VoL. III. No. 44. 3 M tyiis,

458 NATURALHI STORY

tylis, Cauda elongata prehenfilifeminuda, Lin.fyfi. 76.
H. Cauda longiffima, tenui medietate extrema aculeo-
rum experte, 87. H, Americanus major, 88. Hyf-
trix longius caudatus, brevlorlbus aculeis. Barrere
France jEquiri. 1^3. Hyftrix minor leucophceus, Gou-
andou. ibid. Chat epineux. Des Marchais., iii. 303.

The MEXICAN PORCUPINE.

THE Mexican porcupine is of a duflcy colour, with
long briftles intermixed with its down : its fpines are
three inches long, {lender, and varied with white and
yellow ; but they are fcarcely apparent, except on the
tail, which is thicker and fhorter than that of the pre-
ceding fpeciesj from the middle to the end it is free from
fpines. It grows to the bulk of a middle-fized dog.
It inhabits the mountains of Mexico, lives on fummer
fruits, and may eafily be made tame. The Indians
pulverize the quills, and fay they are very efficacious as
a remedy for the gravel; and that applied whole to
the forehead, they will relieve the moft violent head-
ach. They adhere till filled v/ith blood, and then
drop off.

Synonymes. — Hoitzlacuatzin, feu Tlacuatzin fpi-
nofus, Hyftrix novce Hifpanice. Hernandez Mex. 322.
Hyftrix novas Hifpanias. H. aculeis apparentibus, Cau-
da brevi et crafib. Brijfon quad. 86. Le Coendu. de
BuffoUi xii. 421. tab. liv.

The CANADIAN PORCUPINE.

THE porcupine met with in Canada, and the other
parts of North America, as high as Hudfon's Bay, has
fhort ears hid in its fur. Its head, body, legs, and the
upper part of its tail, are covered with foft, long, dark
brown, hair: on the upper part of the head, back, bo-
dy, and tail, there are numbers of fharp ftrcng quills.
The longeft, meafuring about three inches, are on the
back, the leatt towards the head and fides i but they

ar«

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 459

are all hid in the hair. There are fome ftifF ftraggling
hairs intermixed, three inches longer than the reft, and
tipt with a dirty white : the under fide of its tail is
white. It has four toes on the fore-feet, five behind,
each armed with long claws, hollowed on their under
fide. The form of its body is exa(5lly that of a bea-
ver ; but it is not half the fize. One brought from
Newfoundland was about the fize of a hare, but more
compadly made. Its tail was about fix inches long.
They vary in colour. One in the Leverean mufeum
is entirely white.

They make their nefts under the roots of great
trees, and will alfo climb among the boughs. The
Indians kill them by ftrlking them over the nofe.
They are very plentiful near Hudfon's Bay, and many
of the trading Indians depend on them for food, efteem-
ing them both wholefome and pleafant: they feed on
wild fruits and the bark of trees, efpecially the juni-
per : they eat fnow in winter, and drink water in fum-
mer ; but avoid going into it : Vv^hen they cannot Ihun
their purfuer, they will fidle towards him, in order to
touch him with their quills, which feem but weik wea-
pons of defence; for, on ftroking the hair, they will
come out of the {km (licking to the hand. The In-
dians apply them to various purpofes ; for piercing
their nofes and ears, to make holes for their ear-rings,
and other finery : they alio trim their deer-flcin habits
with fringes made of the quills, or cover with thenx
their bark boxes.

Synonymes. — Porcupine from Hudfon's Bay^ Ediv.
52. Ellis's -vcy. 42. Clerk's voy. i. 177. 191. Cavia
Hudfonis. Klein quad. 51. Hyftrix dorfata. H. pal-
mis tetradaftylis, plantis pentadadylis, cauda medio-
cri, dorfo fob fpinofo. Lin. fyft. ']b. Hyilrix acuieis^
fub pilis occultis, cauda brevi ct cralTa. Brijbn quad. ^J.
L'Urfon. Bitfon, xii. 426. Sai^. Iv.

J M 2 ARCTO-

46o NATURAE HISTORY

ARCTOMYS, the MARMOT, of the Order of

GLIRES.

THIS genus of fmall quadrupeds contains nine
fpecies, diftingulflied by the following marks :
two wedge- like cutting teeth in each jaw ; four toes
before, and five behind ; Ihort ears, or none ; the tail
covered with hair, and of a middling length ; in fome
very Ihort.

The alpine MARMOT.

THE Alpine marmot has fhort round ears hid in
the fur, and large cheeks. The colour of its head, and
the upper part of its body, is a brownifh afh, mixed
with tawny. Its legs, and the lower part of the body,
arereddifh; its tail is fomewhat bulhy j its body is
thick ; its tail is about fix inches.

This curious animal inhabits the loftiefl: fummits of
the Alps and Pyrenaean mountains, and feeds on in-
fers, roots, and vegetables. While feeding, they place a
centinel, who gives a whiftle when he feesanyfign of dan-
ger, on which they infiantly retire into their holes: they
form their holes underground, with three chambers of
the fiiape of the letter Y, with two entrances, and line
them well with mofs and hay : they retire into thefe
fubterraneous habitations about Michaelmas, and, fi:op-
ping up the entrances with earth, they continue in a
torpid fiate till April. If taken out, they remain infen-
fible, unlefs brought before a fire, which revives them :
they lodge in fociety, from five to a dozen in a cham-
ber : they frequently walk on their hind feet : they fit
up on end to eat their food, and lift it to their mouth
with their tvvo fore-paws : they bring three or four
young at a time, and are very playful : when angry,
or before a ftorm, they make a mod ftrange noife; a
whiflle fo loud and fo acute, as to pierce the ear : they
grow very fat about the back, and are fometimes eaten :

but.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 46;

but, In general, they are taken only to be fliewn, efpe-
cially by the Savoyards: they grow very foon tame,
and will then eat any thing ; they are very fond of milk,
making at the fame time a murmuring noife, exprePiive
of their farisfaclicn : they are apt to gnaw any clothes
or linen they can find : like cats, they have an anti-
pathy to dogs : though not fo large as hares, they are
ftouter, and have a peculiar fupplenefs and dexterity :
in their torpid ftate, they fometimes weigh twenty
pounds, and continue plump for three months; but
afterwards decay, and are very much enjaciated at the
end of winter : thofe fed in houfes, and kept warm,
never become torpid j but are equally lively and adive
in winter as in fummer.

Synonym.es. ---Mus Alpinus. Pliiiii lib. viii. c. 37,
Jgriccla An. Siibter. 484. Gejncr quad. 743, Rail Jyn.
quad. 221. Glis marmota. Klein quad. 56. Hifi. Mur,
yllps. 230. Murmelthier. Kramer Anjir. 317. Mus
marmota. M. cauda abbreviata fubpilofa, auriculis-
rotundatis, buccis gibbis. Lin. Jyfi. 81. Glis pilis e
fufco et flavicante nuxtis veiiitus. Glis flavicans, ca-
pite rufefcente. Brijfon quad. 116, 117. La marmotte.
Buffon, viii. 219. tab, xxviii.

The QUEBEC MARMOT.

THE Quebec marmot is rather larger than a rab-
bit ; it has a black blunt nofe, fhort rounded ears,
cheeks pufi'ed up, of a grey colour; and a dufl^y face:
the hair on its back is grey at bottom, black in the
middle, with whitifh tops : its belly and legs are of an
orange colour ; its toes are black, naked, and quire di-
vided : it has four toes, and the rudiments of another,
on the fore-feet, five behind : its tails is fhort, and of a
duflcy colour. It inhabits Hudfon's Bay and Canada,
and may be tamed. It has lately been defcribed by
Dr. Pallas, under the nam* of mus empetra.

Thi

462 NATURAL HISTORY

The MARYLAND MARMOT.

THE Maryland marmot is about the fize of a rab-
bit : its ears are fhort and rounded, its eves black: and
prominent; its nofe is (harper than that of the laft;
its nofe and cheeks are of a deep afli-colourj its
back of a deep brown; its fides and belly paler; its
tail is half the length of its body, covered with pretty
long dufky hair ; its toes are divided, and armed with
fharp claws ; it has four before, and five behind ; its
^ feet and legs are black. It inhabits Virginia and Penn-
fylvania. During vvinter, it fleeps under the hollow
roots of trees j it lives on wild fruits, and other vege-
tables ; its fiefh is reckoned very good eating ; it taltes
like that of a pig; when furprifed, it retreats into holes.
It is found in the Bahama ifles alfo ; but it is probable
it does net fleep during the winter in that climate.

Synonymes. — Bahama cony. Catejby Carolina^ \\,
79, Monax, Catejby Carolina App. xxviii. Monax,
or marmotte of America. Edzv. 104. Glis marmota,
Americanus. Klein quad. 56. Bufony Suppl. iii. 175.
Glis fufcus. Glis fufcus, roftro e cinereo cserulefcente.
BriJfoH quad. 115. Mus monax. M. cauda mediocri
piiola, corpore cinereo, auriculis fubrotundis, palmis
tetradadlylisj plantis pentadadylis. Lin.fyjl. '61.

The hoary MARMOT.

THE hoary marmot, about the fa.me fize as the
former, derives its name from its appearance. It in-
habits the northern parts of North America. The tip
of its nofe is black ; its ears are fhort and oval ; its
cheeks are whitiih ; its colour is dufky and tawny ; its
hair is coarfe and long, aih -coloured at the root, black
in the middle, and whitiih at the tip ; whence it has
that hoary look : it legs are black, its claws dufky,
four before, five behind ; its tail is black, mixed with
ruil colour.

The

O F Q_U A D R U P E D S. 4^3

The BOBAK MARMOT.

THE bobak, or robak, as it is called by fome, has
fmall oval thick ears, covered with greyifh white down,
"vvith long hair on their edges, fmall eyes, and finall
M^hi/kers. It is of a dufky brown about the eyes and
nofe ; the upper part of the body is greyifli, intermix-
ed with long black or duflcy hairs, tipt with greyi its
throat is ruft- coloured, as alfo the reft of the body, and
the infide of the limbs. It has four toes on the fore-
feet, vvith a fliort thumb furnifhed with a fhort claw ;
five toes behind : its tail is fhort and flender, but fome-
what bufhy, about four inches long, to the point of its
hair five; the animal itfelf, from the nofe to the tail,
raieafures fixteen. It inhabits the high but milder and
funny fides of mountainous countries, and feeks dry
fituations, and fuch as are full of fprings, woods, or
fand. They are found in Poland and the fouth of
Ruffia: they fwarm in the Ukraine, about the Borif-
thenes, efpecially between the Sula and Supoy j and
again between the Borifthenes and the Don, and along
the range of hills which extend to the Volga ; they are
found about the Yaik and other neighbouring rivers.
Inhabit the fouthern defert in Great Tartary, and the
Altaic mountains eaft of the Irtis; ceafe to appear in
Siberia, on account of its northern fituation ; but are
found again beyond lake Baikal, and about the river
Argun and lake Dalay ; in the funny mountains about
the Lena ; and very common in Kamfchatka, but rare-
ly reach as high as lat- 55.

They burrow extremely deep, and obliquely, to the
depth of two, three, or four, yards: they form, num-
bers of galleries with one common entrance from the
furface ; each gallery ends in the neft of the inhabitant.
Sometimes the burrows confift of only one pafTape :
they are found in great abundance about the fe'pulchral
tumuli, as they find they can penetrate with great faci-
lity in the foft dry earth ; but they arc very common

in

4^4 NATURAL HISTORY

in the rocky ftrata ; and, in the mineral part of the
Urallian chain, often dire6l the miners to the veins of
copper, by the fragments which appear at the mouth
of their holes, flung out in the courfe of their labours.
In very hard and rocky places, from twenty to forty of
thefe animals join together to facilitate the v/ork, and
live in fociety, each with its neft at the end of its re-
fpediive gallery; but the feweft galleries are found in
the fofteft ground, and very frequently only a iingle
one. In each nefl: they colledl, efpecially towards au-
tumn, the fineil: of hay, and in fuch plenty, that fuffi-
cient is found in one neft for a night's food for a horfe.

During the middle and funny part of the day they
iport about the entrance of their holes, but feldom go
far from them ; on the fight of m.an they retire with a
flow pace, and fit upright near the mouth, and give a
frequent whiftle, liftening at the approach. In places
where they live in large fimilies, they always place a
centinel to give notice of any danger during the time
the reft are feeding.

They are very iond of oleraceous plants : in a ftate of
confinement eat cabbage and bread very greedily, and
drink milk with great eagernefs ; but refufe water, and
feem never affeded with thirft : they are mild and
good-natured; never quarrel or fight about their food
in a wild ftate, and when confined, and placed with
others, caught in diftant parts, and ftrangers to them,
grow inftantly familiar with them : then they \ -^ry fooii
become tame, even when taken in full age ; but the
young immediately become familiar.

The number produced at a birth is not certainly
known, probably at times eight; the femaks being
furniftied with that number of teats : they breed early,
for in June the young are obferved tp be of half the
f\zt of the old.

They lie torpid during winter, except thofe which
are kept tame in the ftove-warmcd rooms of the coun-
try i and even then, finding a defect of that warmth

I which

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 465

which the fnug nefl: of their fubterraneous retreac
would afford, in cold nights creep for fhelter into the
very beds of the inhabitants. In that ftate they will
not abfolutely refufe food, but eat very little, and that
with a feeming difguft j nature allotting for them, in the
wild ftate, a long fleep and cefllition from food, the re-
fult of plenitude previous to its commencement. They
fometimes efcape from confinement, find a retreat, and
get their winter's fleep, and r.:turn to their mafter in.
the fpringi but lofe much of their gentle maimers.

They grow very fat ; the fat is ufed for foftening of
leather -, the (kins are ufed by the Koreki, people of
Jakutks, and the Ruffians, for clothing. The Calmucs
take them in fmall nets with large meflies, placed be-
fore their holes. The inhabitants of Ukraine catch
them in May or June, by pouring water into the
holes, which forces them into the nets. In South
Ruffia they are deftroyed by means of a log of wood
with a weight at tops the end directed into a wooden
box placed at the mouth of the hole, which falls as
foon as the animal comes out, and opprefTes it by the
weight. Their flefli taftes like that of a hare, but is
rank. The Calmucs are very fond of the fat ones,
and even efteem them medicinally ; on the contrary,
the Mahometan Tartars not only abflain from their
flefb, but even give them protection ; fo that near the
hords they are extremely numerous: thefe Tartars
efteem a warren of bobaks near them to be very for-
tunate, and think it a fin ro kill one of them, a fwal-
low, or a dove J but at the fame time abominate the
following animal.

In Chinefe Tartary they are the propagators of
rhubarb, v/hich grows among their burrows ; the
manure which they leave about the roots contributes
to its i.'icrcafe, and the loofe foil they fiing up, proves
a bed for the ripe feed -, which, if fcattered amona the
long grafs, perifties without ever being abb to reach
tlie ground.

Vol. III. No. 44. 3 N Syno-

466 NATURAL HISTORY

Synonymes.-- Bobakfwiftch. Rzaczinjki Pokfi. 122"
Bobak. Beaiiplan hiji. Ukrain, Churchill's coll. i. 600.
Forjier hiJl. Volg^j Phil. Tranf, Ivii. 343. Buff on ^ xiii.
136. tab. xviii. Sogur. Ruhruquis's 'travels in Purchas.
iii. 6. Ardlomys. Pallas nov.fp.fafc. i. 9. tab. v.

The MAULINE MARMOT.

THIS fpecles hath pointed ears ; elongated nofe j
whifkers difpofed in four rows ; the tail longer than
that of the common kind j five toes on each foot ; an
anomalous diftindion ; hair like the common, but in
fize twice as large. It was firfi: difcovered in the pro-
vince of Maule in Chili, in 1764, and inhabits the
woods. It makes a ftoiit defence againft the dogs,
which conquer it not without difficulty. Mus Mauli-
nus. Molina Chili ^ 284.

The EARLESS MARMOT,

THIS fpecies is marked by its want of ears, a white
line over each eye, yellow teeth, long black whifkers,
and an afh-coloured face : the hind- part of its head,
and its whole back, are of a pale yellowifti brown, of-
ten diftintftly fpotted with white, fometimes undulated
with grey ; the under fide of the body and legs are of
a yellowifh white; its tail is covered with long hair,
brown above, bordered with black, each hair tipped
with white J its under fide is of a bright ruft: the
three middle toes of the fore-feet are long, armed with
long fharp claws ; the exterior and interior toes are
fhort, the laft lies remote from the others, with a fhort
blunt claw.

The length of the animal is about one foot; of its
tail, to the end of the hairs, four inches and a half. It
inhabits Bohemia, Hungary, and from the banks of
the Wolga to India and Perfia, Siberia, Great Tartary,
Kamfchatka, and even the continent of America itfelf.
It burrows and forms its magazine of corn, nuts, &c.

for

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 467

for Its winter food. Like the fquirrel, it fits up while
it eats : feme inhabit the field ot" Siberia, others pene-
trate into the granaries : the firft form holes under the
ground with a double entrance, where they fleep du-
ring winter; thofe which inhabit granaries keep in mo-
tion even during the cold feafon. About the Lena,
they couple at the beginning of May; but about Af-
tracan much earlier : they bring from five to eight
young ones, which they bring up in their burrows ;
only one inhabits each burrow ; the males are always,
except in the coupling feafon, fcparate from the fe-
males: they whiftle like the former fpecies, are very
irafcible, and bite hard : they often quarrel with and
tear each other ; yet they fit in multitudes near their
holes: they are very fond of fait, and are taken in great
numbers on board the bar^res laden with that comm.o-
dity on the rivers : they are both herbiverous and car-
niverous : they feed on plants, and deftroy the young
of birds and mice. The ladies of Bohemia were wont
to make cloaks of their fkins ; they are now ufed only
for linings, and appear very beautiful for that purpofe.

Synonymies. — iVius noricus aut citelkis. ylgriccln
An. Subter. 485. Gejner quad. 737. Rai'i fyn. quad. 220.
Ziefel. Schvse'rikfelt. ■Tksrioiroph. 86. Mus c-tellus. M.
Cauda abbreviata, corpore cinereo, auriculis nullis. Lin,
fyft. 80. Tfitsjan. Le Bruyn vcy. Mujc. ii. 402. Cu-
niculus caudatus, auriculis nullis, cinereus. Briffhnquad.
loi. Le zife). Buffony xv. 139. Le fouflik --- 144.
195. Sup-plan. iii. 191. tab. xxxi. Mus marmctta. Fcr-
fter hift. nat. Volga. Ph. Tranf. Ivii. 343. Mus citiilus.
Pallas nov.fp. fajc. i. 119. tab. vi. vii. E. 'Nov. com.
Pdtrop. xiv. 549. tab. vii. Earlefs marmot. Syn. quad.
i']6. Cafan M. --- 272.

The GUNDJ, or ARABIAN MARMOT.

THE gundi hath truncated ears, the apertures large;
fhorttail; upper fore- teeth truncated; lower, (lender
and pointed ; four toes on every foot, each furniilied

3 N j» with

468 NATURAL HISTORY

with claws ; walks on the whole hind-feet as far as the
heel; colour, teftaceous red. It is about the (ize of a
fmall rabbit. It inhabits Barbary towards Mount At-
las, near MafTufin. It is defcribed by the late Mr.
Rothman, a Swede. Gundi is its Arabic name.

The tailless MARMOT.

THIS hath (hort ears; head and body of a cinereous
brown ; the ends of the hairs wliite ; two cutting teeth
above, four below ; and no tail. It inhabits Hudfon's
Bay, and the neighbouring country.

SCIURUS, the SQUIRREL, of the Order of

GLIRES.

THIS genus contains no fewer than twenty -fix dif-
ferent fpecies, with feveral fubordinate varieties.
Its diftinguifhing marks are two cutting teeth in each
jaw ; four toes before, five behind j and a long tail
clothed with long hair.

The COMMO^N SQUIRREL.

THE ears of the common fquirrel are terminated
with long tufts of hair: It has large, lively, black, eyes:
its head, body, legs, and tail, are of a bright reddifh
brown; its bread and belly are white; the hair on each
fide of its tail lies flat. In Sweden and Lapland, it
changes its colour to grey in the winter. In many
parts of England there is a beautiful variety of this
fpecies, with milk-white tails.

This fpecies of the fquirrel inhabits Europe, the
northern and temperate parts of Afia, and a variety of
it is found as far fouth as the ifle of Ceylon. It is a
neat lively adive animal, lives always in the woods. In
the fpring, the female is {ctn purfued from tree to tree
by the males, feigning an efcape from their embraces :
they make their nelts of mofs and dried leaves, in the

fork

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 469

fork of two branches, with two entrances to each, and
flop up that on the fide from which the wind blows:
the females bring three or four young at a time : they
lay in a hoard of winter provirions ; fuch as nuts, a-
corns, &c. In fummer, they feed on buds and young
fhoots, and are particularly fond of thofe of fir, nnd
of the young cones : they fit up to eat, and ufe their
fore-feet as hands : they cover themfelves with their
tail : they are remarkably agile, and leap to a furpri-
iing diftance. When they are difpcfed to crofs a river,
a piece of bark ferves each for a boat, and its own tail
for a fail.

A large kind of grey fquirrel is found about the up-
per parts of the river Obi, in the diftrid; of Kuznetilc,
and is called Teleutflcaya beika, or the fquirrel of the
Telutian Tartars: it is as large again as the common
grey fquirrels of thofc parts, and is preferred to them,
on account of the filvery glofs of the f.dn. Fev/ are
fent into Ruffia, the greateft part being fcntinto China,
and fell tor fix or {txtn pounds fterling per thoufand.

A white variety is found common in Siberia, and a
beautifurblack variety about Lake Baikal.

The white-legged fquirrel in the Britifh Mnfeum,
faid to have been brought from the ifland Ceylon,
forms another variety. Its upper parts and its toes arc
of a reddifli brown ; its face and nofe, the under fide
of its neck, its belly, fore-legs, and the infide of its ears
and thighs, arc white; its ears are flightly tufted with
black i its tail is long, and covered with dufky hairs,
but much fiiorter than thofe of the European kind.

Synonymes. — Sciurus. Gefner quad. 845. Rcii fyn.
quad. 214. V\[\t\\\ovkd.. Rzai.zin/ki Pclon. 22^. Eich-
Jhorn. Klein quad. 53. Sciurus vulgaris. Sc. auriculis
apice barbatis, paln.'is tetradafiylis, plantis pentadadtv-
lis. Lin.JyJl. b6. Ikorn, grafKin. Faun.Juec. No. 37.
SciLirus rijfus quandoque grifeo admixto. Brijfjii quad.
104. L'Ecureuil. BaJJon, vii. 2^9>. tab. xxxii. Br,
Zed. i. 93.

I The

470 NATURAL HISTORY

The CEYLON, and the ABYSSINIAN,

SQUIRREL.

"WE have joined thefe two in the fame fe<5lion, as
Mr. Pennant feems to fufpeft that the latter may be
only a variety of the former ; and indeed it muft be
obvious, that, when naturaiifts defcribe fpecies from
iingle fubjedls, there is fome danger of their multiply-
ing the fpecies from flight variations pbfervable in dif-
ferent individuals belonging to the fame fpecies.

The Ceylon fquirrel has its ears tufted with black,
a flefh -coloured nofe, cheeks, legs, and belly, of a pale
yellow, with a yellow fpot between its ears j its fore-
head, fides, back, and haunches, are black j its cheeks
are marked with a forked ftroke of black j its tail is
twice as long as the body, of a light grey, and very
bufhy : the part of it next the body is quite furrounded
■with hairj on the reft of it the hairs are feparated and lie
flat. It is thrice the fize of the European fquirrel.

The AbyfTmian fquirrel, defcribed by Thevenot, is
of the fame fize with that found in Ceylon ; but he
fays that its belly and fore-feet were grey, and that its
foles were flefti-coloured ; that it was very fportive and
good-natured like the common fquirrel; that it would
eat any thing except flefh, and would crack the hardeft
almonds.

Synonymes. — Sciurus ZeylanicuSy pilis in dorfo ni-
gricantibus, Rukkaia didus a fono. Raiijyn. quad. 215.
bciurus macrourus, long- tailed fquirrel. Ind. Zool. tab, i.

The MALABAR SQUIRREL.

THIS fpecies hath fhcrt tufted ears ; five toes to
each foot i inftead of a thumb to the hind foot, is a
fnort excrefcence, with a flat nail, all the other nails
ftrcng and crooked; tail very full of hair, and as long
as the body; hair long, of a reidifh colour, reflefting
gold; a bcnrd of the lame begins under each ear, and

turn^

OF CLUADRUPEDS. 471

turns towards the body j all the hind part of the body
and tail black ; it is about the fize of a cat. It inha-
bits the mountains of Cardomone, which form part of
the Gauts; it is very fond of the milk of the cocoa
nut, which it will pierce and fuck out on the tree. Its
cry is fharp and piercing. Sciurus maximus. Gmelin,
Lm. i. 149. Grand ecureuil. Sonnerat vcy. ii. ijy.

The GINGI SQUIRREL.

THIS fpecies is of a dirty-grey colour, brighteft ott
the belly j eyes encompafled with a white circle j oa
each fide of the belly is a white line which extends a-
long the fhoulders and thighs ; tail black ; rather larger
than the European kind. It inhabits Gingi. Sonnerat
voy. ii. 140.

The AYE-AYE SQUIRREL.

THIS fpecies hath large broad ears, fmooth, fhin-
ing, and with feveral long hairs fcattered over them;
the fur foft and fine, of a tawny white, intermixed with
feme black hairs j the tail is very bufhy, covered with
long hairs, black at their ends, and white at their bot-
toms. It has five toes on each foot, the two joints of
the middle-finger of the fore feet very flenderj the
thumb of the hind-foot furnifhed with a fiat nail. In
length it is eighteen inches, tail of the fame length. It
burrows underground; goes out only in the night;
the eyes are fixed ; it is very flothful, and of gentle
manners ; very fearful, much inclined to fleep, and refts
with its head between its legs. It inhabits M^dagaf-
car, and is a very rare animal. It takes its name from
its cry, which is the note of aftoniiliment of the natives
of that iflaud. Sonnerat^ ii. 142. tab. Ixxxviii.

The JAVAN, BOMBAY, and RUDDY,

SQUIRREL.

AS thefe three are all from the Eaft Indies, they
may be clafTed together. That of Java^ difcovered and

briefly

472 NATURAL HISTORY

briefly defcribed by Sparman, Is black on the upper
part of the body, and brown on the lower ; the end of
its tail is black, and its thumb has a round nail. Tho*
it inhabits Java, that of Ceylon and this are probably
oriily varieties of the fame fpecies.

'I'he Bombay fquirrel has tufted ears too, but its up-
per parts are of a dull purple, its lower yellow, and the
end of its tail orange. From nofe to tail it meafures
near fixteen inches; its tail feventeen.

The ruddy fquirrel inhabits India; it Is larger than
the common fquirrel; its. cars are {lightly tufted; its
colour above is yellow, mixed with dufky; below of a
blood red, inclining to tawny : its tail is llender, of the
fame colour, marked lengthways with a black ftripe :
it has four toes on the fore-feet, with a remarkable
protuberance inftead of a thumb ; and five toes on the
hind-feet. Sciurus erythrseus. P alias ^ Nov. Jp. fqj'c.'u
377. Miller's plates, tab. xlvi.

The grey SQUIRREL.

THE grey fquirrel is about the (ize of a half-grov/n
rabbit, and has plain ears ; its hair is of dull grey co-
lour, mixed with black, and often tinged with dirty yel-
low ; its belly, and the iniides of its legs, are white ;
its tail is long, bulhy, grey, and ftriped with black. It
inhabits the woods of North America, Peru, and Chili.
In North America they are very numerous, and do in-
credible damage to the* plantations of maize, as they
run up the ftalks, and eat the young ears. V^all
flocks of them defcend from the mountains, and join
thofe that inhabit the lower parts. They are profcribcd
by the provinces; and a reward of threepence per head
offered for every one that is killed. Such a number
of them was deftroyed in one year, that Pennfylvania
alone paid in rewards eight thoufand pounds. They
make their nefis in hollow trees, with mofs, ftraw,
wool, ^c. They feed on the maize in its fcafon, on
pine-cones, acorns, and maft of all kinds : they form

holes

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 473

holes under frround, and there depofit a large ftock of
winter provifion. They are particularly bufy at the
approach of bad weather; but their ftores are fre-
quently plundered by the hogs. During the cold
weather, they keep in their neflis for fevera! days to-
gether} and, when the ground is covered with deep
fnow, they often perifh for want of food. '1 hey fel-
dom leap from tree to tree, but only run up and down
their trunks. They are not eafily fhot, as they
change their place with great nimblenefs when they
fee a gun levelled. They have moil of the adions of
the common fquirrel : they are eafily tamed j and their
flefh is efteemed very delicate. The furs, which are
imported under the name of petit gris, are valuable,
and ufed as linings to cloaks.

Synonymes. — Grey Squirrel. Jojfelyn's voy. Catejby
Carolinaj ii. 74. Smithes voy. if. Kaim'svoy. 95,310.
Fox Squirrel. Law/on' s Carolma, 124.. Sciurus cine-
reus Virginianus major. Rail. fyn. quad. 2\ ^. Sciurus
cinereus. Lin. fyft. 86. Sciurus cinereus. Auriculis ex
albo flavicantibus. Br ijfon quad. 10^ . Le Petit-Gris.
De Buffon, x. 116. tab. xxv.

The black SQUIRREL.

THIS fpecies has plain ears, and is fometimes
wholly black, but often marked with white on the nofe,
the neck, or the end of the tail. The tail is ihorter
than that of the former ; but the body is equal. It
inhabits the north of Afia, North America, and Mexico.
It is equally numerous and deftrudive as the former
fpecies, which it refembles alfo in the manner of
making its neft, and laying up a ftock of winter pro-
vifion ; fo that we fhould have been ready to reckon
it only a variety, did not Mr. Catefby exprefsly fay,
that it breeds and aiTociates in fep.irate troops.

There is a variety of this fpecies in Virginia, call-^d
by the planters there the cat fquirrel. It is of the fize
Qt the grey fquirrel, has plain ears, coarfe fur, mixed

VpL. IlL No. 44. 3 O witl>

474 NATURALHISTORY

with dirty white and black j but varies to v/hite. Its
throat, and the infide of its legs and thighs, are black.
Its tail is much fhorter than thofe of fquirrels ufually
are, and is of a dull yellow colour, mixed with black.

Synonymes.— Quahtechalotl-thlitic. Hernandez Mex.
582. Hernandez Nov. Hifp. ^. Black Squirrel, Ca-
tejhy Car. ii. 73. L'Ecureuil noir. Brijfon quad. 105.
Sciurus niger. Lin. Jyji. 86.

The MADAGASCAR SQUIRREL.

THIS fpecies hath plain ears : colour of the face,
back, fides, tail, and outfide of the limbs, of a dark
gloffy black : ears, end of the nofe, cheeks, and all
the under fide of the limbs, yellovviih white. The length
of this fpecies from the tip of the nofe to the origin of
the tail, is about eighteen inches : the tail is longer
than the body, (lender, and ends in a point. It in-
habits Madagafcarj and is defcribed bv M. de la Ce-
pede, in his fupplement to M. de Bufton, vii. 256.
tab. ixxiii.

The HUDSON'S BAY, the VARIED, and the
FAIR, SQUIRREL.

THESE, with fome others, are all Americans, and
differ chiefly in colour and fize.

The Hudfon's Bay fquirrel is fmaller than the Eu-
ropean, has plain ears, and is marked along the back
with a ferruginous hne from head to tail. Its fides are
paler : its belly is of a pale afh colour, mottled with
black : its tail is neither fo long nor fo bufhy as that of
the common kind ; but it is of a ferruginous colour,
barred with black.

The Carolina fquirrel is a variety of the fame fpecies.
Its head, fides, and back, are grey, white, and ruft cor
lour intermixed : its belly is white, and is divided from
the fides by a ferruginous line : the lower parts of the
legs are red : the tail is brown, mixed with black, and
c^ged with white. Thefe are alfo lefs than the Euro-
pean

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 475

^ean fquirrels ; they vary in colour, but in moft the
grey predominates.

The varied fquirrel has plain ears : the upper part
of its body is varied with black, white and brown : its
belly is tawny. It is twice the fize of the common
fquirrel. It inhabits Mexico, lives under ground,
lays in a ftock of winter food : it lives on maife, but is-
never to be tamed.

The fair fquirrel is of a very fmall fize. Irs body
and tail are of a flaxen colour. It has plain round ears,
and a rounded tail, and inhabits the woods near Ama-
dabad, the capital of Guzarat, where they are to be
{i^cn in great abundance, leaping from tree to tree.
Lini>«us fays it is an inhabitant of South America.

Synonymes. — Quauhtecollotlquapachth. Hernandez
Nov, Hifp. 8. Le Coquallin. De Buffon^ xiii. 109. tab.
xiii. Sciurus flavus. Sc. auriculis fubrotundis, pedibus
pentadadylis, corpore luteo. Lin. fyji. 86. jlmcen,
Acad. i. 561.

Tk£ BRAZILIAN and the MEXICAN

SQUIRREL.

THESE are alfo both natives of America. The
former, a fmall creature eight inchfs long, is covered
with fofc dufky hairs, tipt with yellow. Its tail, which
is ten inches long, is annulated with black and yellow.
Its throat is cinereous. The infide of its legs, and its
belly, are yellov/. Its belly is divided lengthways v/ith
a white line, which begins on the breaft, is interrupted
for a fmall fpace in the middle, and then continued to
the tail. It inhabits Brazil and Guiana.

Synonymes.— -Sciurus Brafilienfis ? MarcgraveBra-
jll. 330. Sciurus coioris ex fiavo et fufco mixti tasniis
in lateribus albis. BriJJ'on quad. 107. Sciurus seftuans.
Sc. grifeus, fubtus flavefcens. Lin. Jyft. 88.

1 he Mexican fquirrel is of a moufe colour. The
tniile is marked on the back with feven white lines,

30^ which

476 NATtJRAL HISTORY

which extend along the tail ; the female with only five.
The/crctum of the male is pendulous like a goat's.

Synonymes. — Tlalmototii. Hernandez Nov. Hi/p. 9.
Sciurus rariffimus ex Nov. Hifpania. SeL MuJ. i. 76.
tab. xlvii. fig. 2, 3. Brijfon quad, 108.

The palm SQUIRREL.

THE palm fquirrel has plain ears, an obfcure pale
yellow ftripe on the middle of the back, another on each
iide, and a third on each fide of the belly. The two
laft in fome are very faint : the reft of the hair on the
back, fides, and head^ is black and red, very clofely
mixed ; on the thighs and legs redder : the belly is
of a pale yellow. The hair on the tail is coarfe, and
does not lie flat : it is of a dirty yellow, barred with
black.

Poffibly they may vary with refped to the number
of ftripes. They live much in cocoa-trees, and are
very fond of palm wine. Some authors (ay, that this
ipecies does not ered its tail like the other fquirrels,
but expands it fide- ways.

Synonymes. — Muftela Africana. Clus. Exot. 112.
Raiijyn. quad. 116. Sciurus palmarum. Sc. fubgri-
feus Itriis tribus flavicantibus, caudaque albo nigro-
que lineata. Lin.Jyfi. 86. Sc. palmarum. Sc. colons
ex rufo et nigro mixti, tasniis in dorfo flavicantibus.
Brijjon quad. 109. Le Palmifte. De Buffon, x. 126.
tab. XX vi.

The White-Striped BARBARY SQUIRREL.

THE Barbafy fquirrel has full black eyes, with
white orbits. Its head, body, feet, and tail, are cine-
reous, inclining to red, lighter on the legs. Its fides
are marked lengthways, with two white ftripes. Its
belly is white : its tail buftiy, marked regularly with
{hades of black. It is of the fize of the common
fquirrel. Both this and the former fpecies inhabit
Barbary, and live in trees, efpecially the palm.

^ ■ • Syno-

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 477

Synonymes.— Barbary. Sciuriisgetulus. Caii opujc.
f^-]/ Gejner quad. ^Ar"]. Sc. getulus. Sc. fulcus ftriis
quatuor albis longitudinalibus. Lin.Jyft. 87. Klein quad.
84. BrifcN quad. log. Barbarian Iquirre). iiV'zc;, 198.
Le Barbarefque. DeBufciu x. 126. tab. xxvii. 291.

There is another variety, common in Java and
Princes Ifland, which alfo derives its name from the
tree which is its favourite refidence (though it is alfo
common in tamarind trees), the plantane Tquirrel. It
refembles the common fquirrel, but is h'ghter coloured,
and has a yellow h'ne extending along its fides from
leg to leg. It is a very (hy creature, and retreats at
the fight of mankind.

We come now to a fecond divifion of this genus,
marked by a membrane extended from the fore to the
hind leg of each fpecies.

The sailing SQUIRREL.

NAMES are neceffary for diftin6lion; but may
fometimes miflead. The failing fquirrel has nothino;
to do on the water. He inhabits Java, and orhers of
the Indian iflands, leaps from tree to tree, as if he
ilew, and will catch hold of the boughs with his tail.
They vary in fize ; fome are of the lize of a common
fquirrel j others as large as hares. The ufual j'^noth,
from the nofe to the tail, is eighteen inches ; the tail
fifieen. The colour of the head, body, and tail, is a
bright bay J in fome parts inclining to oranrre: the
bread and belly are of a yellowiili white. Irs head is
fmall and rounded ; its upper hp cloven ; irs ears fmall
and blunt. It has two fmall warts at the cutmoft
corner of each eye, with hairs growing out of them.
Its neck ts fhort. It has four toes on the fore-feet ;
and, inflep.d of a thumb, a flcnder bone, two inches
and a half long, lodged under the lateral membrane,
and ferving to itretch it out; from thence to the hind-
legs, extends the membrane, which is a continuation
of the fkin of the fides and belly, and extends alon^

the

478 NATURAL HISTORY

the fore- legs, and ftretches oat near the joinf in a
winged form. This fpecies has five toes on the hind
feet ; and, on all the toes, (harp, compreiTed, bent
claws. Its tail is covered with long hairs, difpofed
horizontaliy. NieuhofF defcribes this creature under
the name of the flying cat.

Synonymes.---Sciurus Sagitta. Sc. hypochondriis
prolixis volitans, cauda plano-pinnata lanceoiata. Lin.
jyfi. 88. Sciurus petaurifta. Pallas Mif eel. Zool. 54. tab^
\i. Sciurus maximus volans,feu fehs volans. Sc. caftanei
coloris, in parte corporis fuperiore, in inferiore vero
eximie flavefcentis ; cute ab anticis cruribus ad poftica
membrans in modum extenia volans. Briffhn qiiacL
112. Le Taguan ou grand Ecureuil volant. Be Biiffor.y
Suppl. iii. 150. tab. xxi. Miif. Roy. Society.

The SEVERN RIVER, and the FLYING,

SQUIRREL.

THE former of thefe is found about the Severn
River in the fouthern part of Hudfon's Bay. In the
philofophical tranfadions, it is called the greater flying
fquirrel. Its back and fides are of a deep afh colour
at bottom, ferruginous on the furface. The under
lide of the body is of a yellowifh white. Its hair is
every v.'here long and full. The inftrument of flying
13 difpofed from leg to leg ; but does not border the
fore- legs.

The flying fquirrel is much lefs than the common
fquirrel. Its colour above is a brownifh afh; beneath,
white, tinged with yellow. It has round naked ears;
full black eyes J a lateral membrane from the fore to
the hind legs ; but the fore legs are for the moft part
clear of the membrane. The hair on its tail is long,
difpofed horizontally, longeft in the middle, and ending
in "a point. It inhabits North America and NewSpain j
and, in fome meafure, refembles the owl, as it lives in
hoilov/ trees, fleeps during the day, and is very hvely
in the night. Numbers of them are found in one
1 \ tree.

' „^'^^//////^/ rnu/ ///r . >A////,// , /y ///'}, r/j.

/\f.i.t .r,u//' .

I. ri, ',/, /"// V/../,i//;. fAr^/.r ,//rr,f., ^„fiii..r / ■■

'Z"7

OF QUADRUPEDS. 479

tree. They leap from bough to bongh, rometlmes to
the diftance of ten yards. This aftion is improperly
called flying ; for the animal can move in no oth'er
dire(51:ion than forward, and even finks confidcrably
during its leap. Sen/ihle of this, it mounts in pro-
portion to the diftance it wifnes to reach. When
numbers of them leap at a time, they feem like leaves
blown off by the wind. Their food is the fame with
the other American fquirrels. They are eafily tamed 5
and bring three or four at a time.

Synonymcs. — Afiapanick. Smith's Virginia^ 27.
Jojjelyn's 'voy. 86. De Laet^ 88. Sciurus Americanus
volans. Raiifyn. quad. 215. Lazvfon's Caroluiay 11^,
Catepjy's Carolina^ ii. 76, 77. Edw. 191. Kalnty i. 321,
tab. i. Du Pratz. ii. 69. Sciurus volans. Sc. hypo-
chondriis prolixis volitans, Cauda rotundata. Lin. fyft,
%Z. Sciurus volans. Brijfon quad. 1 10. iii. No. 12.

The NORFOLK-ISLE SQUIRREL.

THIS hath very fhort ears, almoft hid in the fur:
colour very much refembling that of the American
grey fquirrel : a black line extends from the head along
the middle of the back to the tail : the flying membrane
is black, edged with white: two thirds of the tail are
of an elegant afh-colour ; the reft black : fize of the
American grey fquirrel. It inhabits Norfolk-i/le.

In the ifie of Puio Condore, is a flying fquirrel
ftriped with brown and white : pofTibly a new fpecie?.
Stockdales Botany Bay, 151. White, 288.

The hooded, and the EUROPEAN FLY-
ING, SQUIRREL.

THE flooded fquirrel, according to Seba, who is
the only author that has defcribed it, inhabits Virginir?.
.Its lateral membrane bep-ins at the chin and ears, and
extends from the fore to the hind leg. It is reddii\
above, cinereous, tinged with yellow beneath. Its ears
are Jarge and oval.

Sync-

4^0 NAttJRAL HISTORY

Synonymes.-— Sciurus Virginianus volans. Seb.
MiiJ. i. tab. xliv. Brijfon quad. iii. Mus volans. Lin,

The European flying fqulrrel inhabits Finland and
Lapland, and the Ruffian dominions, to the north-eafl:
parts of Siberia, and is common in all the mountainous
trads of that cold region. It lives ufjally on birch
tree buds and frudifications, and on the cones of the
pines and cedars* It leads a folitary life, and u^anders
about even in winter. It lives in hollow trees, and
makes its neft of mofs. When at reft, it flings its tail
over its back j but in leaping, it extends it. Thei
Germans call it the king of the fquirrels. Its ears are
naked, indented on the exterior fide: its eyes are full:
its eye-lids are bordered with black : its membranes
extend to the very bafe of its fore-feet, and form a
large wing on the exterior fide : its tail is full of hair,
bufliy and round at the end. The, colour of the upper
part of the body is a fine grey, like that of a gull's
back. The lower parts are of a pure white. Its
body meafures only four inches and a quarter j its tail
five.

Synonymes. — Mus Ponticus vel Scythicus. Gefner
quad, y 4-2' Sciurus Petaurifta volans. Khin quad. 54.
Flying fquirrel. Pb. 'Tranf. abr. ix. 76. tab. v. Sciurus
volans. Faun. Juec. No. 38. Pallas, nov. fp. fafc. i.
355. Sc. volans Sc. hypochondriis prolixis volitans,
Cauda rotundata. Lin. Jyjl. 88. Sciurus Sibiricus
volans. Brijjln no. No. 13. Le Poulatouche. De
Buffon, X. 95. tab. xxii. Quadrupes volatilis Riijfia,
Com. acad. Petrop. v. ci8.

MYOXUS, the DORMOUSE, of the Order of

GLIRES.

ITS diftinguifiiing charadlers are, two cutting teeth
in each jaw ; the upper ones cuneatcd, the under
compreiTed ; the'^whifkers are long ; the ears naked ;
the tail is hairy and round, growing thicker towards

the

OF QJJ ADRU PED S. 4^1

the extremity ; the fore and hind legs are of equal
length ; the fore-feet have four toes, and the hinder
o;ies five. There are feven fpecies, viz.

The striped DORMOUSE.

THE ftriped dormoufe has plain ears, and full eyes:
the ridge of its back is marked with a black ftripe, and
each fide with one of a pale yellow, bounded above and
below with a line of black. Its head, body, and tail,
are of a reddifh brown ; the tail darkeft : its breaft and
belly are white : its nofe and feet are of a pale red. It
inhabits the north of Afia ; but is found in great abun-
dance in the forefts of North America. It never runs
up trees, except when purfued, and unable other wife
to efcape. It burrows, and forms its habitation with '
two entrances, that it may have accefs by one, if the
other fhould be flopped up. Their retreats are formed
with great fkill, in form of a gallery, with branches on
each fide, each of which terminates in an enlarged
chamber, as a magazine to ftore their winter provifion
in : in one they lodge acorns ; in another maize j in a
third hickery-nuts ; and in the laft, their favourite
food, the chinquapin chefnut. During harveft, they
are very bufy in procuring provifions. They have
pouches in their jaws like the hamfter. They give
great preference to certain food j for if, after filling their
mouths with rye, they meet with wheat, they fling away
the firfl, that they may indulge in the laft. They are
very wild, bite fiercely, and are fcarcely ever to be
tamed. Their fkins are of little ufe j but are fom^-
times brought over to line cloaks.

Synonymes. — Moufe fquirrel. Jojfelin^s voy. 86.
Ground fquirrel. Laivjon Carolina ^ \i/^, Catefoy Caro-
lina^ ii. 71. Edw. 181. Kalmy i. 322. tab. i. Sciurus
Lijieri. Raiijyn. quad, 216. Sciurus minor virgatus.
ISov. Cov. Fetrop. v. 344. Boern doefkie. Le Brun,
voy. Mofcov. il. 342. Sciurus flriatus. Sc. flavus flriis
quinque fufcis longitudinalibus. Lhu Jyft. 87. Kkin

Vol., Ill, No. 45. 3 P quad.

482 NATURAL HISTORY

quad. ^2- P^^l^^ nov. ff. fajc, I. 378. Sciurus Caro-
linenfis. Brijfon quad. LeSuifTe. De Buffon, x. 126. tab,
xxviii. Charlevoix Nouv. France^ v. 198.

Ths fat dormouse.

THE fat dormoufe, with thin naked ears, is near.
fix inches long ; its tail four and a half; its body is
thicker than that of the fquirrel, and is covered with
foft alh-coloured hair ; its belly is whitifh ; and its tail
is full of long hair. It inhabits France and the fouth
of Europe, and the fouth-weft parts of Afiatic Ruflia.
It lives on trees j leaps from bough to bough \ feeds
on fruits and acorns j lodges in hollow trees j and re-
mains in a torpid ftate during winter, at which time it
is very fat :

"Tot a mi hi dor mi tar hyemsj et pinguior ilia
Tempore fum, quo me nil nif.Jomnus alit.

Martial, Lib. xiii. Ep. 59.

They were efteemed a great delicacy by the Ro-
mans who had their gliraria^ places conftruiled to feed
them in.

Synonymes.---Glis. Ge/ner quad. 550. Raiifyn. quad,
229. Glis vulgaris. Klein quad. 56. Glis fupra ob-
fcure cinereus, infra ex albo cinerefcente. BriJJon quad.
1 13. Sciurus Glis. Sc. canus fubtus albldus. Lin. fyji.
87. Le Loir. Buffon, viii. 158. tab. xxiv. Mus Glis.
Pallas nov.fp.f of. i, 88.

The GARDEN DORMOUSE.

THIS fpecfes has its eyes furrpunded with a large
fpot of black, reaching to the bafe of the ears : it has
al{b another black fpot behind its ears ; its head and
body are of a tawny colour i its throat, and the whole
under fide of its body, is white, tinged with yellow ;
jts tail is long, with fliort hair at the bafe, but bufby
ap the end. It is about five inches long, its tail four.

'■■ " " '■••■■ Jt

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 483

It inhabits France and the fouth of Europe. It is
ifound in magpies nefts, and hollow trees about the
Wolgai but neither this nor the former fpecies ex-
tends beyond the Uralian mountains. It infefts gar-
dens, and is very deftru(5live to fruits of all kinds. It
is particularly fond of peaches ; lodges in the holes of
walls i brings five or fix young ones at a time ; and,
like the former, remains torpid during the winter. It
has a ftrong fmell like a rat.

Synonymes.-^-Mus avellanarum major. Gefnerquad.
735. Greater dormoufe, or fleeper. Rail Jyn. quad.
219. Glis fupra obfcure cinereus, infra ex albo ci-
nerefcens, macula ad oculus nigra. Brijfon quad. 114.
Mus quercinus. M. cauda elongata pilofa, macula ni-
gra fub oculos. Lin. Jyfi. 84. Le Lerot. Buffon viii.
181. tab. xxv^ Mus nitedula. Pallas nov.fp.fafc. i. 88.

The DEGUS, or CHILIAN DORMOUSE.

THIS fpecies is of a dull white colour, and with a
blackifh line acrofs the fhoulders, reaching to the el-
bows ; the tail ending in a tuft ; ears rounded j and
larger than the common rat. It inhabits Chili,- ahd
lives under ground, near the hedges and bufhes ; and
forms its retreat into various galleries communicating
with each other. It feeds on roots and fruits, and lays
up a large provifion of them for winter food ; but it is
not torpid during that feafon like our dormoufe.
Sciurus Degus. Molina Chilij 284;

The common DORMOUSE.

THE common dormoufe is of the (ize of a rtioufe,
but is fomewhat plumper : it has round naked ears,
and full black eyes : its body is of a tawny red ; its
throat white; its tail is two inches and a half long>
and is pretty hairy, efpecially towards the end. It in-
habits Europe i lives in thick hedges ; and makes its
•iieft in the hollow of a tree, or in the bottom of a

^ P :? thick

484 NATURAL HISTORY

thick bufh, of grafs, mofs, or dead leaves. It feldom
appears far from its retreat; forms magazines of nuts;
and eats fitting up like a fquirrel. The female brings
three or four young at a time. At the approach of
winter, it retires, rolls itfelf up, and lies torpid. Some>
times it revives in a warm day, takes a little food, and
relapfes into its former ftate :

Thus to its moffy couch the dormoufe fprings ;
And fleep protects it with his eider wings.

Synonymes.— Mus avellanarum minor, the dor-
moufe, or fleeper. Raiifyn. quad. 110. Rothe Wald
Maufs. Kramer Aufiria^ 317. Glis fupra rufus, infra
albicans. BriJJbn quad. Mus avellanarius. M. cauda
clongata pilofa, corpore rufo, gula albicante, polHcibus
pofticis muticis. Lin. fyji. 83. Faun. fuec. No. 35.
Pallas nov.jp.fajc. i. 89. Le Mufcardin. BuffoHi \\\u
193. tab. xxvi. Dormoufe. Edzv. 266. Br. Zool. i. 95*

The earless DORMOUSE.

THE earlefs dormoufe is fo called, not becaufe it is
abfolutely without ears, but becaufe its ears are fo very
minute as to fcarcely appear. Its head is flat j its nofc
obtufe J its eyes full and black •, its upper lip is bifid ;
and its whilkers are long; its upper parts, and its fore-
legs, are of a pale ferruginous colour, except that from
the flioulder to the hind parts, it has a white line along
each fide, and another above each eye : its belly and
feet are of a dirty white ; its tail is black in the mid-
dle, and hoary on the fides ; its toes are long and dif-
tinft, with very long claws : there is a large knob on the
forefeet : the hind legs are black behind, and naked.

It is a creature of the fize of a common fquirrel; but
much broader and flatter : it inhabits the mountains,
about 800 miles above the Cape of Good Hope. It
never climbs trees, it burrows, feeds on bulbous roots,
and is particulary fond of potatoes : it often walks on
its hind-feet, and often lies flat on its belly, is very

tame,

6 F QJJ A D k U P E D S, 485

tame, and never offers to bite : it frequently flirts up
with its tail: it makes a warm neft, and forms a round
hole in it, in which it lodges : it fometimes keeps clofe
in this retreat for three entire days together.

The GILT-TAILED DORMOUSE.

THE gilt-tail hath fnort broad ears, great whiflcers,
the face marked lengthways with a gold -colour line
extending from the nofe to the fpace between the ears :
the reft of the head and whole body and beginning of
the tail are a purplifh chefnut colour, the remaining
half of the tail is black ; the reft of a beautiful gold
colour : the tail is thick about the bafe. Length from
nofe to tail is five inches ; of the tail fix. It inhabits
Surinam ; lives on fruits, and climbs up the trees.
It is le Lerot a queue doree of the Allamand Supplm.
iv. 164. tab, Ixvii.

GUERLINGUETS.

M. de la Cepede gives us the defcription of two
fpecies of animals, which he calls Guerlinguets. He
denies that they are true fquirrels : the ears are naked,
and the tail grows taper, yet is covered with long hair,
but by no means difpofed like that on the tail of the
fquirrel ; they may therefore not improperly come
into this genus. The larger is between {^.w^n and
eight inches long, exclufive of the tail j the tail is of
equal length ; the hair on the body is very fiiort, and
at its extremity a bright bay : the tail is rayed with
brown and tawny. The lefs is little more than four
inches long ; the tail little more than three j the body,
legs, and tail, are clouded with olive and aih-colour;
the face, lower part of the belly, and fides of the legs,
are tawny.

The

4S6 NATURAL HISTORY

The DIPUS, or jfeRBOA, of the ORDER

of GLIRES.

/^F this genus there are only five fpecies, with fome
^^ varieties. Its diftindive characters are, two cut-
ting teeth in each jaw ; two very fhort fore-legs ; two
very long hind-legs, reiembling thofe of cloven-footed
water-fowl, and a very long tail tufted at the end;

The v^IGYPTIAN JERBOA.

THIS curious aninlal hath thin, eredl, and broad,
cars ; full and dark eyes; long whiflcersj fore legs an
inch long, five toes on each ; the inner, or thumb,
fcarcely apparent j but that, as well as the reft, furnifli-
ed with a iharp claw ; hind legs two inches and a quar-
ter long, thin, covered with fhort hair, and exad;ly re-
fembling thofe of a bird j three toes on each, covered
above and below with hair, the middle toe the longeft,
on each a pretty long Iharp claw ; length, from nofe to
tail, feven inches one quarter j tail ten inches, terminated
with a thick black tuft of hair, the tip white, the reft of
the tail covered with very fhort coarie hair; the upper
part of the body thin, or comprefled fideways j the
part about the rump and loins large j the head, back,
fides, and thighs, covered with long hair, afh-coloured
at the bottom, pale tawny at the ends ; breaft and bel-
ly whitifh J acrofs the upper part of the thighs is an
obfcure dufky band j the hair long and foft.

It inhabits Egypt, Barbary, Paleftinc, the deferts
between Baffora and Aleppo, the faiidy trads between
the Don and Volga, the hills fouth of the Irtifh, from
fort Janiyfchera to the Seven Palaces, where the Al-
taic mountains begin : as fingular in its motions as in its
form ; always ftands on its hind feet j the fore fcQt
performing the office of hands ; runs faft, and, when
purfued, jumps five or fix feet from the ground j bur-
rows like rabbits j keeps clofe in the day i fleeps rol-
led

Ti^titk*^ ,/an*iuS<f^-

O F QV ADRUPEDS. ^^

!ed up; lively during night; when taken, emits a plain,,
tive feeble note; feeds on vegetables; has great ftrength
in its fore feet. Two, which were brought to Lon-
don, burrowed almoft through the brick wall of the
room they were in ; came out of their hole at night for
food, and when caught, were much fatter and fleekcr
than when confined to their box.

This is the daman Ifrael, or the lamb of thelfrael-
ites of the Arabs, and is fuppofed to be the faphan,
the coney of Holy Writ ; our rabbit being unknown
in the Holy Land. Dr. Shaw met with this fpecies on
mount Libanus, and diftinguifhes it from the next fpe-
(ties. It is alfo the moufe of Ifaiah, achbar in the ori-
ginal fignifying a male jerboa.

This, and the following fpecies, which is found to
extend to the colder regions, on any approach of cold
grow torpid^ and remain fo till they are revived by a
change of weather. Pallas calls this clafs the fpecies
lethargical.

Synonymes. — Mt;? JiTTs?. T'heophr, opufc.2^^, ^lian
hill. an. lib. xv. c. 26. Mus bipes. Flinii lib. x. c. 6$,
lexeira's Travelsj 11. Gerbua. jE^^w. 219. Plaifle^s
journaly 59. Mus jaculus. M. cauda elongata flocco^
fa, palmis fubpentadadylis, femoribus longiffimis, bra-
chiis breviilimis. Lin.Jyft, 85. Hajfdquijl itin. 198. Le
jerbo. BuffoHy xiii. 141. Mus fagitta. PallaSy nov. Jp.
fajc. I. 306. tab. xxi.

The SIBERIAN JERBOA.

OF the Siberian jerboa there are three varieties, the
greater, the middle, and the pigmy. .

.Xhe greater Siberian jerboa has a truncated nofe,
edged with white. Its lower teeth are flender, and
twice as long as the upper; its cars are large and point-
ed, tipt with white, and naked within ; its hair is veryt
foft, tawny on the back, and lower of a dark grey; its
iegs, and the under fide of its body, are white : the half
ot the tail next the body is covered with fhort whitifh

hairs j

48S NATURAL HISTORY

hairs; the other half with long black hairs, and termi-
nated with a white feather tuft, an inch long : on the
hind legs, an inch above the feet, are two long toesi
armed with nails ; the back part of each leg is naked:
the length of the body is eight inches and a half, of
the tail ten. It is found from the Cafpian Sea to the
river Irtifh j and it is of tliQ fize of a rat : it is of the
colour of the former, except that the rump, on each
iide, is crofled with a white line.

The middle variety has its nofe more lengthened,
and its ears fhorter and broader; its tail is thicker, and
not fo elegantly tufted ; its hind legs are fhorter, and
its coat is longer and thicker. It is found beyond
lake Baikal, alfo in Barbary and Syria, and even as
far as India.

The pigmy differs from the greater, in wanting the
white circle round the n"ofe, in having a lefs tuft to the
tail, and the end juft tipt with white : it agrees entirely
in form, but is far inferior in fize to even the middle
variety. It inhabits the fame countries with the greater.

Thefe three fpecies agree in manners : they ajl bur-
row in hard ground, clay, or indurated mud: they dig
their holes very fpeedily with their fore- feet and teeth,
and fling the earth back with their hind-feet, fo as to
form a heap at the entrance. Their burrows are con-
tinued many yards in length, winding obliquely, but
dip not above a foot and a half below the furface.
They have but one entrance, but ufually work in an-
other direftion an outlet within a very little of the
furface, through which they can inftantly make their
efcape, in cafe of necefTity. It keeps within its hole
all day, and wanders only in the night. It is fingu-
Jar, that an animal of a very chilly nature fhould keep
within its hole the whole day, and wander about only
in the night. They fleep rolled up, with their head
between their thighs ; and when kept in a flovej and
taken fuddenly out, they feem quite ftupified, and for
a time fcarcely find the ufe of their limbs. Perhaps

2 - ' this

OF QUADRUPEDS. 489

this arlfes from an excefs of heat j for, when an attempt
is made to take them out of their burrows, they are
quickly alarmed on the noife of digging, and attempt
their efcape. At fun-fet they come out of their holes,
clear them of the filth, and keep abroad till the fun has
drawn up the dews from the earth. On the approach
of danger, they immediately take to flight, with leaps
a fathom in height, and (o fwiftly, that a man well
mounted can hardly overtake them. They fpring (o
nimbly, that it is impoffible to fee their feet touch the
ground: they do not go ftrait forwards, but turn here
and there, till they gain a burrow, v/hether it is their
own, or that of another. In leaping, they carry" their
tails {^retched out; in ftanding, going, or walking, they
carry them in form of an S, the lower part touching the
ground, fo that it feems a director in their motions.
When furprized, they will fometimes go on all-fours,
but foon recover their attitude of ftanding on their
hind- legs like a bird; even when undifturbed, they
ufe the former attitude, then rife ered, liften, and hop
about like a crow. In digging or eating they drop on
their fore- legs ; but in the laft adion will often fit up
and eat like a fquirrel. They are eafily made tame,
and feek always a warm corner ; they fovetel cold or
bad weather by wrapping themfelves clofe up in hay ;
and thofe which are at liberty ft op up the mouths of
their burrows.

In a wild ft ate they are particularly fond of the roots
of tulips, and live much on oleraceous plants : the
Imall ftature of the pigmy kind is attributed to their
feeding on faline plants. Thofe of the middle fize,
which live beyond the lake Baikal, live on the bulbs of
thelilium pomponium, and they gnaw the twigs of the
robiniacarugaiia. When confined, they will not refufe
raw meat, and the entrails of fowls. They are the
prey of all fmalier rapacious beafts. The Arabs, who
are forbidden all other kinds of mice, efteem thefe the.
^reateft delicacies ; as thof^ people often are difap-

VpL. III. No. 45. 3 Q^ pointed

490 NATURAL HISTORY

pointed in digging after them, they have this proverb,
" To buy a holeir.ftead of a jerboa."

The Mongols have a notion that they fuck the iheepi
certain it is, they are during night very frequent among
the flocks, which they difturb by their leaps. The
Mongols call this animal alagh-daagha. Alagh figni-
fies va,riegated, daagha, a foal. The Calmucs call it
^a!ma ; the great fort they ftile morin jalma, or the
'horfe jerboas the fmall fort, choin jalma, or the flieep.

They breed often in the fummer , in the fouthern
parts, in the beginning of May : beyond Baikal, not
till June : they bring perhaps eight at a time, as they
tiave fo many teats : they fleep the whole winter with-.
out nutriment. About Aftracan, they will fometimes;
appear in a warm day in February ; but return to their
holes on the return of cold. Animals of this genus
were certainly the two-footed mice, and the Egyptian
mice, of the ancients, which were faid to walk on their
hind legs, and ufe the fore inftead of hatxls. Thefe,
with the plant fiiphium, were ufed to denote the coun-
try of Cyrene, where both were found, as appears from
the figures on a gold coin preferved by Mr. Haym.

Synonymes, — Cuniculus, pumilio fallens cauda lon^
gifllma. ISiov. com, Petrop. v. 351. tab. ly^. fig. i. Cu-
Iiiculus pumilio fallens, cauda anomala longiffima.
Brijbyi quad, 103. Dipus jaculus. Gm. Lin. 157. Fly-
ing hare. Strahlenberg' s hiji. Ruff. 370. Mus jaculus,
P alias nov.Jp.fafc. i. 275. tab. xx.

The arrow, or AFRICAN JERBOA.

THIS fpccies hath ears fborter and broader than the
preceding; no fe longer and lefs obtufej four toes be-
fore, three behind ; coat thicker and longer ; a white
band from the bafe of the tail to the jundion of tht?
thighs with the body ; length, from the tip of the nofe
to the rump, little more than five ir.ches, of the tail
fix. It inhabits Barbary, and all the north of Africa,
Egypt) Arabia, and Syria^ and lives in the fandy deferts,

SvnO'-

X) F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 491

Synonymes. — Dipus fagitta. Gm, Lin. 158. Pallas
tjov./p. 87, 206. tab. xxi. Edw. tab. 219.

The cape JERBOA.

THE Cape jerboa has a fhort head, broad between
the ears i its mouth is placed far below the upper jaw,
the lower is very fhort j it has two great teeth in each :
its ears arethiin and tranfpare.-t, and one-third fhorter
than thofe of the common rabbit : it has alfo great
whifkers, and large eyes : its fore- legs are (hort, it has
five toes on each, with a great protuberance next to the
inner toe : the claws of the fore- toes are crooked, and
two-thirds longer than the toes themfelves: it has four
toes behind, with fhort claws: its colour is tawny a-
bove, cinereous below, mixed with long hairs pointed
with black : two-thirds of the tail is tawny, the reft
black : the length of the body fourteen, of the tail ^f-
tQcn, of the ears near three, inches. It inhabits the
great mountains, far north of the Cape of Good Hope,
and is called by the Dutch, the jumping hare. It is
very flrong, and will leap twenty or thirty feet at a
time ; it tmits a grunting found ; fits upright when it
eats, with its legs extended horizontally, and its back
bent : it ufcs its fore-feet to bring its food to its mouth,
and burrows with them mofl: expeditioufly. In fleep-
ing, it fits with its knees feparate, and puts its head
between its hind legs, and, with its fore legs, holds its
ears over its eyes.

Synonymes. — Grand gerbo. /lllamand de Buffo?ii
XV. 118. Journal llifiorique^ 59. Dipus cafer. Gm. Lin,
159. Miller's plates, tab. xxxi.

The TORRID JERBOA.

THE torrid jerboa has naked oval ears, long whif^
kers i four toes on the fore-feet, the hind-feet are as
long as the body, thick and f^rong, but thinly haired.
It has five toes on each foot; fcarcdy any neck: the

3 0^2 tail

492 NATURAL HISTORY

tail is alfo the length of the body, with very little hair
upon it : the colour of the upper part of the oody is
yellow, of the lower white. It is of the fize of a com-
mon moufe, and inhabits the Torrid Zone.

Synonymes. — Mus longlpes. M. cauda elongata
veftitaj palmis tetradaftylis, plantis pentada6lylis, fc-
moribus longiflimis L^'«. j^. 84. Mus cauda longa
veftita, pedibus pofticis longitudine corporis fiavis.
MuJ. Ad. Fr. 9. •

. MUS, the RAT, of the Order of Glircs.

'TPHIS genus contains upwards of fifty fpeeies, divi-
-^ ded into different clafles. It has two cutting teeth
in each jaw, four toes before, five behind, a very flen-
der taper tail, naked, or very ilightly haired. The firft
clafs may be diftinguifhed by the name of Jerboid rats,
' on account of the length of their hind-legs : the fecond
by the name of murine, as comprehending all the com-
mon fpeeies of rats and mice.

The CANADIAN RAT.

THIS animal hath the upper jaw proje6!ing far be-
yond the lower ; the upper cutting teeth deeply divi-
ded by a longitudinal furrow j ears fmall, and hid in
the fur, and placed far back ; the three middle hind
toes very long, thofe on each fide very fhort; colour
of the fur on the upper part of the head and body,
light; towards the bottom of the fur iron grey ; belly
whitifti ; length from nofe to the tip of the tail fcarcely"
two inches ; tail very flender, three inches and a half long.
This animal inhabits the woods of Canada. Its hind
legs have more of the jerboas than any of the reft of
this genus, and are very long ; it goes upright on
thefe, like the jerboa; and its pace is leaping, like that
animal : it is exceeding nimble, and is with difficulty
caught, except it can be forced into the open grounds.
..Jt is torpid during winter, wraps itfelf up like the dor-
'- ■ moufe.

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. - 493

'moufe, and coils up its long tail, previoufly rolling it-
icif into a round ball of clay, which it forms for its
winter retreat.

The LABRADOR RAT.

THIS fpecies has a blunt nofe : its mouth is placed
far beneath J its upper lip is bifid j its ears are large,
naked, and rounded j its fore legs are fhort, furniilied
with four toes, and a tubercle inllead of a thumb ; its
hind legs are long and naked, like feme of the jerboas,
with a ihort thumb, and toes long, flender, and dif-
tind, of which the exterior is the ihorteft. Dr. Pal-
las has defcribed this fpecies under the title of mus
longipes.

The whole length of the animal is eight inches j of
its tail, four and three quarters : its colour is deep
brown above, white beneath ; thefe are feparated, the
whole length on each fide, by a yellov/ Hne. It inhabits
Hudfon's Bay, and the Labrador coaft. It is alfo in
the fandy defert of Naryn, or Ryn Pefky, between
the Volga and the Yaik, near the Cafpian Sea, in lat.
46 I -half. In this trad fcarcely any thing grows ex-
cept the torlok, or pterococcus aphyllus, and a fevy
other poor plants on which it feeds. Two were then
taken fporting in the mid-day fun; they were both
males, and attempted to efcape to different holes.
The burrows had three entrances running obliquely,
and were about a yard deep, lined or plaiftered with
mud. In the bottom was neither neil nor proviiion
of grafs. The Afiatic animal differed in colour from
the American, being above of a light grey mixed with
tawny, and white below j thefe colours divided length-
v/ays by a ftripe of dufky red : the tail covered with
longer nnd loofe hair at the end than in the other parts;
the foles of the feet clad with hair. Linnaeus defcribes
this fpecies under the title o{ mus kngipes^ SyJ't. nat.
84. Dr. Pallas, with great reafon, fuppoies it to he
th^ fame with the jird of Dr. Shaw, which he defcribes

2 with

4^4 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y

ivith the jerboa. It agrees in colours with the above,
in its long tail being better clothed than that of a rat,
and in its burrowing under ground. This is frequent
in Barbary, and is reckoned good food.

To this fpecies we may fubjoin what has been ufu-
ally called the Circaffian marmot, with ears like thole
of mice; red fparkling eyes; Iharp teeth; body long,
and of an equal thicknefs; chefnut-coloured hair, long,
efpecially on the back ; has fharp claws ; tail long and
buihy ; fore-feet fhorter than the hind-feet ; fize of
the hamfter. Inhabits the neighbourhood of the river
Terek, which flows out of Circaffia and falls into the
Cafpian Sea ; runs faft up hill, very flowly down i
burrows, and lives under ground.

The tamarisk RAT.

THE tamarifk rat has an oblong head, great whif-
kers, and a blunt nofe. His noftrils are covered with
a flap ; his teeth are yellow ; his eyes are large and
brown ; his ears are large, naked, and oval : there is a
white fpace round the nofe and eyes, and beyond the
cars : the fides of his head and neck are hoary ; his
neck is fhort j his back and fides are of a yellowilh
grey, tipped with brown; his breaft and belly are
white; his tail is afli-coloured, annulated with brown ;
his hind-legs are long ; the fore- feet have a tubercle
like a wart, infl:ead of a thumb ; his length is above fix
inches, his tail not quite fo long. This fpecies inha-
bits the fait marfiies about the river Ural, and burrows
beneath the knotty roots ot the tamarilk bufhes. Each
burrow has two entrances, and is very deep : they feed
only at night : their food confifts of maritime fucculent
plants.-— Mus tamaricinus. PallaSy nov.fp. i. 322. tai^,
xix. Itin. ii. 702.

We come now to the clafs of murine rats.

The

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 495

The black RAT.

THIS fpecles Is of a deep iron-grey colour, nearly
blfick. Its belly is cinereous ; its legs duflcy, almoft
naked : it has a claw in the place of a fifth toe on the
fore feet: its body meafures i^QVQn inches; its tail near
eight: It inhabits moft parts of Europe. Its numbers
are much lefTened, and in many places indeed extir-
pated, by the brown fpecies. They are very de-
ftrudive to corn, furniture, young poultry, rabbits,
aiid pigeons. They will even gnaw the extremities of
infants when afleep. They breed often in a year, and
bring fix or feven young at a time. They make their
nefl: in a hole, often near a chimney, with wool, bits of
cloth, or with ftraw. They will deftroy and devour
one another ; but their greateft enemy is the weafel.
They were carried into South America about the year
1 544, by the Europeans, and are now become the pefl
of all that continent. The word rattus, or rat, is mo-
dern. The Romans probably comprehended all kinds
under the word mus. The Welfh call it the French
raoufe, which intimates that it has been imported
thence into our ifland. None of them are found in
Siberia or Kamtfcatfka. They fwarm at Otaheite, and
others of the Society Iflands, and are met with in New-
Zealand and New Holland. In Otaheite they are fo
bold as to attack the inhabitants when afleep, who
hold them in the utmoft deteftation, and will not even
kill them, left they fhould be polluted by the touch.
They will not even eat the bread-fruit thefe animals
fhould happen to run over.

Synonymes. — Mus domefticus major, quern vulgo
rattum vocant, Gejner quad. 731. Raiijyn. quad. 217.
Mus rattus, Mus ciftrinarius. Klein quad. 57. Ratze.
Kramer uiiiftr. 316. Mus cauda longiffima obfcure
cinerea, Briffbn quad. 118. Mus rattus. M. cauda
elongata fubnuda, palmis tetradadtylis cum ungulculo
poiIicari,.piii^tispentadaJlylis. Lin.Jyfi, Ratta. Faun,

Juec,

49^ NATURAL HISTORY

Juec. No. 33. Br. ZccL I. No. 27. Le rat. Buffon,
vii. 278. tab. xxxvi. Pallas nov.jp.fajc. i. ^2*

The COYPU RAT.

THIS hath round ears ; the nofe elongated, and
covered with whiikers ; legs fhort j tail thick, and of
a moderate length, well covered with hairs j two very
fharp cutting teeth in each jaw ; on the fore ^t'it. are
five toes, all feparated ; on the hind feet live, palrnated.
It has the appearance of the otter in hair and fize..

This animal lives equally well in the water as on the
land; and frequents alio houfes; it is eaiily tamed, and
very content in the doraeftic fip.te, attaching itfelf to
thofe who treat it kindly. It has a piercing cry oa
being abufed: the female brings forth five or fix youngs
which always follow her.

. Synonymes.-.--Le coypu. Molina Cbili, 26S. Mus
Coypus. Gm.' Lin. 125,

The brown RAT.

THE brown rat is laro-er and fl-ronfrer than the black.
Its head, back, and fides, are of a light brown colour,
mixed with a tawny and afb- colour ; its breaft and
belly of a dirty white j its feet are naked and of a dirty
fiefn-colour ; its fore-feet arefurnifhed with four toes,
and a claw inftead of a fifth. The length cf its body
is nine inches, and of its tail the fame : it weighs about
eleven ounces. It inhabits m.oft parts of Europe; but
was a ftranger to that continent till the prefent century.
It came into Britain about fixty years ago. h has not
been known in the neighbourhood of Paris above half
that time. It is probable they were imported from,
the Eaft Indies, where they burrow, and undermine
the foundations of houfes fo as to make- them fall.
They fwarm in Peterfburgh, and have reached Prulfia.
They fometimes migrate in vaft armies, and do infinite
mifchief. They burrow like the water-rat, on tho

fi4e^

O F OJJ A D R U P E D S. 497

fides of ponds and ditches, fwim well, and dive readily.
They live on grain and fruits, and will deftroy poultry
and game. They breed prodigioufly faft, and bring
from fourteen fo eighteen young at a time. They are
very bold and fierce. When clofely purfued, they will
turn and faften on the hand or flick that offers to ftrike
them. In fpite of poifon, traps, and cats, they increafe
to fuch a degree as fometimes to do a great deal of
damage. In old country- houfes where grain is kept,
and where the vicinity of barns and magazines facili-
tates their retreats, they often increafe fo prodigioufly,
that the poffefTors are obliged to remove and defert
their habitations, unlefs the rats happen to deftroy each
other; an event which frequently takes place, for thefe
creatures when pinched for food devour each other.
When a famine happens by reafon of too many being
crowded into one place, the ftrong kill the weak, open
their heads, and firft eat the brain, and then the reft of
the body. Next day the war is renewed, and conti-
nues in the fame manner till moft of them are deftroy-
ed J which is the reafon why thefe animals, after being
extremely troublefome for fome time, difappear all of a
fudden, and do not return for a long time. Rats are
extremely lafcivious; they fqueak during their amours,
and cry when they fight. They foon teach their young
to eat ; and, when they begin to iflue from the hole,
their mother watches, defends, and even fights with the
cats, in order to fave them. A large rat is more mif-
chievous than a young cat, and nearly as ftrong : the
rat ufes her foreteeth ; and the cat makes moft ufe of
her claws ; fo that the latter requires both to be vigor-
ous, and accuftomed to fight, in order to deftroy her
adverfary. The weafel, though fmaller, is a much
more dangerous and formidable enemy to the rat, be-
caufe he can follow it into its retreat. Their ftrength
being nearly equal, the combat often continues tor a
long time, but the method of ufing their arms is very
different. The rat wounds only by reiterated ftrokes
Vol. III. No. 45. 3 R with

4^ N AT U R AL HI S T OR Y

with his fore-teeth, which are better formed for gnaw-
ing than biting ; and being fituated at the extremity
of the lever or jaw, they have not much force. But
the weafel bites cruelly with the whole jaw ; and, inltead
of letting go its hold, fucks the blood from the wound-,
ed part, fo that the rat is always killed.

Synonymes. — Mus cauda longiflima, fupra dilute
fulvus, infra albicans. Le rat de Bois. Briffon quad. 1 20.
Le Surmulot. BiiffoUy viii. 206. tab. xxvii. Norway
rat. Br. ZooL i. No. 26. Mus decumanus. Pallas
nov.fp.fafc. i. 91.

The PERCHAL, or INDIAN RAT.

IT hath ears rounded on the top ; nofe long and
turning up j body longer than the common rats ; hair
on the upper parts deep brown ; hind legs larger than
the fore j tail naked and fcaly ; length from nofe to
tail above a foot; tail between eight and nine inches.
Common in India, and infefts the houfes in Pondi-
cherry, as our rats do thofe of Europe ; are very nu-
merous ; the inhabitants ufe them for food. Le rat
Perchal, Bufcriy Suppkfn. vii. 276. iaL Ixix.

The AMERICAN RAT.

THIS fpecies is larger than the black, but lefs than
the brown, rat. Its upper jaw is much longer than the
lower ; its head is long ; its nofe narrow and pointed ;
its ears large and naked ; its whifkers are fine, but
long ; its tail is naked, and like that of the black rat,
but not fo long ; its colour is a deep brown, inclining
on the belly to afh. It inhabits North America. The
Mus Caraco of Dr. Pallas is nearly allied to this fpe-
cies. It burrows in the banks of rivers, and is fup-
pofed to extend from the lake Baikal to China, where
it is very noxious.

The

O F (i_U A D R U P E D S. 499

The SCHERMAN, or STRASBOURG RAT.
THIS is a rpecies with a fhort head and thick nofe;
fmall eyes ; ears fo very fmall as to be fcarcely vifible;
.colour of the hair dufl^y, mixed with grey and tawny j
edges of the mouth bordered with white : body fix
inches long : tail above two. It is very common about
Strafbourg, in the gardens and places near the water.
They make great havoc among the plants and the cul-
tivated grounds ; fwim and dive very well, and are often
taken by the fifhermen in their weels: they burrow
under ground, and are frequently caught in the traps
ufed by the people who are employed in taking the
Hamfter rat. Le Sherman. BuffGii^ Suppkm. vii. 278,
tab. Ixx.

The water RAT.
THIS voracious fpecies hath a thick blunt nofe ;
ears hid in the fur ; eyes fmall j teeth yellow j on each
foot five toes ; the inner toe of the fore foot very
fmall i the firft joint very flexible ; the head and body
covered with long hairs, black mixed with a few fur-
ruginous hairs j the belly is of iron-grey ; the tail co-
vered with fhort black hairs ; the tip whitifh j weight
nine ounces : length, from nofe to tail, kvtn inches ;
the tail only five : the fhape of the head and body is
more compad than the former fpecies. It has fome
refemblance to the beaver, which induced LInnasus, in
the firft edition of his Fauna Suecica, to f^yle it Cartor
Cauda lineari tereti. It inhabits Europe, the north of
Afia, and North America ; burrows in the banks of
rivers, ponds, and wet ditches ; feeds on fmall fifh,
and the fry of greater j alfo on frogs, infers, and roots.
It is itfelf the prey of the pike ; it fwims and dives
admirably, though it is not web-footed, as Mr. Ray
fuppofed, and Linnseus' copied after him ; it brings fix
young at a time. This animal and the otter are eatei;i
in France on maigre days.

J R 2 Sync-

500 NATURAL HISTORY

. Synonynies. — Le rat d'eau. Belon^ equat. 30. tab,
xxxi. Mus aquatilis. Jgricola An, Subter. /\.%'i. Gefner
quad. 732. Rait fyn. quad. 217. Klein quad. 57. Waf-
fer-maus. Kramer Aufi 316. Mus amphibious. M.
Cauda elongata pilofa, plantis palmatis. Lin. Jyft. 82.
JFaun.Juec. "^o. 2,1- Pollas ncv. J-p, fajc. \. 20. M. Cau-
da longa pilis fupra ex nigro et flavefcente mixtis, infra
cinereis veftitus. BriJJ'on quad. 124. Le rat d'eau.
Buffon^ vii. 348. tab, xliii. Water rat. Br. Zool. i.
No. 27.

The mouse

IS an animal that needs no defcription : when found
white, it is very beautiful, the full bright eye appearing
to great advantage amidft the fnowy fur. It follows
mankind, and inhabits all parts of the world, except
the Ardic.

Synonymes.---Mus domefticus communis feu mi-
nor. Gefner quad. 714. Raii.Jyn. quad. 218. Mus
minor, mufculus vulgaris. Klein quad. Maufs. Kra^
mer Aufir. 316. Mus mufculus, M. Cauda elongata,
palmis tetradaftylis, plantis pentadaftylis. Lin.fyfi. 83.
Pallas nov. fp. fajc. i. 95. Mus. Faun fuec. No. 34.
Mus Cauda longiflima, obfcure cinereus, ventre fubal-
befcente. BriJJbn quad. 119. La Souris. Buffon, vii.
tab. 309. lix. Br. Zool. i. No. 30.

The FIELD MOUSE.

THE field monfe has black eyes; its head, back,
and fides, are of a yellowifh brown, mixed with fome
dufky hairs ; its bread is of an ochre-colour; belly
white; length, from the tip of the nofe to the tail,
four inches and a halfi the tail four inches, (lightly
covered with hair.

It inhabits Europe, and is found only in fields and
gardens; it feeds on nuts, acorns, and corn; and forms
great magazines of winter provifion i hogs, tempted

J ' by

O F QV A D R U P E D S. 501

by the fmell, dv' much dam.-ige in the fields by rooting
up the hoards. It makes a ncft for its voung very near
the furface, and often in a thick tuft of grafs j and
brings fr m kvQn to ten at a time. It is called, in fome
parts of England, bean moufe, from the havoc it makes
among the beans when juft fown. It is common iu
RuiTia, and abcut the Urallian chain, but not beyond..

There is an American variety of it, fome white,
others black ; with the ears large, naked, and open ;
from the head to the tail, along the middle of the back,
is a broad dark ftripe, ferruginous and dufky : the
cheeks, fpace beneath the ears, and fides, quite to the
tail, orange-coloured j the under fide, from nofe to
tail, of a fnowy whitenefs ; the feet are white ; the
hin4 legs longer than thofe of the European kind ; the
tail dufky above, and whitifh beneath.

Synonymes.-— Mus agreftis minor. Gefner quad,
73 J. Mus domefticus medius. Rati j'yn. quad. 218,
Maufs mit weifien bauch. Kramer Aujlr. 317. Mus
Cauda longa fupra e fufco flavefcens, infra ex albo ci-
nerefcens. Brijfon quad. 123. Mus fylvaticus. M. Cau-
da longa, palmis tetradaftylis, plantis pentada(5>ylis,
corpore grifeo pilis nigris abdomine albo. Lin. fyfl. 84.
F alias ncv.Jp. fajc. i. (^4. Faun J'uec. No. 2^' Le
mulot. Buffcn^ vii. 325. tab. xli. Long-tailed field-
moufe. Br. Zool. i. No. 28.

The harvest MOUSE.

THE eyes of this are lefs prominent than thofe of
the former fpecies. It has prominent ears ; and is of
a full ferruginous colour above j white beneath; with
a ftraight line along the fides, dividing the colours.
It is two inches and a half long ; its tail meafures two
inches. The whole animal weighs only one-fixth of
an ounce.

In Hampfiiire, they appear in great numbers du-
ring the harveft, but never enter the houfes. They
are often carried into the ricks of corn in the Iheaves j

and

502 NATURAL HISTORY

and are often killed by hundreds at the breaking up of
the ricks. During vvinter they fhelter themfelve* un-
der ground, and burrow very deep, where they form a
warm bed of dead grafs. They form their nefh alfo
above ground among rtanding corn i and bring about
eight young at a time. The lefs long-tailed field-
jnoule. Br. Zool. ii. App. 498.

The oriental MOUSE.

THE oriental is about half the fize of the common
moufe. It is of a grey colour, and has rounded ears :
its back and fides are elegantly marked with twelve
rows of fmall pearl-coloured fpots, extending from
the head to the rump : its tail is as long as its body.
It inhabits India. In the fame country, and in Guinea,
there is another fmall fpecies which fmells of mufl^.
The Portuguefe living in India call it cherofo, and
fay its bite is venomous.

Synonymes.---Mus orientalis. Seh. Muf. ii. 12.
tab. xxi/7%. 1. M. Cauda mediocri fubnuda, palmis
tetradaftylis, plantis pentada(5lylis, corporis ftriis punc-
tatis. Lin, fyji. 84. M. cauda longa, ftriis corporis
Jonoitudinaiibus & pundis albis. Muf. Ad. Fred. 10.
Mus cauda longa, rufus, lincis in dorfo albicantibus,
margarltarum a^mulis. Brijfon quad. 124.

The BARBARY MOUSE.

THE Barbary moufe is alfo lefs than the common
one ; of a brown colour ; marked on the back with
ten {lender ftreaks : it has three toes, with claws on
the fore-feet, and the rudiments of a thumb : its tail is
of the fame length with the body. It inhabits Barbary:

Synonymes.---Mus Barbarus. M. cauda mediocri
corpore fufco, ftriis decem pallidis, palmis trydadylis,
plantis pentadaOitylis. Lin.hft. torn. i. pars ii. addenda.

MEX-

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. s<^3

MEXICAN AND VIRGINIAN MOUSE.

THE Mexican moufe is of a whitilli colour, mixed
with red. Its head is vvhitifh : each fide of its beily is
marked with a great reddifli fpot. It inhabits Mexico.
---Mus Mexicanus maculatus. Se/^. Mus. 74. tab,
xlv. fig. 5.

The Virginian moufe has pointed ears, a black pomt-
ed nofe, and longwhiflcers: its fur is very fhort ; its
h'mbs are very flendcr j its tail very thick at the bafe,
and all befet with long hair j tapers gradimlly to a
point, and is very long and (lender : the colour of this
animal is univerfally white: thethicknefs at the bafe of
its tail is its fpecific difference. It is found in Virgi-
nia.---Mus agreftis Americanus albus. Seb. Mus. i. 76/
tab. xlvii.^^. 4.

The wandering MOUSE.

THIS fpecies has an oblong head, a blunt nofe, with
a red tip, and yellow cutting teeth : its eyes are placed
midway between the nofe and ears; its ears are large,
oval, and naked, but dufkv and downy at the tips ; its
limbs are (lender ; its tail is longer than the body, and
very (lender alfo ; its colour above pale afh, mixed and
waved with black, with a black line along the back :
the ends of its limbs are whitifh; its body and tail are
each about three inches long. It inhabits the whole
Tartarian defert. At certain times, they wander about
in great flocks, migrating from place to place during
the night : they ajre obferved in birch woods as high as
57 deg. north : they are of a very chilly nature,- foon
become torpid, and fleep rolled up in a cold night,
even in the month of June : they live in holes and fif-
fures of rocks. The Tartars call it the gregarious
moufe.---Mus vagus. Pallas nov. Jp' fc-fc i. 327. tab.
xxii. fig. 2.

The

504 NATURAL HISTORY

The birch MOUSE.

THIS hath a fharp nofe, with the end red ; enrs
fmaller than thofe of the former, brown, and briftly at
the end j Hmbs very (lender ; toes long, flender, and
very feparable ; tail very long and flender, much ex-
ceeding the length of the body, brown above, and
•white below : colour of the head and body a c nereous
ruft, with a few dufky hairs interfperfed ; the breaft
and belly pale afli-colour ; along the top of the back
is a duflcy line. It is lefs than the former.

It inhabits the birch woods about the plains of Ifchim
and Baraba, and between the Oby and Jenefei -, lives
in the hollows of decayed trees ; is very tender, and
foon grows torpid in cold weather; runs up trees, and
fattens to the boughs with its tail, and, by aflTiftance
of its flender fingers, adheres to any fmooth furface. It
emits a weak note.-- -Mus betulinus. Pallas nov, f^.
fajc, i. 322. tab. xxii. fig. i.

The RUSTIC MOUSE.

THE rufl:ic moufe hath a fliarp nofe ; oblong head ;
fmall ears lined with fur; the colour of the body and
head ferruginous, with a duflcy line along the back ; the
belly and limbs whitifii; above each hind-foot is a
duflcy circle. It is a little lefs than the field moufe. The
tail is only half the length of the body.

It inhabits the temperate trafts of RufTia and Sibe-
ria, as far as the Irtifli j in the f )rmer, it is found
chiefly about villages and corn-fields j in the latter, in
woods. In Ruflia it is often migratory, and often very
noxious to the grain i it is called there fliitnik, or the
corn moufe, for it abounds in the flieafs and ricks. At
times they wander in vafl: multitudes, and deflroy the
whole expedations of the farmer. In the years 1763.
and 1764, they made great ravages in the rich coun-
try about Cafan and Arfl^ ; and came in fuch numbers

as

O F QJJ A D k U P E D S. 50^

as to fill the very houfes, and became through hunger
fo bold as to Ileal even the bread from the table before
the very faces of the guefts. At the approach of winter
they all difappeared.

They make their retreats a little below the furface,
which in thofe places appear elevated ; each has a long
gallery with a chamber at the end, in which they place
their winter food, which confifts of various forts of feeds.

Synonymes.— Mus agrarius. Pallas nov. fp. fajc^
i. i^\\.tab, xxiv. A.Itin, i. 454. Mus rubeus. Scbwenk*
feldt Anim. SileJ. 114.

The SORICINE MOUSE.

THIS hath an elegant (lender head ; ears rounded
and covered with hair j tail long and flender j hair on
the head and upper part of the body cinereous, mixed
with yellow j belly white ; length two inches. It in-
habits the neighbourhood of Strafburg, and was dif-
covered by Profeflbr Herman. — Mus foiicinus. Schre*
beVi tab. clxxxiii. Gm. Lin. 130.

The LINEATED MOUSE.

THIS fpecies hath a black forehead and hind part
of the head ; from whence extend along the back to the
tail four black lines ; colour of the reft of the animal a
cinereous brown ; tail of a light colour, and very fmall;
not fuperior in fize to the following. It inhabits the
foreft of Sitficamma on the Slangen river, at a vaft
diftance to the eaftward of the Cape of Good Hope.
Mus pumilio. Gmel. Lin.JyJl. ijo. Sparman' s voy . \i,
349. tab, vii.

The LITTLE MOUSE.

THIS hath a fharpifh nofe, and is of a dufky Co-
lour, with a whitenefs at the corner of the mouth j ears
Ihiall, half hid in the fur; body more flender than that

Vol. Ill, No. 45. 3 S of

5o6 NATURAL HISTORY

• of the common moufe; tail alfo fhorter, and more (len-
der. The colour a deep tawny above, and white be- '
low; the feet grey. This is the leaft of the genus,
little more than two inches long from nofe to tail,
weight not half a dr4chm. It inhabits the temperate
parts of Ruilia and Siberia, in corn-fields and barns ; it
is alfo plentiful in the birch woods. More males are
faid to be found among them than females; and they
feem to wander without any certain places for their
rjefts.---Mus minutus. Pallas nov. fp, fajc^ i. 345.
tab. xxiv. B. Itin. i. 454.

We come now to another clafs, viz. with tails much
fhorter than the precediitg.

The rock MOUSE.

THE rock moufe hath an oblong head, nofe rather
pointed, ears rifmg abbve the fur, oval and downy, at
the edges brown ; whiikers fhort, limbs ftrong, tail
not half fo long as the body, with a few hairs fcattered
over it : the colour above is brown, flightly mixed
with grey ; the fides incline more to the laft colour ;
belly of a light cinereous ; fnout dufky, furrounded
with a very {lender ring of white. It is in length four
inches, the tail one and a half.

It inhabits the country beyond lake Baikal, and the
Mongolian defert; it makes its burrows in a wonder-
ful manner, confidering the weaknefs of its feet, be-
tween the crannies of the rocks which had been forced
open by the violence of frofl:, or X^w^ infinuation of
^roots of plants : it chocfes its habitation amidfl: the
rudeft rocks, and lives chiefly on the feeds of afl:ragali.
The burrows confift, firft, of a large winding oblique
pafliigej through which the animal flings out the 'earth :
fe^condly, of one or more holes pointing downwards,
which Hkewife wind among the rocks ; and at their
bottom is the nefl:, formed of foft herbs. — Mus faxa-
tilis. Pallas mv,/p.fafc,u i^^.tah. ■xxin.'Q, •j

3 TiiSf ^

OF QJJADR UPED S. 507

The INDIAN VIVERRA.

THIS animal hath fhort pointed ears, fharp nofe,,
two cutting teeth in each jaw, and fourteen grinders in
each J five toes to each foot, claws ftrong and crook-
ed J colour grey, tinged on the lower part of the head
and neck with red ; belly white, back and fides mark-
ed with four black lines, commencing near the hind
part of the head, and ending at the rump j on each
thigh is a bifurcated black firoke, the forks pointing
backwards. It is in length two feet, the tail nine inches.
It inhabits India. No farther account is given by M.
Sonnerat of this and the following obfcure fpecies. '
They are placed in this genus, becaufe they have no
canine teeth, and only two incifores in each jaw.

Synonymes. — Viverra fafciata. Gmelin. Lin. i. 92.
Chat fauvage, &c. Sonnerat voy. ii..i43. tab. Ixxix.

The Z E N I C.

THIS hath fhort ears, very long fharp nofe, two
cutting teeth, fixteen grinding teeth, four toes on each
foot, claws on the fore feet very long, and almofl: ftrait;
colour of a reddifh grey, ftriped tranfverfely with tzn
black lines falling from the back almofl: to the belly.
It is about the fize of a water rat, tail not fo Ions; as the
body, of a gilded red on three parts of its length, the
reft black. It inhabits the land of the Hottentots.

Synonymes. ---Le zenik des Hottentots. Sonnerat
Z'oy, ii. 145. tab. xcii. Viverra zenik. Gmelin. Lin. i. 84.

The economic MOUSE.

THIS hath fmall eyes, ears naked, and ufually hid
in the fur; limbs ftrong, teeth very tawny; colour
black and yellow, intimately mixed, dufky on the
back, from throat to tail hoary, beneath the hair a
dark down, ends of the feet dufky. It is in length

3 S 2 four

5oS NATURAL HISTORY

four inches and a quarter, the tail about an inch ; in
form of the body it is like the meadow moufe, but is
longer, and the belly bigger. The females are far fu-
perior to the males in fize, as on the former refts the
chief labour of providing the food. It inhabits in vaft
numbers all Siberia, efpeclally the eaftern parts, and
Kamtfchatka ; and is even found within the Ar6ttic
circle. They are called by Dr. Pallas, mures a^conomi,
or economic mice, from their curious way of living :
they inhabit damp foils, and fhun the fandy j form
burrows beneath the upper cruft of the turfy ground,
and have in them many chambers, and feveral entran-
ces. Never more than two animals are found in thefe
extenfive nefts, and thofe fondly attached to each other;
fometimes only one inhabits thefe dwellings, except
towards autumn, when the whole family make it their
refidence. In the firft they form magazines for winter
food, confiding of various forts of plants, which they
colleft in fummer with great pains ; and in funny days
draw them out of their nefls, in order to give them a
more effedual drying. During fummer they never
touch their hoards, but live on berries, and other vege-
table produftions. Twenty, and even thirty, pounds
of frefh roots, have been found in one hoard. Befides
man, thefe mice find a cruel enemy in the wild boars,
which ranfack the magazines, and devour the little de-
fencelefs owners.

They in certain years make great migrations out of
Kamtfchatka; they colleft in the fpring, and go off
in incredible multitudes. Like the lemmus, they go
on in a direc5t courfe, and nothing flops their progrefs,
neither rivers nor arms of the fea; in their pafiage they
often fall a prey to the ravenous fifhes and birds ; but
on the land they are fafe, as the Kamtfchatkans pay a
fuperftitious regard to them; and when they find them
lying, weak or half dead with fatigue, on the banks,
after paffing a river, will give them all poflible affift-
ance. They fet out on their migration weft ward.

Fron;

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 509

From the river Pengin they go fouthwari, and about
the middle of July reach Ochotfka and Judoma, a
tradt of amazing extent: they return again in Oflober.
The Kamtfchatkans are greatly alarmed at their mi-
grations, as they prefage rainy feafons, and an unfuc-
cefsful chace ; but on their return, exprefles arefent to
all parts with the good news.

Many fables are related of them, fuch as that they
cover their provifions with poifonous herbs before their
migrations, in order to deftroy other rats which may at-
tempt to plunder their magazines ; and, if by chance
they fhould be pillaged, they will ftrangle themfelves
through vexation, by fqueezing their necks between the
forks of fhrubs -, for this reafon the natives never take
away all their ftore, but leave part for their fubfiftence,
or leave in its place fome caviare, or any thing that
vill ferve for their fupport. It is certain that the roots
of fome poifonous plants are often found in their
nefts half eaten; but this is no wonder, as it is well
known that divers animals will feed on noxious vese-
tables which would prove the certain bane of others.

Synonymes. — Mus CEconomus. Pallas nov.fp.fafc,
1. 234. tab. xiv. A. Itin. iii. 692. Tegoulichitck,
jPefcr. Kamtfcbatkaj Engl. ed. 104.

, The woolly RAT.

THIS animal hath very fmall ears, fhort nofe, tail
of a middling length, and the whole body covered
with long wool of exquifite finenefs, grey, and lono-
enough to be fpun : the length of this fpecies ii fix
inches. Thefe animals live in fociety under ground,
and feed on the bulbous roots of the country. It
breeds twice a year, and brings five or fix at a time;
it is a very gentle tame animal ; very fond of being
carefied, and will lie down without fear by mankind j
it is often domefticated. The antient Peruvians ma-
nufaduied many fmall articles from the wool, which

they

5IO NATURAL HISTORY

they fold at a great price. Synonymes.— -La chin-
chilla. Molina Chiliy 283. Muslaniger, Gm. Lin.i^^-

The RED, the GARLIC, and the SORICENE,

MOUSE.

THE red moufe is about four inches long, its tail
aV.ove one, and full of hair 3 its nofe and face are very
biiftly ; its back is of an uniform, pleafant, tawny red;
its fides are light grey and yellow : the under fide of
the body is whitifh ; its feet are alfo white. It inha-
bits Siberia from the Oby eaftward to Kamtfchatka, in
woods and mountains. It is alfo found within the Arc-
tic circle. They wander out the whole winter, and are
very lively even amidft the fnows : they eat any thing,
that comes in their way. A variety is found about
Cafan, a Httle lefs than the Siberian kind, and the tail
longer and more flender ; the red on the back is not fo.
much diffufed as in the other : the fame kind has alfo
been difcovered in the botanical garden at Gottengen.

The garlic moufe is frequent in magazines of bul-
bous roots formed by the peafants of Siberia, efpecially
in thofe of angular garlic. It has great open naked
ears ; its tail is clothed with hair : the colour of its,
back is cinereous, mixed with long hairs, tipped with
a dulky grey j its fides are of a light afhj its breaft-,
belly, and feet, are white 3 its body is four inches, its
tail one and a half.

Theforicene moufe, found in the neighbourhood of.
Strafbourg, is of a yellowilli grey on the upper parts
of the body, with a white bell^' : its nofe is a little
extended; it has four toes before, five behind, round
ears, a tail of a middling length, and covered with hair.
We come now to a fourth clafs, viz. Rats with fhort tails.

TheLEMMUS.

THE lemmus, or leming, has two very long cutting
teeth in each jaw, a pointed head, and long whifkers :

its

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 511

its eyes are fmall and black ; its mouth is fraall ; its
upper lip divided i its ears are fmail and blunt, reclin-
ing backwards ; its fore-legs are very (hort, with four
(lender toes on each, covered with hair, and in place
of a thumb, it has a fhort claw, like a cock's fpur ; it
has five toes behind ; its flvin is very thin ; its head
and body are black and tawny, difpofed in irregular
blotches J its belly is white, tinged with yellow ; its
length is about five inches j its tail one and a half.
Thofe of Ruflia Lapland are much lefs than thofe of
the Norwegian or Swedifh: they appear in numberlefs
troops, at very uncertain periods, in Norway and Lap-
land, and are at once the pcft and wonder of the coun-
try : they march like the army of locufts, fo emphati-
cally defcribed by the prophet Joel, deftroy every root
of grafs before them, and fpread univerfal defolation":
they infe6l the very ground, and cattle are faid to pe-
rifh which tafte the grafs they have touched : they march
by myriads in regular lines: nothing ftops their pro-
grefs, neither morafs nor lake, water nor fire ; the
greateft rock is but a flight obftacle, they wind round
it, and then go on flraight.. If they meet a peafant,
they jump as high as his knees in defence of their pro-
grefs : they are fo fierce, that they will lay hold of a
ftick, and fufFer themfelves tp be fwung about before
they quit their hold ; if flruck, they turn and bite, and
make a noife like a dog:.

They feed on grafs, on the rein- deer liver- wort, and
the calkins of the dwarf birch. The firft they get under
the fnow, beneath which they wander during winter.
Where they make their lodgements, they have a fpi-
racle to the furface for the iake of air. In thefe re-
treats they are eagerly purfued by the Ardic foxes.
They make alfo very fhallow burrows under the turf;
but do not form any magazines for winter prov'ifion :
by this improvidence, it feems, they arc compelled to
migrate, urged by hunger to quit their ufual refidence.
They breed often in the year, and bring five or. fix

youn^r

512 NATURAL HISTORY

young at a time : fometimes they bring forth on their
march, during a migration : fome they carry in their
mouths, and others on their backs; they are not poi-
fonous, as is vulgarly fuppofed. The Laplanders often
eat them, and compare their flefh to that of fquirrels.

They are the prey of foxes, lynxes, and ermines,
who follow them in great numbers : they perifh at
length, either from want of food, or from their de-
ftroying each other, or in fome great water, or in the
fea. In former times the priefts exorcifed them in a
Jong let form of prayer. They migrate once or twice
in twenty years, like a vaft colony of emigrants from
a country overftocked -, a difcharge of animals from
the great northern hive, that once poured out its
myriads of human creatures upon fouthern EurDpe.
Where the head- quarters of thefe quadrupeds are, is
not certainly known : it was once ferioufly believed,
that they were generated in the clouds, and that they
fell in fhowers upon the earth ; but wherever they
come from, none return : their courfe is predeiHnate,
and they purfue their fate.

Synonymes.-— Lemmar vel lemmus. Olaiis mag-
nus de gent. Septentr. 358. Leem vel Lemmer. Gefner
quad. 731. Mus Norvegicus vulgo leming. JVorm
MiiJ. 321, 325. Scheffer Lapland, \2(^- Pontop. Nor-
way, ii. 30. Strom. Sortd,ncr. 154. Raiifyn. quad. 227.
Sable-mice. Phil, f ran. abridg.n.^l S' Cuniculus cau-
datus, auritus, ex flivo, rufo et nigro variegatus. Brijfon
quad. 100. Mus lemmns. M cauda abbreviata, pedibus
pentadadylis coipore fulvo nigro ^r3rio. Lin. Jyfi. 80.
Pallas nov. Jp. fajc. i. 186. tab. xii. A. & B. Fial-
mus. fibell mus Lapps. Lummick. jp^«». ^uec. Nj.
29. Le kming. Bujjon xii;. 314.

The ringed and the HUDSON'S BAY RAT.

THE ringed rat has ^ blunt nofe, ears hid in its fur,
legs ftrong and ihort, ioles covered with hair, claws

very

I

}!'H:../,rJJ£a-c>t J 1,104.

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 513

very ftrong, and hooked at the end, and very fine hair
ail over the body, of a ferruginous colour, mixed with
yellow ; fometimes pale grey, clouded, or waved with
a dufky ruft colour. From the ears, down each fide
of the head, there is a dufky fpace j and behind that,
a flripe of white, fo that the neck appears to be en-
circled with a collar, behind which there is another duf-
ky one : the body is three inches long, the tail one :
at its end there is a tuft of hard briftles. It inhabits
the northern parts about the Oby, burrows with many
pafTages beneath the turfy foil, and lines its nefl with
rein-deer and fnow liver-wort. They are faid to mi-
grate at the fame feafons with the lemmus. — Mus tor-
quatus. Pallas nov. fp. fajc. i. 205. ^

The Hudfon's Bay rat has fiender brown whifkersj
very fine long fcft hair ; afh, tinged with tawny, on
the back, with a dufky flripe running along its middle;
and along each fide a pale tawny line. Its belly is of
a pale afh colour j its limbs are very fhort, its fore-
feet very flrong : the two middle claws of the male are
very flrong, thick, and comprefTed at the end : its tail
is very fhort, terminated by fome flifF briftles : the
body is about five inches long : it inhabits Labrador,
—Mus Hudfonius. Pallas nov. Jp. faJc. i. 208.

The HARE-TAILED RAT.

THIS fpecies has a long head, and a blunt nofe ;
lips rough and fwelling out, and ears fhort, round, and
flat : its tail is the fhorteft of any of the genus, fcarce-
ly appearing out of the hair ; its fur is very fbft and
full, afh mixed with dufky, with a dark line along its
back ; its body is between three and four inches long.
It inhabits the country about the Yaik, the Irtifh, and
the Jenefey. They love a firm dry foil, burrow, and
make two entrances, the one oblique, the other per-
pendicular.

The males fight for the females, and devour each
other : they are very falacious : when in heat, they

Vol. III. No. 46. 3 T emit

514 NATURAL HISTORY

emit a mufky fmell : they bring fix at a time : like,
the marmots, they are flow in their motions, and fleep
rolled up like them : they are very fond of dwarf iris,
but feed on all forts of feeds : they alfo migrate in great
troops; and the Tartars call them the rambling
moufe.— Mus lagurus. Pallas nov. fp, fafc, i. 210.
i(ib. xiii. A. Itin. ii. Jpp. 704.

The social MOUSE.

THE focial moufe has a thick head, a blunt nofe,
naked oval ears, fhort ftrong limbs, and a flender tail.
The upper part of the body is of a light grey, palefl-
on the fides ; the Ihoulders and belly are white j the
body is above three inches j the tail one and a half. It
Inhabits the Cafpian defert, and the country of Hyr-^
cania. They live in low fandy grafly places, in great
focieties : their burrows are about a fpan deep, with
eight or more pafi^ages : they are always found, either
in pairs, or with a family : they rarely appear in au-
tumn j but fwarm in the fpring : they are faid to mi-
grate, or change their places, in autumn, or to conceal
themfelves among the bufhes ; and in winter to fhelter
themfelves in hay-ricks ; they breed later than the
other kinds, feed much on tulip roots, and are the
prey of weafels, crows, and vipers.--- Mus focialis.
Pallas mv. Jp. fajc. I, 2 18./^.^. xiii. B.//i«.ii. y^/^. 705.

The BAIKAL, or SIBERIAN MOUSE.

THIS fpecies hath large thin ears appearing above
the fur, whifkers black, hair rough and hard, colour
above a pale grey, the back darkened with dufl<:y hairs,
which gradually decline into the lighter colour j the
body below of a dirty white ; the Jegs ftronger, the
^ail thicker, than the focial fpecies i the body about the
iize of that kind.

It inhabits Siberia, but not in the country beyond
the Oby 5 it is moft plentiful about the Baikal lake

^ and

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 515

and Trans-Baikal region, efpecially thofe places which
abound niofl: with the lilium pomponium and allium
tenuiflimum, and Siberia and Hircania : they colle(5t
the roots of thefe and of the trifolium lupinaftrum, for
winter food : they' form their lodge beneath the turf,
and have many minute entrances; the earth that they
fling out is carefully heaped above their lodge, in form
of a hillock, to divert the rain/ In this retreat the
male, female, and the progeny of one year, refide.
This fpecies is never obferved to migrate. — Mus gre^
gahs. PallaSynov.jp. 238. Gm. Lin.fyji. 133.

The meadow MOUSE.

THIS hath a large head, a blunt nofe, ears ihort,
and hid in the fur; eyes prominent, tail fhort j colour
of the head and upper part of the body ferruginous,
mixed with black ; the belly deep a(h-colour, and the
feet dufky. Its length from nofe to tail is fix inches,
the tail one and a half, thinly covered with hair, and
terminated by a fmall tuft. It inhabits Europe, Sibe-
ria, and Hircania; it is alfo, in great abundance, in
Newfoundland, where it does much mifchief in the
gardens ; in England it feldom infefts gardens ; but
makes its neft in moift meadows. It brings eight
young at a time, and has a ftrong affeftion for them. It
refides under ground, and lives on nuts, acorns, and corn.

Synonymes. — Mus agreftis capite grandi brachiu-
rus. Rati fyn. quad. 218. Mus terreftris. M. cauda
mediocri fubpllofa, pal mis fubtetradadylis, plantis pen*
tadadylis, auriculis, vellere brevioribus. Lin. Jyfi. 82.
Molle. Faun.fuec. No. 31. Mus cauda brevi, pilis e
nigricante & lordide luteo mixtis in dorfo, & faturate
cinereis in ventre veftitis. BriJJon quad.ii^. Le cam-
pagnoL Btiffon^ vii. 369. tab. xlvii. The (hort-tailed
fleld-moufe. Br. Zool. i. No. 31. Erdzeifl. Kramer
Auji, 316. Mus arvalis. Pallas nov.fp.fajc, i. 78.

3 T 2 The

5i6 NATURAL HISTORY
The gregarious MOUSE.

THIS fpecies hath a fmall mouth, and blunt nofe ;
cars naked, and appearing above the fur ; hair on the
upper part of the body black at the roots and tips, fer-
ruginous in the middle j throat, belly, and feet, whit-
ifli i tail thrice as Ihort as the body, covered with thin
white hairs, the end black and afli colour; it is a little
larger than the common moufe. It inhabits Germany
and Sweden ; eats fitting up, burrows, and lives under
ground.— Mus gregarius. M. cauda corpore triplo
breviore fubpilofa, corpore grifeo fubtus pedibufque
albis. Lin.fyji. 84.

The fifth clafs of rats now follows, which are diftin-
guifhed by fhort tails, and a pouch in each jaw.

The hamster.

This fpecies of the rat has large rounded ears, and
full black eyes; it is of a reddifh brown, having red
cheeks, with a white fpot beneath, and another behind
each, and a fourth near the hind legs ; its breaft, the
upper part of its fore-legs, and its belly, are black;
its tail is fhort and almoft naked; it has four toes and
a fifth claw on the fore feet, five behind ; it is about
nine inches long, its tail three : the males are always
bigger than the females. Some males weigh from
twelve to fixteen ounces, the females feldom exceed fix:
they vary fometimes in colour. A family of them is
frequently found about Cafan entirely black : they in-
habit Auftria, Silefia, Poland, the Ukraine, and the
Tartarian deferts, and as far to the caft as the river
Jenefei : they are fond of a fandy foil abounding in
liquorice, and feed on its feeds : they are very de-
ftru(5tive to grain, eating great quantities, and carry-
ing off ftill more to hoard it : on fuch occafions, they
fill their cheek pouches, which will contain the fourth
of an Englifh pint, fo full, that they feem ready to

burft;

OF (QUADRUPEDS. 517

burft ; the Germans therefore fay of a very greedy fel-
low, Er frijfe vuie ein hamfter. They live under ground,
and form their burrows obliquely; at the end of the
pafTage, the male finks one perpendicular hole, the fe-
male feveral ; at the end of thefe are formed various
vaults, either as lodging for themfelves and their
young, or as ftorehoufes for their food; each young
one has its dilfferent apartment, each fort of grain its
different vault. Their lodgings are lined with ftraw or
grafs : their vaults are different depths, according to
the age of the animal. A young hamfter digs fcarcely
one foot deep; an old one four or five. The diame-
ter of the habitation of a family, with all its commu-
nications, is from eight to ten feet. The male and
female have always feparate apartments ; for, except-
ing their fhort feafon of courtfliip, they have no inter-
courfe : the whole race is fo malevolent, that they con-
ftantly rejed all fociety with one another : they will
fight, kill, and devour, their own fpecies, as well as
other fmaller animals ; fo may be faid to be carnivorous
as well as granivorous. If it happens that two males
meet in fearch of a female, a battle enfues ; the female
makes a fhort attachment to the conqueror, after which
the connexion ceafes. She brings forth two or three
times a year, from fixteen to eighteen at a birth : their
growth is very quick : at the age of three weeks, the
old one forces them out, and obliges them to fhift for
themfelves. She fhews little affed ion for them at any
time ; even when they are young, in cafe of danger,
fhe attempts to burrow deeper to fave herfelf, but en-
tirely negletfls her brood; on the contrary, if attacked
in the time of courtfhip, fhe defends the male with
the utmoft fury.

They lie torpid from the firft cold to the end of win-
ter, and during that time are feemingly quite infenfible,
and have the appearance of being dead : their limbs
are ftifF, and their bodies cold as ice; not even fpirits
of wine, or oil of vitriol, poured into them, can pro-
duce

5iS NATURAL HISTORY

duce the leaft mark of fenfibility. It is only in places
beyond the reach of the air that they become torpid 5
for the fevereft cold on the furface does not affedl them.
The hamfter, in its annual revival, begins firft to
lofe the ftifFnefs of its limbs, then breathes deeply, and
by long intervals ; on moving its limbs, it opens its
mouth, and makes a rattle in its throat : it is not till
after fome days that it opens its eyes and attempts to
ftand, but even then, it makes efforts like a perfoa
very much in liquor : at length, when it has attained
its ufual attitude, it refts for a long time in tranquillity,
feemingly to recoiled itfelf, and recover from its fatigue.
They begin to lay in provifions in Auguft, and will
carry grains of corn, corn in the ear, and peafe and beans
in the pods, which they clean in their holes, and carry
the hufks carefully out : as foon as they have finifhed
their work, they flop up the mouth of their paflage
carefully. As they lip torpid during the whole fevere
feafon, thefe hoards are defigned for their fupport on
their firft retreat, and in the fpring and beginning of
the fummer, before they can fupply themfelves in the
fields. In winter the peafants go what they call a ham-
iler-neftingj and, when they difcover their retreat, dig
down till they find the hoard, and are commonly well
paid J for, befides the fkins of the animals, which are
valuable furs, they frequently find two bufhels of good
grain in the magazine.

Thefe animals are very fierce, they will jump at a
horfe if he happens to tread near them, and will hang
by his nofe in fuch a manner that it is difficult to dif-
engage them : they make a noife like the barking of a
dog : in fome feafons they are fo numerous as to occa-
fion a dearth of corn, and on that account are profcribed.
In Gotha, in one year, eighty thoufand and upwards of
their fkins were prefented at the Hotel de Ville : but
polecats are their greateft enemies, for they purfue
them into their holes and deftroy numbers. It is re-

xnarkablp^

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 519

markable, that their hair flicks fo clofe to the fkin as not
to be plucked off but with the utmoft difficulty.

Synonymes. ---Hamefter, cricetus. Jgricola An,
Subter. /\.%6. Gejmr quad. ']'^Z. Rati Jyn. quad. 121^
Meyer An. i. tab. Ixxxi. Ixxxii. Skrzeczek, chomic.
RzaczinJkiPolon. 232. Porcellusfrumeiitarius. Schwenk^
felde'Theriotroph. 118. Krietfch, hamfter. Kramer Aiijlr,

317. Pallas nov.jp.fajc/i. 2,2' Zimmerman. 2'^3- S^i.
Mus cricetus. M. cauda mediocri, auriculis rotunaatis,
corpore fubtus nigro, iateribus rufefcentibus maculis
tribus albis. Lin,Jyfi. 82. Glis excinereo rufus in dor-
fo, in ventre niger, maculis tribus ad latera albis,
Briton quad. 117. Le hamfter. Buffon^ xiii. 117. tab.
xiv. xvi. Suffl. iji. 183. German marmot. Syn. quad,
No. 200.

The VORMELA, YAIK, and MUS PHAEUS.

THE vormela is lefs than the hamfter, its whole
body is marked with yellow and t^wny fpots, its tail
is cinereous, and white tipped with black. Pennant
thinks it is the fame with the Sarmatian weafel.

The Yaik has a thick fnout, a blunt nofe, and very
fleftiy lipsj its upper lip is divided; its upper fore-
teeth are fmall, yellow, convex, and truncated; the
lower flender and pointed ; its eyes are large, its naked
ears ftand up high above its fur, its tail is fhort and
cylindrical, its face is white, its body, four inches long,
is of a cinereous yellow, mixed with brown above, be-
low of a hoary whitenefs. It inhabits the deferts about
the Yaik, quits its burrow, and runs about during the
night. It is faid by the CofTacks to migrate in great
numbers out of the deferts, and to be followed by
multitudes of foxes, prefaging a good hunting feafon ;
but Doftor Pallas doubts whether this fpecies, or any
of the pouched kinds, go far from their homes, as thofe
receptacles for provifton are calculated only for fhort
^xcurfipns,

Synonymes,

520 NATURAL HISTORY

Synonymes. — Mus accedula. Pallas nov. fp. fafc. u
257. tab. xviii. Mus migratorius. Pallas Itin. ii.
Jpp. 703.

The mus phaeus has its forehead much elevated,
the edges of its eye-lids are black, its ears are naked
and oval, ftanding far out of the fur; it is of a hoary
afh colour, with dufky hairs above ; its fides whitiih ;
the under fide of the body, and the extremities of its
limbs, are of a fnowy whitenefs; it is about three inches
and a half long, and inhabits the deferts of Aflracan,
about Zarizyn ; and is taken in traps frequently in
winter, in places near to ftables and outhoufes. It is
alfo common among the Hyrcanian mountains, and
about the Perfian villages, where it commits great ra-
vages among the rice. It does not grow torpid during
winter, as is proved by the ftomachs of fuch which are
taken in that feafon, being. found full of food. — Mus
phaeus. Pallas nov.Jp. fafc. i. 261. tab, xv.

The sand RAT, SONGAR, and BARABA.

THE fand rat has a fharp nofe, very large pouches,
great oval brown ears, white nails, and a fhort hoary
body ; its fides, belly, limbs, and tail, are of a pure
white i it is four inches long, its tail about one : it
inhabits and burrows in the fandy plains near the river
Irtifh. The males inhabit a very deep burrow, with a
iingle entrance, at the bottom of which is the neft,
made of the elymus arenarius, and other plants j other
burrows, perhaps of the females, had three entrances i
in another, difcovered in May, were five young in three
nefts ; two were preferved alive, were untameable, very
fierce, and would fling themfclves on their back, and
defend themfelves by biting s they went out only in
the night, and hid themfelves during day in their fod-
«ier.---Mus arenarius, Pallas nov.jp^fajc, i. 266. tab^
xvi. A. Itin* ii. App. 704.

The

OF QJLJADRUPEDS. 5^*

The fongar is of a grey colour, has a thick head
and a blunt nofe; its ears are oval, very thin, and
Jightly covered with a hoary down; its tail is ihort,
blunt, thick, and hairy : a black line runs along its
back J its fides are fpotted with white, its belly and
legs are white : they are found in the fame country
with the fand rat. Dr. Pallas kept fome of them a
great while : they grew familiar, would feed from his
hand, lap milk, and, when placed on a table, fhewed
no define of running away: they were flower in all their
motions than the other fpecies, wafhed their faces with
their paws, and fat up to eat j wandered about during
the day, and flept all night rolled up : they feldom
made any cry, and, when they did, it was like that of
a bat.---Mus fongarus. Pallas nov, Jp. fafc.'u ^6^,
tab. xvi. B. Itin. ii. App. 703.

The Baraba rat, about three inches and a quarter
long, has a fliarp nofe, large broad naked ears of a
duflcy colour, edged with white : it is of a cinereous
yellow above, below of a dirty white : a black line ex-
tends from the neck to near the tail ; the tail, near one
inch long, is white, marked with a dtiiky line : they
inhabit the fandy plain of Baraba, towards the Oby j
and about the lake Dalai, in the Chinefe empire.

Synonymes. — Mus furunculus. Pallas nov.Jp. fa[c,
i. 273. Mus Barabenfis. Itin. ii. App. 704.

The laft divifion of mice lead a fubterraneous life,
and have thence been named mole rats.

The BLIND MOLE RAT.

THIS rat has a great head, broader than the body,
and not the lead aperture for eyes j yet beneath the
flcin are found what may be called the rudiments of
thofe organs, though not larger than the feed of a pop-
py : it has no external ears \ the end of its nofe is co-
vered with a thick ikin j its noftrils are remote, and
placed below ; its mouth gapes, and the teeth are ex-
pofed i thofe above are ftiort, the lower ones are very

Vol. III. No, 46. 3 U long

521 NATURAL HISTORY

long, and their ends are quite uneven ; its body is cy-
lindrical, its limbs (hort, it has five toes on each foot,
with ftiort claws j its hair is fhort, thick, and foft j duf-
ky at the bottom, grey above, white about the mouth
and nofe : it is between feven and eight inches long : a
male one will weigh above eight ounces. It inhabits
only the fouthern parts of Ruflia, from Poland to the
Volga, but is not found any where to the eaft of that
river j but is very common from the Syfran to the
Sarpa ; it is frequent along the Don, even to its ori-
gin, and about the town of Raefk, excepting the fandy
parts, for it delights in moift and turfy foils. It lives
in great numbers in the fame places with the earlefs
marmots. It burrows beneath the turf to a very confi-
derable extent, with feveral lateral paflages made in
queft of roots, on which it feeds : at the intervals of
(ome yards, there are openings to the furface to dif-
charge the earth, which forms in thofe places hillocks
of two yards in circumference, and of a great height.
It works its way with its great teeth, and cafts the
earth under its belly with the fore feet, and again be-
hind it with its hind feet; it works with great agility,
and, on any apprehenfion of an enemy, it forms inftant-
ly a perpendicular burrow. The bite of this animal
is very fevere. It cannot fee its aflailant, but lifts up
its head in a menacing attitude. When irritated, it
fnorts, and gnaihes its teeth, but emits no cry. It of-
ten quits its hole, efpecially in the morning, and during
ihe amorous feafon bafks with the female in the fun : it
does not appear that it lies torpid during winter, nor
whether it lays in provlfion for that feafon : it is par-
ticularly fond of the bulbous chserophyllum.

The Ruffians call itjlepezy or the blind ; the Cof-
. facks, for the fame reafon, ftyle it sfochor nomon. In
. Ukraine, the vulgar believe that the touch of a hand,
which has fuffocated this animal, has the fame virtue in
curing the king's-evil as was once believed to be in-
herent in the abdicated family of Great Britain.

Syno-

OF QUADRUPEDS. 523

Synonymes.---Mus typhlus. Pallas nov.fp.fafc. i.
Lemni. Rzaczinjk. Aufir. Polon. 325. Buffon^ xv. 142.
Slepez. Gmelin. Itin. i. 131. tab. xxii. Spalax micro -
phthalmus. Gueldenjl, Nov. com. Petrop. xiv. 41 1. tat.
viii. ix. Mus oculis minutiffimus, auriculis caudaquc
nullis. Lepechen ibid, 509. tab. xv. Podolian marmot.
Syn. quad. No. 204.

The DAUURIAN RAT.

THIS creature has a thick flat head, a fhortfnout,
and a blunt nofe. Its upper fore-teeth are naked, a
moveable lip covers the lower; it has no external ears,
its eyes are very fmall, yet vifible ; its body is ftiort
and deprefled, its limbs are very ftrong, efpecially the
fore- legs ; its tail is fhort, its hair foft and loofe, of a
greyifh colour : they meafure from fix to nine inches,
inhabit the ArAic mountains, and beyond lake Baikal;
burrow a little below the furfacej have a voice weak
and plaintive. The Ruffians call it the earth bear.

Synonymes. — Mus afpalax. Pallas nov. /p. fajc. i.
16^, tab. X. Itin. iii. 692. Mus myofpalax, Laxman.

The AFRICAN, the CAPE, and the TAL-,

PINE, RAT.

THE African rat has a large head, a black nofe,
flat and corrugated i its eyes are minute, and much hid
in the fur j it has no ears ; its tail, about two inches
long, is comprefled and covered above and below with
fliort hair, and edged with briftles, difpofed horizon-r
tally. It is of a cinereous brown, paleft on the lower
parts, and about thirteen inches long. It inhabits the
fandy country near the Cape of Good Hope j it burr-
rows, and makes the ground (b hollow as to be very
inconvenient for travellers -, for it breaks every fix or
feven minutes under the horfes ftet, and lets them in
up to the ftioulders. It grows to the fize of a rabbit,
md is, by f(?me, efteemed a good difh,

3 V Q, The

Sn NATURAL HISTORY

The Cape rat is about feven inches long, and is very
deftru6live to the gardens about the Cape. Its tail is
very (hort befet with briftles : tiiough the reft of its
fiofe is whrte, yet the end of it is naked and black : its
head, cheeks, back, and (ides, are of a rufty brown ;
but it has a white fpace round its eyes and cars.

Synonymes. — Mus capenfis. Pallas nov. Jp.fafc. u
\^i,tah.v\\. Long- toothed marmot. Brown's Zool.
tab, xlvi. La taup du Cape. Journal hijl.fg. 64.

The talpine rat, about four inches long, has a krge
fliort head, and a thick truncated fnout. Its upper
teeth are long and flat, extending out of its mouth;
its eyes are fmall, hid in its fur i its ears are bounded
by a fmall rim j its tail fcarcely appears without the
fur ; its upper parts are dufky j its chin, belly, and
limbs, are whitifti. It inhabits the open grounds of
the temperate parts of Ruffia a- "d Siberia ; it loves a
black turfy foil, and is frequent in meadows near vil-
lages : its manners refemble thofe of the mole : they
do not become torpid in the winter, but make their
neft deep in the ground, and keep themfelves warm
by lining it with foft grafs : they are very cafily taken,
but foon grow fick in confinement, unlefs a quantity
of earth is put into the place where they are kept: they
are in heat in the end of March or beginning of A-
pril, the females have then a ftrong muflcy fmell}
they bring three or four at a time : they vary in co-
lour, fome are found quite black.- --Mus taipinus.
Pallas nov. Jp. fafi, i. 176. tab. xi. B. Nov, Com, Pa-
trof. xiv. 568. tab. xxi. /^. 3.

SOREX, the SHREW, of the Order of FERi^.

THE fhrew is an animal of the mammalia alafe. It
has two cutting teeth in each jaw pointing for-
ward, a long (lender nofe, very fmall ears and eyes,
five toes on each foot, the head refembles that of the
mgle -, in other circumftances of general figure they

refembk

OF QJU ADRUPEDS. 525

refembie the murine tribe of quadrupeds. They bur-
row in the ground, and feed principally on worms and
infeds. There are feventeen fpedes known of them.

The musky SHREW.

THIS little animal is feven inches long, and of a
dufky colour, has no external ears, very fmaD eyes, and
a tail of eight inches, comprefled fideways j its belly is
of a whitifh afh colour. It inhabits the river Volga,
and lakes adjacent, from Novogorod to Saratof j but
is never found in Ruflia, and its exigence in Lapland
is doubted. It never goes upon dry land, but wan-
ders from lake to lake, only in fortuitous floods j is
often feen fwimming or walking under the water, or
comes up for air to the furface, or in clear weatlier will
be fporting on the furface : it loves ftagnating waters
with high banks, in whxh it makes burrows twenty-
feet long i it feeds on leeches, and the larvae of wa-
ter infefls ; a few fragments of roots have alfo beea
found in the ftomach. It is not torpid during winter,
being often in that feafon taken in nets. It is very
flow in its pace, makes holes in the cliffs, with the en-
trance far beneath the loweft fall of the water; it
works upwards, but never to the furface, only high
enough to lie beyond the higheft flow of the river : it
feeds on fifli, and is devoured in its turn by the pike*
and flluri, and gives thofe fifli fo ftrong a flavour of
mufk, as to render them not eatable ; it has the fame
fcent as the filuri, efpecially about the tail ; out of
which is exprefled a ibrt of mufk, very much refem-
bling the genuine kind. The fkins aj-e put into chefl:s
among clothes, to drive away moths, and to preferve
the wearers from peftilencc and fevers. At Orenburg,
the fkins aad tails fell for fifteen or twenty copecs pet-
hundred: they are fo comnion near Nizney Novogo-
rod, that the peafants bring five hundred apiece to
market, where they are fold for one ruble per huniined.
The German name,. i^'^(fi»-rtf/;5^i KiiSi^Ln,w)chozhoi,

Syno-

Si6 NATURAL HISTORY

Synonymes. — Mus aquaticus. Clu/n exot, 37^-.
JVotm. Mus. 334. Mufcovy or rnuflc rat. Raii.Jyn.
quad. 217. Nov. Com. Petrop. \v. 383. Caftor mof-
chatus. C. Cauda longa compreflb-lanceolata, pedibus
palmatis. Lin.Jyft. 79. Daefman, Faun. Stiec. No. 28.
Buffofiy X. I. Caftor cauda verticaliter plana, digitis
omnibus membranis inter fe connexis. Brijfon quad,
92. Long-nofed beaver. Syn. quad. No. 192.

The perfuming SHREW.

THIS fpecies is near eight inches long. Its upper
jaw extends far beyond the lower j its upper fore teeth
are (hort, the lower long and flender j it has long white
"whifkers, fmall eyes, ears tranfparent, broad, and
round j and a fine coat of fhort clofe hair, of a pale ce-
rulian on the upper parts, lighter beneath, with white
feet : it inhabits Java, and others of the Eaft-lndia
iflands : it eats rice, but has fo ftrong a fcent of mufk
as to perfume every thing it runs over. Mr. Pennant
fays, that, by merely paffing over it, it will render the
wine in a well- corked bottle not drinkable. Cats will
not touch them.

Synonymes. — Mus pilorldes ? Pallas nov.fp.fafc*
i. 91. Mus albus Ceylonicus ? Brijorij 122.

The MEXICAN, BRASILIAN, and MURINE,

SHREW.

THE Mexican fhrew is about nine inches long,
having fhort hair with tawny colour : it is without
fight, of a thick, fat, and flefhy, body : its legs are fo
ihort, that its body almoft touches the ground ; it bur-
rows and makes fuch a number of cavities, that travel-
lers can fcarcely tread withfafety. Whenever it gets
out of its hole, it knows not how to return to it again,
but begins to dig another. It feeds on roots, kidney-
beans, and other feeds, and is eatable. BufFon thinks
it a mole, but from u{;s ears Mr, Pepnant claffes it here.

Syno-

O F CLU A D R U P E D S. 527

Synonymes.---Tucan. Hernandez Nov, Hifi. y. Le
tucan. Buffofj, xv. 159.

. The Brafilian (brew, is five inches long, of a dufky
colour, and is marked along the back with three broad
black ftrokes : its fcrotum is pendulous, and its tail
meafures two inches ; it does not fear the cat, neither
does that animal hunt after it.

Synonymes. — Mus araneus figura muris. Marcgrav£
Braftl. 229. La mufaraignede Brafil. Buffony xv. 160.

The murine fhrew, fo called as being of the fize of
a common moufe, of an afh colour, and inhabits Java:
it has a long nofe, hollow beneath, with very long hair
about its noftril, ears rounded, and rather naked ; the
tail a little fhorter than the body, and not fo hairy.

Synonymes. — S. murinus. S. Cauda raediocri, cor-
pore fufco, pedibus caudaque cinereis. Lin.Jyft, 74.

The fetid SHREW.

THE fetid fhrew is the forex araneus of Linnasus.
Its eyes are fmall, and almoft hid in its fur ; its head,
and the upper part of its body, are of a brownifh red ;
its belly of a dirty white ; it is only two inches and a
half long, its tail one and a half; it inhabits Europe,
Siberia, and even the Ardlic flats, and Kamtfchatka ;
it is alfo found about the Cafpian fea j lives in old walls,
heaps of ftones, or holes in the earth, feeds on corn,
infeds, or any filth, and has a difagreeable fmellj cats
will kill, but not eat, itj it brings four or five young at
a time. There feems to be an annual mortality of
thefe animals in Auguft, numbers of them being then
found dead in the paths.

Synonymes. — uvyxKn. Mlian hijl. An. lib. vi. c. 22.
M*oy«A7). Diojcorid. lib. ii. c. 42. Mus araneus. Agricola
An. Subter. ^.'6^. Ge/nerquad.jj^y, Mus araneus, mus
cascus. Gefner icon. 116. Mus araneus, fhrew, fhreWfi
moufe, or hardy Ihrew. Rail fyn. quad. 233. Mus ara-
neus roftro produdiore Spltlsia '.s. Klein quad. ^7.
Kramer Auftr, 317. Sorex araiwus. S. cauda medio-

2 cri,

5i3 NATURAL HISTORY
cri, corpora fubtus albido. Lin. Jyfi. 74. Nabbmus.
Faun.Juec. No. 24. Mus araneus fupra ex fuico rufus,
infra albicans. Brijfon quad. 116. La mufaraigne.
Buffofiy viii. 57. tab. x. Shrew-moufe. 5r. Zo(?/. i. j 12.

The water SHREW.

THIS has, like the reft, a long flender nofe, verf
minute ears, and, within each a tuft of white hairs,
very fmall eyes hid in the fur : the colour of the up-
per part of its body is black j its throat, breaft, and
belly, are of a light afh colour j the feet are white j it
has a triangular dufky fpot beneath the tail j it is three
inches and three quarters long, its tail twow

It inhabits Europe and Siberia, as far at leaft as the
river Jenefei, and was long fince known in England,
but loft till May 1768, when it was difcovered in the
fens near Revefby Abby, in Lincolnfhire : it burrows
in the banks near the water, and is faid to fwim under
water ; is called by the fen-men the blind-moufe, chir-
rups like the grafshopper, and its note often miftaken
for one.

Synonymes.---Mus araneus dorfo nigro, ventreque
albo. Merret Pinaxy 167. Sorex fodiens. P«//^j. La
mufaraigne d'eau. Bufforiy viii. 64. tab.ix. Water fhrew-
moufe. Br, Zool. illujlr. tab. cii.

The elephant, MARINE, SURINAM, and
PERSIAN, SHREW.

THE elephant ftirew has a very long, flender, and
little, nofe j the whole animal is of a deep brown colour.
It inhabits the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good
Hope, where it is called the elephant, from its probof-
cis-like fnout. This animal has been very ill repre-
Tented by Petiver in his Gazopb. Dec. iii. tab. xxiii.
fig. 9. under the title of Mus araneus max. Capenfis.

The marine flirew hath an elongated fnout, channel-
led below f ears rounded, and naked j fulr of a dufky

colour,

OF QUADRUPEDS. ^29

colour j whifkers grey ; tail a little fhorter than the
body : fize of the common moufe. It inhabits Java.
Sorex marinus. Gm. Lin. 11^.

The Surinam fhrew hath the upper part of the bo-
dy of a bay colour i the lower pale afn, mixed with
yellow: tail one- half ihortcr than the body. It in-
habits Surinam.

The Perfian fhrew is hoary above, ciriereou":: be-
neath : tail (Jiibdifiicha) fhort, and whitifii : length of
the body three inches and {<i\'^'A li-.es : tail one inch
one line. It inhabits the north of Ferfia, and burrows
and lives below ground. — Synonyme. Sorex pufillus.
Erxleben. 111. Gm. Lin. 114.

The minute and PIGMY SHREW.

The minute flirew hath a head ntzr as big as the bo-
dy ; a very flender nofe; broad fhort naked earsj whifk-
ers reaching to the eyes ; the eyes fmallj and capable
of being drawn in j the hair very tine and fhining ;
grey above, and white beneath: no tail. It inhabits
Siberia, about the Oby, and near the Kama ; lives in
a neft made of lichens, in fome moill: place beneath the
roots of trees : it feeds moftly on feeds, digs, runs
fwiftly, and has the voice of a bat.— -Synonymes. So-
rex minutus. S. roftro longiffimo. Lin.fyfi. j^,.

The pigmy fhrew hath a very long flender nofe; in
fhape and colour like the foetid, but paler j the tail is
very flender near the roots, then it fuddenly grows re-
markably thick and round, and again grows gradually
lefs to the end.

Linnasus imagines that the minute flirew is the leaft
of quadrupeds J but Dr. Pallas, v/ho communicated
this fpecies, thinks this has a better claim to that title,
as its weight is only equal to, or very little above, half
a drachm. This fpecies is very common between and
about the rivers Jenefei and Oby. — Synonyme. Sorex
exilis. Gm, Lin, 115.

Vol. III. No. 46. 3X The

^30 natural history

TheWhite-toothed, square-tailed/
carinated, and unicolor, shrew,

The whi re- toothed fhrew is of a dufky cinereous
colour J the belly white j cutting teeth white j and tail
{lender and hairy.

The fquare tailed fhrew is of a duHcy cinereous co-
lour ; the belly paler j the cutting teeth brownifh ; and
the tail inclines to fquare form. This fpecies has no
bad fmell.

The carinated fhrew Is of a dufky cinereous whitifh
colour on the belly, with brownifh fore-teeth : a white
fpot beyond each eye : tail flender and taper, carinated.
or ridged below.

The unicolor fhrew Is of an uniform dufky cine-
reous colour, with the bafe of the tail narrow or com-
pfrefTed. Thefe four lafl fpecies inhabit the neighbour-
hood of Strafbourg, and were difcovered by ProfefTor
Herman.

TALPA, the MOLE, of the Order of FERtE.

THIS genus of quadrupeds is alfo of the clafs of
mammalia. It has fix unequal cutting teeth in
the upper jaw, and eight in the lower ; and two canine
teeth in each jaw. It has a long nofe ; no ears ; the
•upper jaw much longer than the lower ; the fore feet
very broad, with fcarcely any apparent legs before ;
the hind feet fmall. Of this genus of animals there
are fix fpecies, as follow ;

The EUROPEAN MOLE. .

The European mole has a long fnout, fix cutting
teeth in the upper jaw, eight in the lower, and two ca->
nine in each s no external ears, only an orifice j very
minute eyes, hid In the fur , the fore part of the body
is thick and mufcular j the hind part taper. The fora
feet are placed obliquely, are broad, aud have the ap-

pearajice

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 531

pearance of hands ; with five fingers each, terminated
bv ftronop claws : the hind feet are verv fmalJ, but have
five toes each : their tail is very fhort, and their fkin
fo tough, as fcarcely to be cut through : the hair
is clofe, fhort, and fofter than the fineft velvet ; ufually
black, fomctimes fpotted with white, fometimes quite
white: it is about five inches and three quarters in
length i its tail one. It inhabits Europe, and the tem-
perate parts of Rudia and Siberia as tar as the river
Lena j but the Siberian is much larger than the Euro-
pean mole. It lives under ground ; burrows with vaft
rapidity with its fore feet, and flings back the earth
with its hind feet : has the {Qn{<i of fmeliing in an ex-
quifite degree, which direds it to its food, confifting of
worms, infedts, and roots. It does vaft damage in gar-
dens, and is moil a6live before rain, worms being then
in motion : it breeds in the fpring, and brings four or
five youiig at a time : it raifes no hillocks in dry wea-
ther: ft utters a fcream when taken. Palma chrifli
and white hellebore, made into a pafte and laid in their
holes, is faid to deftroy them. There is a variety found
in North America called the yellozv mole, refembling
the European, but larger, with foft filkv giofTy hair, of
a yellowilh brown colour ; brighteft about the head,
darkeft about the rump ; with a brown belly : its feet
and tail are white.--- Synonymes. Talpa. Agrkola An^
Stibter. ^(^o. Gefner quad, y^'^- Klein quad.6o. Tal-
pa, the mole, mold-v»arp, or want. Raiijyn. quad. 236.
Kret. R-zaczhiJki Polon. 1^(3. Scheer, fcheer-maufs,
maul-wuf. Kramer ylujlr. 314. Talpa Kurop^eus. T.
caudata, pedibus penradaftylis. Un.Jyfl, 73. Mull-
vad, furk. Faun. Suec.'^o.iT^. Br.Zool.i. 108. Tal-
pa caudata, nigricans pedibus anticis et pofticis penta-
daclylis. Brijfon quad, 203. La taupe. Bufforiy viii.
81. tab. xii.

3X2 Thk

S$2 NATURAL H I S T O R-Y

The cape MOLE, the RADIATED and
LONG-TAILED MOLE.

THE Cape mole, called by Mr. Pennant the Sibe-
rian, (though he fays it inhabits the Cape of Good
Hope, and not Siberia,) has a fliort blunt nofe : from
each corner of its mouth a broad whitifh bar, pointing
upwards along the fides of its head : the upper part of
its body is varied with hair of a glofTy green, and cop-
per colour : the under parts are brown ; on each of the
fore feet there are th ee toes with vaft claws : on each
of the hind feet there are five finall toes with weak
claWs. It has no tail, but a round rump.-— Synonymes,
Talpa Sibiricus verficolor, jlj-palax dicStus. Seb. Mus.
i. 51. tab. xxxii./^. 4, 5. Klein quad. 60. Talpa A-^
fiatica. T. ecaudata, palmis tridadylis. Lin. fyji. 'j^,
Talpa ecaudata, tx viridi aurea, pedibus anticis tridac-
tylis, pofticus tetradadylis. Brijfon quad. 206. La
taupe doree. Buffon,xv. 145. Variable mole. Brown's
Zool. 118. tab. 44.

The radiated mole has fmall but broad fore legs,
with five long white claws on each y a long nofe, ha-
ving its fides befet with radiated tendrils ; very fhort,
dulky, fine, compadt, hairi fcaly hind legs, with five
toes on each foot. It meafures three inches and three
quarters : its tail one and three-tenths. It inhabits
North America: forms fubterraneous paflages in un-
cultivated fields, raifing walks for itfelf about two inch-
es high, and a palm broad : it feeds on roots, and has
great ftrength in its legs. ---Synonymes. Sorex crifta-
tus. S.naribuscarunculatis, Cauda breviore. Lin.JyJl.']^.

The long -tailed mole has a radiated nofe too, and
inhabits North America alfo : the claws on the fora
feet are like thofe of the common mole : thofe on the
hind feet are very long and flender : its hair is foft,
Jong, and of a rufty brown : the body is four inches
gn4 a half long, and its tail two,

T«B

[

J'F^d Mtemif'

1-^Ae (^ryifot ^t/'^^ea^^/fMi^Q.^^e com^non.J/'^■c^wo.,'^.^Ue ,*ame^^ /yt'^^^

ruUiti^tLai •tt<'t

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 533-

«
The brown and the RED MOLE.

THE brown mole has a flender nofe ; no canine,
teeth ; hair brown at the ends, of a deep grey at bot-
tom, and very Toft and gloiiy : its tail and feet white:
its length five inches and a half: its tail is very flen-
der, and not one inch long. It alfo inhabits North
America, and is called there the brown mole : it was
fent from New York by Mr. A. Blackburne. The
black and fhining purple Virginian mole, defcrihed by
Seba as the fame with the common kind, was not among
thofe that gentleman favoured us with. Linnsus pla-
ces this, and our radiated mole, in his clafs of forex,.
or fhrew, on account of the difference of the teeth j
but, as thefe animals pofiels the ftronger charaders of
the mole, fuch as form of nofe and body, fhape of
feet, and even the manners, Mr. Pennant thinks them
better adapted to this genus than to the preceding. ---
Synonymes. Sorcx aquaticus. S. plantis palmatis pal-
mis caudaque breviore albis. Liyi.fyji. 74.

The red mole is of a cinereous red colour : three
toes on the fore feet, and four on the hind : form of the
body and tail like the European kind. According to
Seba, it inhabits America j but he does not inform us
whether it is North or South. — Synonyme. Talparu--
bra Americana. Seb. Mus. i. 51. tab. xxxii. j^^. 2.

Moles in the fields may be deftroyed by taking a
head or two of garlic, onion, or leek, and putting it in-
to their holes ; on which they will run out as if fright-r
ed, and you may kill them with a fpear or dog. Or
pounded hellebore, white or black, with wheat-flour,
the white of an egg, milk, and fweet^wine, or metheg-
lin, may be made into a palle, and pellets as big as ^
fmall nut may be put into their holes : the moles will
eat this with pleafure, and will be killed by it. In pla»
ces where you would not dig nor break much, the fu-
ming their holes with brimftone, garlic, or other unfa-
vpury things, drives them away i and^ if you put a

dead

534 NATURAL HISTORY

dead mole into the common haunt, it will make them
abfolutely forfake it. Or, take a mole fpear or ftafF,
ahd, where you fee them caft, go lightly ; but not on
the fide betwixt them and the wind, left they perceive
you J and, at the firil or fecond putting up of the earth,
ftrike them with your mole-ftaiF downright, and mark
which way the earth fails moft : if fhe cafts towards
the left hand, ftrike fomewhat on the right-hand ; and
fo on the contrary, to the c ifting up of the plain ground,
llrike down, and there let it remain i then take out the
tongue in the ftafF, and, with the fpattle, or flat edge,
dig round about your grain to the end thereof, to fee
if you have killed her ; and, if you have mifled her,
leave open the hole and ftcp afide a little, and perhaps
ihe will come to ftop the hole again, for they love but
very little air; and then ftrike her again; but, if you
mifs her, pour into the hole tv;o gallons of water, and
that will make her come out for fear of drowning.
Mind them going out of a morning to feed, or coming
home when fed, and you may take a great many.

ERINACEUS, the HEDGE-HOG, of the Order

of FER.^.

THE charadleriftics of this genus o( quadruped?
are as follow: They have two fore teeth in the
upper jaw, at a confiderable diftance from one another,
and two in the under jaw Icfs diftant ; and they have
two recumbent dog-teeth, one on each fide : they have
five toes on each foot, and a body covered with ftrong
ihort fpines. The hedge-hog has a very uncommon
method of defending himfelf from the attacks of other
animals : being pofteflied of little ftrength or agility,
he docs not attempt to fly from or affail his enemies j
■but ereds his briftles, and rulls himfelf up hke a ball,
cxpofing no part of his body that is not furnifhed with
■fharp weapons of defence j he will not unfold himfelf,
unlefs thrown into water i the more he is frightened or

harafled.

O F CLU A D R U P E D S. 535 ;

liarafTed, the clofer he (huts himfelf up j and frequent-
ly difcharges his urine, which has a very fetid and loth-
fome fmell. While in this ftate, moft dogs, inftead of
biting him, ftand off and bark, not daring to feize him ;
or, if they attempt it once, their mouths are fo prick-
led with his fpines, that they cannot be prevailed upon
to attempt it a fecond time. Both the male and female
are covered with bridles from the head to the tail.
Thefe brifties, or fpines, are of great ufe in defending
them from the attacks of other animals j but muft be
very inconvenient when they incline to copulate. This
operation they cannot perform in the manner of other
quadrupeds ; but do it face to face, either (landing oa
eivi, or the female lying on her back. The females
come in feafon in the fpring, and bring forth their young
in the beginning of fummer. They commonly bring
forth three or four, and fonietimes five, at a time ; and
the young ones are of a M'hitifh colour, only the points
of the bridles appearing above the (kin. It is impof-
fible to tame them : the mother and her young have
frequently been confined together, and furnifhed with
plenty of provifions ; but, inliead of nourilhing them,
£he uniformly d;:voured them one afrer anotner. Males
and females have likewife been kept in one apartment,
where they lived, but never copulated. Hedge-hogs
feed upon fallen fruits, fome roots, and infers : they
are very fond of fle(h-meat, whether raw or roafled.
They frequent woods, and live under the trunks of old
trees, in the chinks of rocks, or under large (tones. Na-
turalifts allege, that they go into gardens, mount the
trees, and come down with pears, apples, or plums,
(luck upon their briftles. But this is a miftake : al-
though kept in a garden, they never attempt to climb
trees, or ftick .even fallen fruit upon their briftles, but
Jay hold of their food with their mouth. They rarely
come out of their iioles in the day, but go about in
queft of food during the night. They eat but little,
aijd can live very long without taking any nouriihment.
3 They

536 NATURAL HISTORY

They do not lay up ahy ftore of provifions In harveft ;
fuch an inRinft would be ufelefs, as they fleep all the
winter. They lie under the undeferved reproach of
fucking cattle, and hurting their udders ; but the fmall-
nefs of their mouth renders that impofiible. There
are four fpecies, as follow:

The common HEDGE-HOG.

THE common hedge-hog has a long nofe: his nof-
trils are bordered on each fide with a loofe flap ; his
ears are fhort, rounded, broad, and naked ; his eyes are
fmall i his legs fhort, naked, and dufky ; his inner toe
is the ftrongeft ; his claws are weak : the upper part of
his fice, fides, and rump, are covered with a ftrong
coarfe hair of a yellowifh afh colour i the back with
ftrong fliarp fpines of a whitifh colour, having a bar of
black through their middle : his length is ten Inches,
and the length of his tail one inch : he inhabits Europe
and Madagafcar, is common in many parts of Ruflia,
but is fcarcely if ever found in Siberia. He is in mo-
tion during the night, but keeps retired during the day ;
feeds on roots, fruits, and infedts ; refides in fmall
thickets and hedges ; lies well wrapped up in mofs,
grafs, or leaves j and, during winter, he rolls himfelf
up and fleeps out that, dreary feafon-'—Synonymes.
Erinaceus. j^gricola An. Subter. ^Zi, Echinus ter-
reftris. Gefner quad. 2,^%. Echinus fc. Erinaceus ter-
reftris. Urchin, or hedge-hog. Ran. Jyn. quad. 231.
Jez. Rzaczinjki Polon. Acanthion vulgaris noftras.
Klein quad. 66, IgeJ. Kramer Auftr. 2^\^. Ermaceus
Europeus. E. auriculis rotundatis naribus criftatis. Lin*
JyJi.TS' Igelk:ot:t. Fawijuec.^o. 22. 5r. Zool. i.
106. Erinaceus auriculis eredis. Briffon quad. 128.
Seb. Mus. i. 78. fab. xlix. L'Heriflbn. Buffonj viii.
^8. tab. v\. Hasrbe, vel Ganfu4. Forjkal. iii.

The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 537

The SIBERIAN HEDGE-HOG.

THIS fpecies, which is common from the Don to
the Oby, is generally much inferior in lize to the com-
mon kind; but beyond the lake Baikal fome are found
much larger. They grow very fat, fleep ail the win-
ter in a hole a few inches deep, live on infed:s, even
the moft cauftic, and will eat above a hundred cantha-
rides without any injury: they roll themfelves up, and.
have all the manners of the common kind. — In the
following particulars they differ from the former fpe-
cies : their ears are large, open and oval, with foft
whitifh hairs within j the tail is fhorter j the fpines are
flender and brown, white at their roots and points ;
and the limbs and belly are covered with a moft elegant
foft white fur. — Synonymes. Erinaceus auritus.
Pallas & Gmelinj in Nov. com. Petrop. xiv. 519. 573.
tab. xvi. and xxi.Jig. 4.

The ASIATIC, and GUIANA, HEDGE-HOG.

THE former fpecies, the tendra of Buffon, about
the fize of a mole, has the upper part of the body co-
vered with fhort white fpines, marked with brown in
the middle, the lower parts with whitifh, fine, but
hard, hair: the tail, which is very fhort, isalfo covered
with fpines.

There is a larger variety of this fpecies, which Buf-
fon calls tanrec\ each of thefe varieties have hve toes
on. each foot; they inhabit India and Madagafcar.
Some are faid to grow to the fize of rabbits : they are
alfo faid to grunt like hogs, grow very fat, to multiply
greatly, to frequent fhallow pieces of water, to bur-
row on land, and to lie torpid during fix months, du-
ring which time their old hairs fall off, and they rife
in a new fuit : their flefh is eaten by the Indians, but
is very flabby and infipid. -— Synonymes. Le petit
tandrek. Sonnerat voy.xu i/^6, tab. xcviii. Le tejidrac.
et le tanrec. Buffon^ xii. 4.38.

Vol. m. No. 46, 3 Y The

538 NATURAL HISTORY

The Guiana or American hedge-hog has no ex-
ternal ears ; a fhort thick head ; fpines afh colour, tin-
ged with yellow ; its lower parts are covered with foft
whitifti hair J it has a fhort tail, long and crooked
claws, and is about eight inches long.

SyniDnymes.— American hedge hog. Bancroft Gui-
anaj 144. Erinaceus inauris. E. auriculis nullis. Lin,
Jyji. 75. Brijfon quad. 131. Erinaceus Americanus
albus. Seb. MuJ, i. 78. tab. fig. 3.

BRADYPUS, the SLOTH, of the Order of

B R U T A.

THE diftinguifhing marks of this genus are thefe:
they have no fore- teeth in either jaw j the dog-
teeth are blunt, folitary, and longer than the grinders,
of which there are five on each fide. The body is co-
vered with hair ; the fore-legs are much longer than
the hind ; and they have long claws on their toes.
There are three fpecies, viz.

The THREE-TOED SLOTH.

THIS fingukr animal has a naked face, a blunt black
nofe, a little lengthened j very fmall external ears j eyes
fmall, black, and heavy, with a dufl<:y line from the
corner of each ; its face and throat are of a dirty white ;
the hair on its body is long and very uneven, of a
greyifii brown, with a black line along the middle of
its back ; the reft of its back, fhoulders, and limbs,
are (potted irregularly with black s its tail is a rnere
flump J its legs are thick, long, and aukward j it
grows to the bulk of a middle-fized fox, and inhabits
jnoft parts of the eaftern fide of South America. It is
the moft fluggifii and the moft flow of all animals, and
feems to move with the utmoft pain. Three quarters
of a mile in a day is a great journey. It afcends trees,
in which it generally lives, with great difficulty i its
food is fruits or leaves. When on the ground, if it

cannot

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. ^^9

cannot find fruit there, it looks out for a tree weil-
ioaded; and, with great pains, climbs up. It then
flings off the fruit, and, to fave itfelf the trouble of
defcending, forms itfelf into a ball and drops from the
branches : there it continues till it has devoured all ;
nor ever ftirs till compelled by hunger. Its motion is
attended with a moft moving and plaintive cry, which
at once produces both pity and difguft: its m.outh is
never without foam ; its look is fo piteous as to move
compaffion j it is alfo accompanied with tears, which
difTuade every body from injuring fo wretched a being.
How unlike the iportive fquirrel, and many other live-
ly inhabitants of the woods ! Its abftinence from food
is almoH: incredible. One that had fattened itfelf by
its feet to a pole, and was fo fufpended crofs two beams,
remained forty days without meat, drink, or fleep.
The ftrength in its feet is fo great, that there is no
poflibility of freeing any thing from its claws. A dog
was let loofe at the above-mentioned animal when it
was taken from fhe pole. After fome time the floth
laid hold of the dog with his feet, and held him four
days, till he perifhed.

Synonymes. — Ar6lopithecus. Gefner quad. ^G^. I-
con. quad, 96. Ignavus, five per a>l,(pgao-»v Agilis. Clus.
exot. 110. 27 '2.' Ai, five ignavus. Mar c grave Br ajil.
221. Sloth. Rail fyn. quad. 2^^. Edw. 1,10. Igna-
vus Americanus, rifum fletu mifcens. Klein quad. 43.
Tardigradus pedibus anticis & pofticis tridacflylis.
BriJJbn quad. 11. Ai, five tardigradus gracilis Ame-
ricanus. Seb. Mus. xxxiii. fig. 2. Schrebery ii. 7. tab.
Ixiv. Ouaikare, Parefil-ux. Barrere France jEquin.
154. Bradipus tridadylus. B. pedibus tridacflylis Cau-
da brevi. Lin.JyJi. 50. L'ai. Buffon^ xiii. 44. tab. v.
vi. Br. Mus.

The TWO-TOED SLOTH.

THIS fpecies of the floth has a round head, aihort,
projecting nofe, ears like thofe of the human, lying

3 Y 2 dole

540 NATURAL HISTORY

clofe to the head j two long and ftrong claws on the
forefeet, three on the hind; hair long and rough, in
fome parts curled and woolly ; in fome, of a pale red
above, afh brown below ; in others of a yellowi(h
white below ; a(h brown above. It inhabits South
America and Ceylon. The laft is ftrenuoufly denied
by M. de BufFon, who has fixed the refidence of this
animal to America only -, but, befides the authority of
Seba, who exprefsly fays his fpecimen was brought
from "Ceylon, a gentleman long refident in India, and
much diftinguifhed in the literary world, aflertsthat he
has feen this animal brought from the Paliacat moun-
tains that lie in fight of Madras ; which proves that
it is common to both continents. There is alfo reafon
to think that it is met with in Guinea, or at leaft fome
fpecies of this genus ; for Barbot and Bofman defcribe
an animal by the name of potto, to which they give the
attributes of the former, and defcribe as being grey
when young, red, and covered with a fort of hair as
thick fet as flocks of wool. Both thefe writers were
fenfible men, and, though not naturalifts, were too ob-
fervant of the animals of Guinea to miflake one whofe
charaders are fo ftrongly marked as thofe of the floth.
Synonymes. — Tardigradus Ceilonicus fasmina. Sei^.
Mus. i. tak xxxiv. Bradypus didadlylus. Br. mani-
bus dida<5lylis cauda nulla. Lin. Jy/i. 51. Schreber^ ii.
10. tab. Ixv. Tardigradus pedibus anticis didadtylis,
pofticis tridaftylis. Brtffon quad. 22. L'una. Buffon^yinu
34. tab, i.

The URSIFORM SLOTH.

THIS hath a long and flrong nofe, truncated at
the end; the forehead rifes fuddenly above it; that
and the nofe whitifh, and almofl naked ; eyes very
fmall, above is a black line ; ears fhort, and lofl in the
hair ; the hair on the top of the head points forward,
that in the neck is parted in the middle ; on the head
and neck, back and fides, it is extremely long, fhaggy,

and"

y( MtrJ^t^A/^^7/n '.J//>t/t . ^'V/frMrrr Mrr/ r//<'//t .

fuJtlirlul Xrvs^'iy^gy

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 541

and black ; in mod parts twelve inches long, and on the
upper part of the body fhines in the fun with a moft
brilliant purple glofs ; on the breaft and belly fhort ;
acrofs the firft is a line of white j the tail is only five
inches long, and is quite hid in the hair ; the limbs
are very ftrong and bear-like ; on each foot are five
toes ; on thofe of the fore feet the claws are three inches
long, pointing forward, flightly incurvated, and ad-
mirably adapted for digging or burrowing -, the claws
of the hind feet are very fhoitj the bottoms of the
feet are black and naked. This animal wants the i}7~
cifcresj or cutting teeth, above and below. In each jaw
are two canine teeth, remote from the grinders j the
roof of the mouth is marked with tranfverfe fulci; the
tongue is fmooth, and not fo long as the mouth j the
noftrils are tranfverfe, and appear like a narrow flit;
the lips are very loofe, and capable of being protruded
to a great length, and drawn in again ; they ferve the
ufe of a hand, and by their means it conveys apple* or
any fort of food into its mouth. It inhabits Bengal,
and lives in certain fand hills not remote from Patna,
Synonyme.-— Bradypusurfiformis. Naturalijls MifceU
lany. tab. 58-

In the defcription of this curious and extraordinary
quadruped, the Comte de Buffon remarks, that, in
proportion as nature is vivacious, active, and exalted,
in the monkey kind, fhe is flow, reftrained, and fetter-
ed, in the floths. From a defedl in their conformation,
the mifery of thefe animals is not more confpicuous
than their flownefs : they have no cutting teeth j the
eyes are obfcurcd with hair ; the chops are heavy and
thick J the hair is flat, and refembles withered herbs ;
the thighs are ill jointed to the haunches ; the legs are
too fhort, ill turned, and terminated flill worfe ; their
feet have no fbles, and no toes which move feparately,
but only two or three claws difproportionally long, and
bended downward, which move together, and are more
hurtful to their walking than advantageous in afTifling

them

542 NATURAL HISTORY

them to climb. Slownefs, habitual pain, and ftupidlty,
are the refults of this ftrange conformation. The floths
have no weapons either offenfive or defenfive : they
are furnifhed with no means of fafety, for they can nei-
ther fly nor dig the earth : confined to a fmall fpace, or
to the tree under which they are brought forth, they
are prifoners in the midft of fpace, and cannot move
the length of one fathom in an hour: they drag them-
felves up a tree with much labour and pain : their cry
and interrupted accents they dare only utter during the
•night. All thefe circumftances announce the mifery of
the floths, and recal to our minds thofe defeftive mon-
gers, thofe imperfeft {ketches of Nature, which, be-
ing hardly endowed v/iththe faculty of exiftence, could
not fubiift for any length of time, and have according-
ly been ftruck out of the lift of beings. If the regions
inhabited by the floths were not defert, but had been
long occupied by men and the larger anim.als, thefe
fpecies would never have defcended to our times : they
feem to conftitute the laft term of exiftence in the or-
der of animals endowed with flefli and blood. One
other defedt added to the number would have totally
prevented their exiftence. To regard thofe bungled
Sketches as beings equally perfefl with others, to call
in the aid of final caufes to account for fuch difpropor-
tioned produdions, and to make Nature as brilliant in
thefe as in her moft beautiful animals, is to view her
throii^h a narrow tube, and to fubftitute our own fan-
cies for her intentions.

Why fhould not fome animals, fays the Comte dc
Buffon, be created for mifcry, fince, in the human fpe-
cies, the greateft number of individuals are devoted to
pain from the moment of their exiftence ? Evil, it is
true, proceeds more from ourfelves than from Nature.
For a fingle perfon who is unhappy becaufe he was
born feeble or deformed, there are millions rendered
mjferable by the oppreffion of their fuperiors. The ani-
mals, in general, are more happy, becaufe the fpecies

have

• O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 543

have nothing to fear from individuals : to them there
is but one fource of evil j to man there are two. Mo-
ral evil, of which he himfelf is the fountain, has accu-
mulated into an immenfe ocean, which covers and af-
fiifls the whole furface of the -earth. Phyfical evil, on
the contrary, is reftrained within very narrow bounds :
it feldom appears alone, for it is always accompanied
with an equal, if not a fuperior, good. Can happineis
be denied to animals, when they enjoy freedom, have
the faculty of procuring fubfiftence with eafe, and pof-
fefs more health, and organs capable of affording great-
er pleafure than thofe of the human fpecies ? Now,
the generality of animals are moft liberally endowed
with all thefe fources of enjoyment. The degraded .
fpecies of floths are perhaps the only creatures to
whom Nature has been unkind, and who exhibit to us
the picture of innate mifery.

Let us take a clofer view of the condition of theic
creatures. 'By the want of teeth they can neither feiz^
prey, ncr feed upon fiefh or herbage. Reduced to the
nece(Tity of living upon leaves and wild fruits, they
confume much time in trailing their bodies to the foot
of a tree, and Ivill more in climbing the branches ^
and, during this flow and melancholy exercife, w^hich.
fometimcs lafts feveral days, they are obliged to fuffer
the moft prefiing hunger. When arrived upon a tree,
they never defcend : they cling to the branches, and
devour fucceflively the leaves of every twig : they
pafs feveral weeks in this fituation, without receiving
any drink. When they have rendered the tree entirely
naked, they ftill remain ; becaufe they cannot defcend.
In fine, when the preflure of hunger becomes fuperior
to the dread of danger or death, being unable to de-
fcend, they allow themfelves to tumble down like an
inanimated mafs ; for their ftiff and rna(5tive limbs have
not time to extend themfelves in order to break the fall.
When on the ground, they are at the mercy of all
their enemies. As their flefli is not abfolutely bad,

both

544 NATURAL HISTORY

both men and rapacious animals go in queft of them.
It appears that they do not multiply faft, or at lead, if
they produce frequently, it muft be in fmall numbers
at a time j for they have only two paps. Every cir-
cumftance, therefore, concurs to deftroy them; and it
is extremely difficult for the fpecies to fupport itfelf.
But, though flow, aukward, and almoft incapable of
motion, they are obftinate, ftron?, and tenacious of
life : they can live very Jong without viduals of any
kind : they are covered with thick, dry, hair ; and,
being incapable of exercife, they lofe Httle by perfpi-
rationj and, though their food be meager, they fatten
by repofe : though they have no horns nor hoofs, nor
cutting teeth in the under jaw, yet they belong to the
ruminating tribes, and have feveral ftomachs. Hence
the quality of their food may be compenfated by the
quantity they take at a time. What is ftill more An-
gular, inftead of very long inteftines, like other rumi-
nating animals, they are very fhort and fmall, like
thofe of the carnivorous kind. This contrail exhibits
the ambiguity of Nature. The floths are unqueftion-
ably ruminating animals ; they have four ftomachs ;
and yet they want every other charader, both internal
and external, which generally belongs to animals of this
clafs. There is ftill another (ingularity in the confor-
mation of the floths : inftead of three diftinft aper-
tures for the difcharge of urine and excrements, and
for the purpofes of generation, thefe animals have but
•one, which terminates in a common canal, as in birds.
Moreover, if the mifery refulting from a defe(5t of
fentiment be not the worft of all, the pain endured by
the floths, though very apparent, feems not to be real ;
for their fenfations appear to be blunt : their calami-
tous air, their dull afpeft, and their reception of blows
without emotion, announce their extreme infenfibility.
This bluntnefs of fenfation is farther demonftrated, by
their not dying inftantly when their hearts and bowels
are entirely cut out. Pifo, who made this cruel expe-

j riment.

-Puilt^h^d J^£»¥ i -zSo 4 .

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 545

i-iment, tells us, that the heart, after being feparated
irom the body, beat in a lively manner for half an
hour ; and that the animal continued to contrad its
legs flowly, as commonly happens during deep. From
theie fads, this quadruped feems to approach not only
the turtle, but the other reptiles which have no diftindb
centre of fenfation. All thefe beings may be faid to be
miferable, but not unhappy: Nature, even in her moft
negledted produflions, always appears more in the cha-
rader of a parent than of a ftepmother.

DASYPUS, the TATOU, or ARMADILLO,
of the Order of BRUTA.

THE diftinguifhing charadetiftics of this genus of
quadrupeds are, that it has neither fore-teeth nor
dog-teeth ; it is covered with a hard bony fhell, inter-
feded with diftind moveable zones or belts : this fhell
covers the head, the neck, the back, the flanks, and
extends even to the extremity of the tail ; the only
parts to which it does not extend, are the throat, the
breaft, and the belly, which are covered with a whitifli
(kin of a coarfe grain, refembling that of a hen after
the feathers are pulled off. The fhell does not confifl
of one entire piece, Hke that of the tortoife: but is di-
vided into feparate belts, conneded to each other by
membranes which enable the animal to move it, and
even to roll itfelf up like a hedge-hog. The number
of thefe belts does not depend on the age of the ani-
mal, as fome have imagined; but is uniformly the
f ime at all times, and ferves to diftinguifh the different
fpecies. All the fpecies of this animal were originally
natives of America; they were entirely unknown to
the ancients ; and modern travellers mention them as
peculiar to Mexico, Brafil, and the fouthern parts of
America ; though fome indeed have confounded them
with two fpecies of manis or fhell- lizard, which are
found in the Eafl Indies : others report that they are
Vol. III. No. 47. ^ Z natives

546 NATURAL HISTORY

natives of Africa, becaufe fome of them have been
tranfported from Brafil to the coaft of Guinea, where a
few have fince been propagated: but they were never
heard of in Europe, Afia, or Africa, till after the dif-
covery of America.— -They are all endowed with the
faculty of extending and contraAing their bodies, and
of rolling themfelves up like a ball, but not in fo com-
plete a fphere as the hedge-hog. They are very inof-
fenfive animals, excepting when they get into gardens,
where they devour the melons, potatoes, and other
roots. They walk quickly ; but can hardly be faid
to run or leap, fo that they feldom efcape the purfuit
either of men or dogs. But nature has not left them
altogether defencelefs. They dig deep holes in the
earth j and feldom go very far from their fubterrane-
ous habitations : upon any alarm they immediately go
into their holes ; but, when at too great a di fiance, they
require but a few moments to make one. The hunters
can hardly catch them by the tail before they fink their
body in the ground ; where they ftick fo clofe, that
the tail frequently comes away and leaves the body in
the earth ; which obliges the hunters, when they want
to take them alive and unmutilated, to dilate the fides
of the hole. When they are taken, and find that there
is no refource, they inftantly roll themfelves up, and
will not extend their bodies unlefs they are held near a
fire. "When in deep holes, there is no other method of
making them come out, but by forcing in fmoke or
water. They keep in their holes through the day, and
.feldom go abroad in qu eft of fubfiftence but in the
right. The hunters ufually chafe them with fmall
dogs, which eafily come up with them. When the dogs
are near, the creatures inftantly roll themfelves up, and
in this condition the hunters carry them off. How-
ever, if they be near a precipice, they often efcape both
the dogs and hunters : they roll themfelves up, and
tumble down like a ball, without breaking their fhell,
or receiving any injury. The dafypus is a very fruitful

animal :

O F Q^U ADRUPEDS. 547

animal ; the female generally brings four young ones
every month ; which is the reafon why the fpecies are
fo numerous, notwithftanding they are fo much fought
after on account of the fweetnefs of their flefn. The
Indians likewife make bafkets, boxes, &c. of the (hells
which cover their heads. Linnaeus enumerates fix fpe-
'cies of dafypus, each of which is diftinguifhed by the
number of bands or zones which form its coat of mail.

The THREE-BANDED ARMADILLO.

THIS fpecies hath fhort, but broad, rounded, ears:
the cruft on its head, back, and rump, is divided into
elegant pentangular fegments raifed in the middle : the
middle of its body has three bands, whence its name :
it has five toes on each foot, and a lliort tail. It inha-
bits South America, and the manners of all the fpecies
are much the fame: they burrow under ground j the
fmaller fpecies in moift places, the larger in dry j and
at a diftance from the fea : they keep in their holes by
day, but ramble out at night. When overtaken by an
enemy, it rolls itfelf into the form of a ball, and becomes
invulnerable. When furprifed, it runs for its hole, and
thinks itfelf fecure if it can hide its head and part of its
body : they are hunted with dogs, who give notice of
their haunts by barking : but caution is necefi^ary in
taking them out, as fnakes often lurk in their bur-
rows : they feed on potatoes, melons, and roots, drink
much, grow very fat, and are reckoned delicious eating
when young j but, when old, they have a muflcy difa-
greeable tafte : they are very numerous, as they breed
every month, and bring four at a time : they are very
inoffenfive.

Synonymes. — Tatu apara. Marcgrave Brafil. 11^2.
Rati Jyn. quad. 234. Armadillo feu tatu genus alte-
rum. €lu5. cxot, 109. Klein quad. 4S. Tatu feu ar-
madillo orientalis. Seb. Mus. i. tah. xxxviii. fig. 2, 3.
Dafypus tricinftus. D. cingulis tribus, pedibus penta-
dadylis. Lin. Jyfi, 53. Cataphractus fcutis duobus

3 Z 2 cingulis

54« NATURAL HISTORY

cingulls tribus. Brijfon quad, 24. L'apar, ou le tatoii
a trois bandes. Buffon x. 206, Schreber, ii. 28. tab.
\^n. A. \xxw\.fig. I, 2.

The SIX-BANDED ARMADILLO

HAS its craft formed of angular pieces, with fome
fcattered hairs between. Its tail, which is not the length
of the body, is very thick at the bafe, and tapers to a
point. It has five toes on each foot, and inhabits Brafil
and Guinea. '

Synonyme.---Tatou. Belon obf. i\i. Portraits j 106,
Tatu & tatu paba Brafil: Armadillo Hifpanisj Lufita-
nis Encuberto. Marcgrave Brafil, 131. Cataphra6tus
fcutis duobus, cingulis fex. Brijfon quad. 25. Dafypus
fex cindus. D. cingulis feriis, pedibus pentadadlylis.
Li?i. fyfi. 54. L'encoubert, ou le tatou a fix bandes.
Buffon, X. 209. tab. xlii. Suppl. iii. 285. tab. Ivii.
Schreberj ii. 31. tab. Ixi.

The EIGHT-BANDED ARMADILLO

HAS upright ears, two inches long ; fmall black
eyes ; four toes on the fore feet, five on the hind. It
is ten inches long ; its tail is nine. It inhabits Brafil,
and is reckoned more delicious eating than the others.

Synonymes.— -Ayotochtli ? Hernandez Mex. 314,
Tatuete. Brafilienfibus, Verdadeiro Lufttanis. Marc-
grave Brafil. 231. Clus. exot. 330. Cataphradlus fcu-
tis duobus cingulis 06I0. Brijfon quad. 16. Erinaceus
Joricatus cingulis feptenis palmis tetradadylis, plantis
pentadadylis. Ameen, Acad. i. 560. Dafypus feptem
cindus. Lin. fyji. 54. Le tatuete, ou tatou a huit
bandes. Buffon'^. 212. Schreber ii. 34, 2^. tab. Ixxii.
Ixxvi. fig. 3, 4'

The NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO.

THIS fpecies is diftinguiftied by long ears, long
hair on the breaft and belly, four toes on the fore feet,
jfive on the hind -, is three feet long, and the tail, which

tapers^

O F QU A D R U P E D S. 549

tapers, is a little longer than its body. Its cruft or
fhell is marked with fix- Tided figures j its bands with
wedge-like marks acrofs. One, brought fome years
ago to England from the Mufquito fhore, was fed
with raw beef and milk, but refufed grain and fruit ;
though this genus wants, as has already been obferved,
both cutting and canine teeth.

Synonymes. — Armadillo. Worm. Mus. 335. Tatu
porcinus, fchildverkel. Klein quad. 48. Pig-headed
armadillo. Grew's rarities^ 18. Rail Jyn. quad. 233.
Tatu five armadillo Americanus. Seb. Mus. tab. xxix.
Jig. I. Dafypus novem cindlus. D. cingulis novem,
palmis tetradadlyhs, plantis peiijtadadlylis. Lin,Jyji. 54,
PhiL. ItranJ. liv. 57. tab. vii. Cataphradus fcutis du-
obus, cingulis novem. Brijfon quad. 27. Le cachicha-
rne, ou Tatou a neuf bandes. Buffon, x. 215. tab.
xxxviii. Suppkm. iii. 287. tab. Iviii. Schreber, i. 37..
tab. Ixxiv. Ixxvi. j?^. 7, 10. American armadillo. PhU,
TranJ. liv. 57. tal. vii.

The TWELVE-BANDED ARMADILLO.

THIS hath broad upright ears ; the cruft on its
fhoulder confifts of oblong pieces ; that of the rump of
fix-fided pieces ; it has five toes on each foot ; thofe
,of the fore feet have very large claws. Its tail is fhorter
than the body. — Synonymes. Tatu five armadillo A-
fricanus. Seb. Mus. i. tab. xxx. fg. 3,4. Le kabaf-
fou, ou tatou a douze bandes. BuflG7tj x. 218. tab. xl.
Cataphradus fcutis duobus, cingulis duodecim. Brijfon
^uad. 27. Schreber, ii. 40. tab. Ixxv. Ixxv'i.Jg. 11, 12.

The EIGHTEEN-BANDED ARMADILLO.

THIS fpccies hath a very fiender weafel-Iooking
head, and fmal! erefl ears -, the cruft on its ftioulder and
rump confifts of fquare pieces ; it has five toes on each
foot; is about fifteen inches long j its tail only Jive and
a half.— Synonymes. Weefle-headed armadillo. Grew's
rarities y\^. Tatu muftelinys, Haii Jyn. quad. 235.

Pafypu*

550 NATURAL HISTORY

Dafypus unicindus. D. tegmine tripartito, pedibus
pentadatflylis. Lin. Jyfi. 53. Cataphradus fcuto uni-
co, cingulis ododecim. Brijfon quad. 23. Le cirquin-
^on, ou tatoii a dixhuit bandes. BuffoHj x. 220. tab,
xlii. SchreheTi ii. 42.

The MANIS, or SCALY LIZARD, of the Order

of BRUTA.

THIS genus of quadrupeds is diftbguifhed by the
following charaders : they have no fore teeth
either in the upper or under jaw ; the tongue is long
and cylindrical j the fnout is long and naiTOw j and
the body is entirely covered with ftrong hard fcales j
there are only three fpecie|> as follow :

The LONG-TAILED MANIS

HAS a (lender nofe \ both is nofe and head are
fmooth J its body, legs, and tail, are guarded by long
fharp-pointed ftriated fcales j its throat and belly are
covered with hair j its legs are fhort, v/ith four claws
on each foot, one of which is very fmall; its tail tapers,
but ends blunt. Guinea is fuppofed to be their native
country : they approach fo near the genus of lizards,
as to be accounted the link in the chain of beings which
conneds the proper quadrupeds with the reptile clafs:
they grow to a great length. One, preferved in the
jnufeum of the Royal Society of London, meafured.
from the nofe to the tail only fourteen inches ; but the
tail itfelf a yard and half a quarter.

Synonymes. — Lacertus peregrinus fquamofus. Clus.
exot. 374. Rail Jyn. quad. 274. Scaly lizard. Grew^s
rarities. 46. Manis tetradadyla. M. pedibus tetra-
dadylis. Lin. Jyfi. 53. Schreber^ ii. 23. tab. Ixx. Pho-
lidotus pedibus anticis et pofticis tetradadylis, fquamis
mucronatis, cauda longiffima. Brijfon quad. 15. Lc
phatagin. Buffon^ x, 180. tab. xxxiv.

The

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 551

The SHORT-TAILED MANIS.

THIS hath blunt fcales, with briftles between them 3
five toes on each foot j a tail longer than the body ;
and ears not unlike thofe of the human body ; the co-
lour of the whole animal is a pale yellow. It inhabits
the iflands of India, and that of Formofa. The Indians
call \t pangoelling y and the Chinefe, chin chionjeick. It
feeds on lizards and infefts j turns up the ground with
its nofe; walks with its claws bent under its feet;
grows very fat, is efteemed very delicate eating, and
makes no noife, only a fnorting. It is alfo found in
Bengal, where it is called in the Sanfkrit language,
vajracitey or the thunderbolt reptile, from the exceflive
hardnefs of its fcales ; in its ftomach is found a number
of fmall ftones, probably taken in to help digeftion. In
the fecond volume of the Afiatic Refearches, p. 376,
publifhed under the direction of the able and learned
Sir William Jones, is a very good account of this ani-
mal. It is perhaps a native of Guinea , the quogelo of
the Negroes; which, Des Marchais fays, grows to the
length of eight feet, of which the tail is four; it lives
in woods and marfhy places, and feeds on ants, which
it takes by laying its long tongue acrofs their paths,
that member being covered with a llricky faliva, fo that
the infefts that attempt to pafs over it cannot extricate
themfelves : it walks very flowly, and would be the
prey of every ravenous beaft, had it not the power of
rolling itfelf up, and oppofiug to its adverfary a for-
midable row of eredled fcales. In vain does the leo-
pard attack it with its vaft claws, for at laft it is oblio-ed
to leave it in fafety. The negroes kill thefe animala
for the fake of the flefh, which they reckon excellent.

Synonymes.— Lacertus fquamofus. Bontius Java^
60. Pet. Gaz. tab. xx. fig. 11. Armadillus fquama-
tus major. Ceilamcus feu diabolus. 'J'ajovanicus didlus.
Seb. Mus. i. tab. liii. liv. Klein quad. 47. Schrebei-y ii.
21. tab.\^w. Pholidotu'^ pedibus anticis et pofticis

pentadadylis,

SS2 NATURAL HISTORY

pentadadylis, rquamis fubrotutidis. Brijfon quad. 1 8,
Manis pentadadlyla. Lin.fyji. 52. Le pangolin. Buf-
fontX, I'io. tab. xxxiv.

The BROAD-TAILED MANIS.

THIS hath five toes on the fore feet, and four on
the hind j fcales of the fhape of a muiTel ; belly quite
fmooth ; the exterior fcales end in a (harp point fome-
what incur vated ; tail very broad, decreifing to a point;
whole length of the animal a German ell and five-
eighths ; the tail half an ell and a fpan broad, in the
broadeft part. This fpecles was found in the wall of a
merchant's houfe at Tranquebar; when purfued it would
roll itfelf up fo that nothing but the back and tail
could be feen ; it was with great difficulty killed, al-
though it was often ftruck with rice-ftampers, or poles
armed with iron j a blow on the belly deprived it of
life. The fcales of this genus are fo hard as to ftrike
fire. — A new manis Phil. Tranf. vol. lx./». 2t^. tab. 1 1.

MYRMECOPHAGA, the ANT-EATER, of the
Order of BRUTA.

THE diftinguifhlng charaderiftics of this genus are
, as follow : there are no teeth in the mouth, the
tongue is long and cylindrical j the head terminates in
a long fnout or muzzle; and the body is covered with
pretty long hair. There are fix fpecies, viz.

The GREAT ANT-EATER

HAS a long flender nofe j fmall black eyes ; flioit
round ears; a flender tongue, two feet and a half
long, which lies double in the mouth ; flender legs ;
four toes on the fore-feet, and five on the hind ; the
two middle claws on the fore- feet very large, ftrong,
and hooked. The hair on the upper part of the body
is half a foot long, black i^iixed with grey. Acrofs
its flioulders there is a black line bounded above with

while.

OF QUADRUPEDS. 553

white. The fore-legs are whitifh, with a black fpot
above the feet. The hair of the tail is coarfe, black,
and about a foot long. This animal is about three
feet ten inches long ; its tail two and a half: it weighs
above a hundred pounds : it inhabits Brazil and Gui-
ana; runs flowly; fwims over the great rivers, at
which time it flings its tail over its back : lives on ants;
overturns their nefts, or digs them up with its feet,
then thrufts its long tongue into their retreats, and
withdraws it into its mouth loaded with prey : it is
afraid of rain, and protects itfelf from it by covering
its body with its long tail. It does not attain its full
growth under four years. Each fpecies of this genus
brings but one young one at a time. Notwithftanding
its want of teeth, it is fierce and dangerous, efpecially
when it has young. Nothing that It has once got be-
tween Its fore-feet can difengage itfelf; the very pan-
thers of America are often unequal to the combat. So
great Is its obftlnacy and flupldity, that it will not ex-
tricate Itfelf even from a dead adverfary. It fleeps in
the day, and preys by night. Its flefh has a ftrong
difagreeable tafte; but it Is eaten by the Indians.

The following hiftory of this animal is given in
Dillon's Travels through Spain, p. 76, in his account
of the Royal Cabinet of Natural Hiftory at Madrid.
" The Great Ant-bear from Buenos Ayres, the Myr-
mecophagaJubataofLinnscus, called by the Spaniards
Ofa Palmera, was alive at Madrid in 1776, and is now
fluffed and preferved In this cabinet. The people who
brought it from Buenos Ayres fay, it differs from what
they call the ant-eater, Vv'hich only feeds on emmets,
and other Infeds ; whereas this would eat flefh, when
cut in fmall pieces, to the amount of four or five
pounds. From the fnout to the extremity of the tail,
this animal is two yards In length, and his height Is
about two feet i the head very narrow ; the nofe long
and flender. The tongue Is fo finsular, that it looks
jsnore like a worm, and extends above fixteen inches.

Vol. III. No. 47. 4 A His

554 NATURAL HISTORY

His body is covered with long hair, of a dark brown,
with white ftripes on the flioulders ; and when he
fleeps he Covers his body with his tail."

The fpecimen of the Great Ant-eater in the Leve-
rian Mufeum, is fuperior in fize to any we have before
heard of.

Feet, Inches,

Its whole length is - - 7 4

Tail - - - - 2 9

From tip of the nofe to the ears -10
Length of the hairs of the mane - 1 o

of the tail - I 2

Height to the top of the fhoulders -20
Both of the above are extremely rare, and in an un-
common fine flate of prefervation.

Synonymes.--Tamandua-guacu. Marcgrave BrafiL
225. Tamandua-guacu five major. Fijo BrafJ. 320.
Pifmire-eater, A^zV^/'o^, 19. Tamandua major cauda
panniculata. Barrere France ALquin. 162. Mange-
fourmis. Des Marcbais, iii. 307. Great ant-bear. Rail
Jyn.quad. 241. Myrmecophaga roftro longiflimo, pe-
dibus anticis tetrada6tylis, pofticis pentadaflylis, cauda
longiffimis pilis veftita. Brijfon quad. 15, Myrmeco-
phaga jubata. M. palmis tetradadylis, piantis penta-
daftylis. Lin. Jyfi. 52. Klein quad. 45. tab. v. Le
Temanor. Buffon^ x. 141. tab. xxix. Suppl. iii. 278.
tab. Iv. Schreber^ ii. 14. tab. Ixvii.

The MIDDLE-SIZED ANT-EATER.

• THIS quadruped hath a long (lender nofe bending
a little down ; fmall blacic mouth and eyes -, and fmall
upright ears. The bottoms oi^ its tore- feet are round,
with four claws on each ; the hind feet have five : its
hair is hard and (hining, of a pale yellow ; dufky
on the hind-legs and the middle of the back. A
black line on each fide, from the neck, crofies the
fhoulders, palTes along, and both meet at the lower
end of the back. The tail, covered with longer hair

than

OF (QUADRUPEDS. SSS

' than the back, tapers, and is bald at the end. This
animal meafures one foot feven, its tail ten inches. It
inhabits the fame country with the laft, and refembles
it in its manners. When it drinks, part fpurts out of
the noftrils. It climbs trees, and lays hold of the
branches with its tail.

Synonymes. — Tamandua-i. Marcgrave Braji/. 225.
Rait fyn. quad. 242. Tamandua minor. Fifo Brafil.
320. Barrere Frayice Mquin. 162. Tamandua-guacu.
Nieuhcff^ 1.9. Myrmecophaga roftro longiilimo, pedi-
bus anticis tetradaftyhs, pofticis pentadadlylis, cauda
fere nuda. Brijfon quad. 16. Myrmecophaga tetra-
dadyla. Lin.Jyfi. 52. Zooph. Gronov. No. 1. Le
Tamandua. Buffotiy x. 144. Schreher, ii. 16. tab.

Ixviii.

The striped ANT-EATER

HAS a taper nofe : its upper mandible extends far
beyond the lower ; its eyes are exceedingly fmall ; ears
round and fhorti its tail is equally covered with long
hairs : it has five toes on each foot : its body and tail
are tawny; the firft marked downwards with broad
ftripes of black J the lart annulated : its legs and nofe
are ftriped in the fame manner: its belly is of a dirty
white. Length thirteen inches j tail feven and a half.
Synonymes. ---Le Tamandua. Buffony Supplem, iii,
281. tab. Ivi.

The least ANT-EATER

HAS a conic nofe, bending a little down -, fmall
ears, hid in its fur; two hooked claws on the fore-feet,
four on the hind : its upper parts are covered v/ith
long foft filky hair, or rather wool, of a yellowifh
brown colour. It is (Qven inches and a half long : its
tail, which is thick at the bafe, and tapers to a point,
meafures eight and a half, and is naked on the under
fide for the lalt four : it inhabits Guiana, and climbs
trees in quefl of a fpecies of ants which build their nefts

4 A 2 among

SS6 NATURAL HISTORY

among the branches. It has the fame prehenfile power
with its tail as the former.

There is a fpecies found at the Cape of Good Hope,
and in Ceylon ; it has four toes on the fore feet, and
pendulous ears, which diftinguiflies it from other kinds.
Kolben defcribes their mariners particularly, and fays
they have long heads and tongues, and are toothlefs ;
that they fometimes weigh a hundred pounds ; that, if
they faften their claws in the ground, the ftrongeft man
cannot pull them away ; that they thruft out their
clammy tongue into the ants neft, and draw it into
their mouth covered with infers. That the African
fpecies agrees with the American in every external
particular, is confirmed ; but that the laft is furnifhed
with grinding teeth, like the armadillo, in the lower
end of the jaws, is a difcovery proved from the re-
marks of Doftor Camper, a celebrated zoologift in
Holland. Mr. Strachan, in his account of Ceylon,
gives the fame account of the manners of Vv^hat the
natives call the talgoij or ant-bear. It is not therefore
to be doubted, but that thefe animals are common td
the old and new continents.

Synonymes. — Tamandua minor flavefcens; Oua-
tiriouaou. Barrere France y^qiiin. 163. Tamandua
^ve Coati Americana alba. 8eb. Muf. i. tab. xxxvii.
Myrmecophaga roftro brevi, pedibus anticis dida6lylis,
T)0^'^c\s tttva.di2idi)Y\s. Brijfonquad. 17. Myrmecophaga
didaftyla. M. palrais didaftylis, plantis tetradaftylis,
Cauda villofa. Lin. Jyjl. 51. Zocph. Gronov. No. i.
Little ant-eater. Edw. iio. Le Fourmillier, Buffcny
X. 144. tab. XXX. Scbrebcr, ii. 17. tab. Ixvi.

The CAPE ANT-EATER.

THIS hath a long nofc, truncated at the end like
that of a hog, and the noftriis refembling thofe of that
animal ; ears fix inches long, thin as parchment, and
covered with very fine hair ; tongue very long and
ilejider ; the hairs on the head and upper part of the

body

GF Q^UADRUPEDS. 557

body and tail very fliort, and fo clofely adhering to the
fkin as if they were glued to it ; their colour a dirty
grey, thofe on the fides and belly long and of a reddifh
hue, thofe on the legs ilill longer, black, and ftrait ;
the tail thick near the bafe, and tapering to a point ;
on the fore ftet are four toes, on the hind five, all
armed with ftrong claws ; thofe behind equal even
the length of the toes ; all are blunted at the end, and
calculated for burrowing : the length is three feet five
to the origin of the tail, the tail one foot nine : this
fpecies inhabits the neighbourhood of the Cape of
Good Hope : it lives under ground, feeds on ants like
the other fpecies ; but when it has found an ants nell
it looks carefully around to fee whether it can feed 'in
fafety, then puts out its long tongue to catch its prey.
It is an objed: of chace among the Hottentots, and is
reckoned good food. — Synonyme. Fourmijlier d'A-
frique. Allemand Suppl. vol. lb. tab. xi.

The porcupine ANT-EATER.

THIS in length is about a foot; coated on the up-
per parts with fpines refembling thofe of a porcupine,
being white tipped with black; the two colours feparated
by a ring of tawny or dull orange; the fpines on the
back and fides are feme what recumbent, over the tail
perpendicularly ere<5l ; fnout long, naked, black, and
tubular, opening very fmall; tongue lumbriciform ;
forehead, cheeks, and whole under parts of the body,
coated with dark brown fiiff hair; legs very fhort^
toes fhort, broad, rounded; claws on the fore feet, five,
very ftrong, fomewhat obtufe; on the hind feet' four,
of which the two firft are much longer, and fharper,
than the others ; thumb unarmed ; tail very fhort. It
inhabits New South Wales, preys on ants, and is
found about ant-hills. It is a mole extraordinary qua-
druped, conned;ing in fome meafure the two very dif-
fant genera of porcupine and ant-eater. This fingular

1 animal

55^ N A T U x^ A L H I S T O R Y

animal is defcribed by Dr. Shaw, in the Naturalid's
Mifcellany.

TRICHECUS, the WALRUS, of the Order of

BRUT A.

*" [ Tl IS. genus of aquatic animals has no fore teeth;
-*- when full grown it has two great tuiks in the up-
per jaw,, which point downwards ; it has grinders on
each fide in both jaws, which are compofed of furrow-
ed bones. The body is oblong; the lips are doubled ;
and the hind legs are fn etched backwards, and, as it
were, bound together, forming a kind of tail fit for
fwimming. There are only two fpecies, as follow :

The arctic WALRUS.

TfTIS is alio called the morre, fea-horfe, and fea-
cow J it has a round head, a fmall mouth, very thick
Kps, covered above and below with ])ellucid briftles as
thick as a ftraw; fnjall fiery eyes, two fmail orifices in-
flead of ears, and a fhort neck ; its body is thick in the
middle, tapering towards the tail j its fkin is thick,
wrinkled, with fhort brownifli hair thinly dif^oerfed; it
lias fliort legs, five toes on each foot, conne6led by a
web and a fmall nail on each : the hind feet are very
broad; each leg is loofely articulated j the hind legs
arc generally extended on a line with the body : the
tail- is very ihort, and the penis long. The animal is
about eighteen feet long, and ten or twelve round the
thickeft part : their teeth have been fometimes found
of the weight of twenty pounds each.

Tliey inliabit the coaft of Spitzbergen,-Nova Zem-
bla, Hudfon's Bay, the Gulph of St. Laurence, and
the Icy Sea j but are not {^ai in the ifiands between
Kamtfchatka and America. They are gregarious, and
sre feen in fom.e places in herds of a hundred together.
They are very fhy, and avoid places much haunted by
man. They are however v^ry fierce^ and, if wounded

in

7.^^i.e- J^toAk: Wu^ui^.. Q.jLy/ie "U^tc^^^/^ilf/ec/ ^-J^n^^/l/-;'

P,J-li,hrJFrh-!'i. ,f,t.

O F QJJ ADRUPEDS. 5;^

in the water, they attempt to fink the boat, either hj
rifing under it, or by ftriking their great teeth into
its fides. They roar very loud ; and will follow tlie
boat till it gets out of fight. Numbers of thc-m are
often feen deeping on iflands of ice : if awal^ened, they
fling themfelves with great impetuofity into the fea.
They do not go upon the land till the coaft is clear of
ice. At particular times they land in amazing num-
bers. The moment the firft gets on (hore, fo as to lie
dry, it will not ftir till another comes and forces it for-
ward, by beating it with its great teeth ; this is ferved
in the fame manner by the nQYlj and fooninfucceffioii
till the whole have landed.

The method oF killing them on the Magdalene ifles,
in the Gulph of St. Laurence, is thus:-— The hunters
watch their landing; and, as foon as they find a fuf-
ficient number for what they call a ctity go on fhore,
each armed with a fpear fi:iarp on one fide like a knife,
with which they cut their throats : great care muft be
taken not to ftand in the way of thofe which attemnt
to get again to fea, which they do with great ability by
tumbling headlong ; for they would crufhany body to
death by their vail weight. They are killed f.r the
fake of their oil, one walrus producing about half a
tun. The knov/ledge of this chace is of great anti-
quity ; 0(5ther, the Norwegian, about the year ^<^o^
made a report of it to King Alfred, having, as he fays,
made the voyage beyond Norway, for ** the more
commoditie of fi filing of horfe- whales, which have in
their teeth bones of great price and excellencie, where-
of he brought fume at his return unto the Wiwr." Jn
fad, it was in the northern world, in early times, the
fubftitute to iv^ory, being very white and very hard.
Their flcins, Otflherfays, were good to cut into cables.
M. de Buffon fays, he has (ten braces for coaches-
made of it, which were both ftrongand ehilic.

They bring one, or at moft two, young at a time ;
feed on fea-herbs and fifn, ahb on fiiel's, which tLcy

dig

^66 NATURAL HISTORY

dig out of the fand with their teeth ; they are faid to^
make ufe of their teeth to afcend rocks or pieces of
ice, faftening them to the cracks, and drawing their
bodies up by that means. Befides mankind, they feem
to have no other enemy than the white bear, with
whom they have terrible combats j but generally come
ofF victorious, by means of their great teeth.

In Captain Cook's Voyages we have the following
affeding account of their parental attachment to their
young. "On the approach of the boats towards the
ice, they took their young ones under their fins, and
attempted to efcape with them into the fea. Some,
whofe cubs were killed or wounded, and left floating
upon the furface of the v/ater, rofe again, and carried
them down, fometimes jufc as our men were on the
point of taking them into the boat ; and could be
ti-aced bearing them to a confiderable diftance through
the water, which was ftained with their blood. They
were afterwards obferved bringing them, at intervals,
above the furface, as if for air, and again plunging
under it, with a horrid bellowing. The female, in
particular, whofe young one had been killed, and taken
into the boat, became fo furious, that fhe even ftruck
her two tuflcs through the bottom of the cutter."

Synonymes.---Rofmarus. Gefner Fife. an. Klein
quad. <)i. Walrus, mors, rofmarus. Worm, MuJ,
289. Rait fyn. quad. 191. Sea-horfe, or morfe, Mor-
ten's Spitzhcrg^ 107, 182. Egede Greenland, 82. Sea-
cow. Crantz Greenl. i. 125. Schreher, ii. 88. Odo-
benus. La vache marine. Brijfon quad. 30. Triche-
cus rofmarus. T. dentibus laniariis fuperioribus ex-
fertis. Lin, Jyfi. 49. Le morfe. Buffon, xiii. 358.
tab. liv.

The INDIAN WALRUS.

THE Indian walrus is diftinguiflied by the tu/ks
which extend out of the mouth from the upper jaw
being placed near each other. It inhabits the feas

lying

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 561

iying between the Cape of Good Hope and the Phi-
lippine iflands. This animal, Co far as can be known,
refembles the morfe very much : the head is, how-
ever, more lengthened and narrower ; the noftrils are
Jarge, and placed higher; like the former fpecies, there
are no tuiks in the under jaw, but thofe in the upper
jaw, as has been already obferved, are placed near each
other, bent outwards, and refemble cutting teeth, only
that they are near fix inches long ; there are four
grinders on each fide in the upper jaw, and three in
the lower ; thefe laft are diftant from the tufks, and
are broader than thofe of the morfe : the female has
two teats on the breaft : the chin has a briftly beard ;
the ears are fiiort ; the feet broad ; and the legs fo
fhort, that the belly trails on the ground. When full
grown, the animal is fix ells m length; the male being
rather larger than the female, which has breads like a
woman. It feeds on a green fea mofs or weed, which
grows near the fnore. The figure, manners, and hif-
tory, of this animal, are very imperfedly known ; but
it is faid its flefli is good food, and eats like beef.

Synonymes.— -LeDugon. Buffon, xiii. 374. tab^Wu
Schreherj ii. 93.

PHOCA, the SEAL, of the Order of FER^.

' I ""HIS genus hath fix parallel fore-teeth in the upper
-*- jaw, the outermoft being larger ; and four blunt,
parallel, diftinift, equal, fore-teeth in the under-jaw.
There are two canine teeth in each jaw, and five pal-
mated toes on each foot : its body is thick at the
fhoulders, and tapers towards the tail. This genus
contains eighteen fpecies.

The common SEAL

HAS large black eyes ; large whifkers ; oblong
noftrils ; and a fiat head and nofe : its tongue is forked
at the end. It has fix cutting teeth in the upper javv, .
four in the lower; no external ears; a fhort tail. Its

Vol. III. No. 47. 4 B body

S62 NATURAL HISTORY

badv is covered with thick ihort hair; and its toes are
furnidied with ftrong fharp claws. Its ufual length is
from five to fix feet.

It inhabits moft quarters of the globe, but in greateft
multitudes towards the north and the fouth; they
fvvarm near the Ardtic circle, and the lower parts of
South America, in both oceans; near the fouthernend
of Terra del Fuego; and even among the floating ice
as low as fouth lat. 60. 21. They are alfo found in
the Cafpian fea, in the lake Aral, and lakes Baikal and
Oron, which are frefli waters. They are lefs than
thofe which frequent fait waters ; but fo fat that they
ieem almofl: fhapelefs. In lake Baikal fome are co-
vered with filvery hairs; others are yellowifh, and
have a large dark -coloured mark on the hind part of
the back, covering almoft a third of the body.

They are found in the Cafpian fea, in moft amazing
multitudes; they vary infinitely in their colours : fome
are wholly white ; others wholly black ; others of a
yellowifh white ; others moufe-coloured ; and others
again fpotted like a leopard: they creep out of the
fea on the iliores, and are killed as faft as they come;
and are followed by a vaft fucceflion of others, who
undergo the fame fate. It is finQ;ular that the feals of
the Cafpian are very tenacious of life ; it is well knov/n
that the fmalieft blow on the nofe kills thofe of Eu-
rope. At approach of winter they go up the Jaik,
and are killed in great numbers on the ice: they are
fought for their flcins and the oil: numbers are de-
ftroyed by the wolves and jackals ; for which reafon
the feal-hunters watch moft carefully the haunts of the
feals in order to drive away their enemies. The fea-
fons for hunting the feals are fpring and autumn.

Seals bring two young at a time, which tor fome
fliort (pace are white and woollv ; they bring forth in
avitumn, and fuckle their young in caverns, or in rocks,
tii! they are fix or ftven v.etks old, when they take to
the fea : they cannot continue long under water, and
I are

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 563

are therefore very frequently obliged to rife to take
breath, and often float on the waves. In fummer,
they fleep on rocks, or on fand-banks: if furpiized,
they precipitate into the fea ; or, if at any didance, tliey
fcramble along, and fling up the fatid and giav 1 with
great force with their hind feet, making a piteous
moaning : if overtaken, they will make a vigorous de-
fence with their feet and teeth: a flight blow or the
nofe kills them, otherwife t ley will beir numbers of
wounds. It does not app.-ar that the Cafp'an feal-
hunters are acqua-nted with the method.

They fwim with vaft ft:rength and fwiftnefs; frolic
greatly in their element, and will fport wirhout fear
about fhips and boats , which may have given rife to
the fable of Sea-nymphs and Syrt-ns. Their docility
is very great, and their nature gentle : there is an in-
fl:ance of one which was fo far tamed as to anfwer to
the call of its keeper, crawl out of its tub at command,
ftretch at full length, and return into the water when
direded ; and extend its neck to kifs its maflier as
often and as long as required. They never go any
great diftance from land : feed on all forts of fifli :
are themfelves good food, and often eaten by voyagers:
they are killed for the fake of the oil made from their
fat; a young feal will yield eight galloi-.s : their ikins
are very ufeful in making waiftcoats, covers for trunks,
and other conveniences : thofe of the lake Baikal are
fold to the Chinefe, who dye, and fell them to the
Mongals to face their fur-coats: thev'are the v/ealth
of the Greenlanders, fupplying them with every ne-
ceflary of life.

Synonymes. — (iia/y.r,. Arift. hift. An. lib. vi. c. 12.
Oppian Halieut. v. 376. Vitulus oceani. Rondeletii,
453, 458. Le veau marin, ou loup de njcr. Belon
Poijfonsy 25. Phoca. Gejner Pifc. 83c. PForm. Mus.
289. Klein. q^ad. 93. Bri/fon quad. 162. Seal, feoile,
or fea-calfj phoca, five vitulus marinus. Rail fyn.
quad. 189. Phil, "TranJ. abridg. "vol. xlvii. 120. tab.v'i.

4B 2 fig.

564 NATURAL HISTORY

fg. 2' Kafligiak. Crantzhifi.Greenl.i.ii^- Phoca
vitulina. Ph. capite Ijevi inauriculato. Lin. Jyfi. 56.
Sial. Faunjuec.^^o. \. Le phoque. Biiffon^'imx.i^^Ti'
tab. xlv. Schreher^ cxxxiv. Seal. Br. Zool. i. 7 1 . Br.
Zool. illiiflr. xlviii.

The pied SEAL.

IN this fpecies the nofe is taper and elongated ; the
fore feet furniflied with five toes, inclofed in a mem-
brane, but very diilindl ; the claws long and ftralt :
the hind feet very broad ; five diflindl toes, with the
claws jiift extending to the margin of the membrane,
which expands into the form of a crefcent. One of
thefe was taken near the city of Chefter, in May 1766.
On the firft capture its ikin was naked, like that of a
porpoife ; and only the head, and a fmall fpot beneath
each leg, was hairy. Before it died the hair began to
grow on other parts : the fore part of the head was
black, hind part of the head and throat white ; beneath
each fore leg was a fpot of the fame colour ; the hind
feet of a dirty white i the reft of the animal of an in-
tenfe black. They vary in the difpofition of the co-
lours j that defcribed by M. de Bufibn had only the
belly white. Thefe fpecies, according to that writer,
frequent the coaft of the Adriatic : the length of that
defcribed by M. de Buffxtn was feven feet and a half;
that taken at Chefter was very much lefs, and proba-
bly a young one. Synonymes.---^r. Zool. i. p. 122.
Le phoque a ventre blanc. Buffon^ Supplem. vi. 310.
tab. xliv.

The mediterranean SEAL.

THIS hath a fmall headj neck longer than that of
the common feal -, orifices of the ears not larger than a
pea : hair fhort and rude : colour dufey, fpotted with
afti-colour : above the navel a tawny fpot ; the toes on
the fore feet furnifned with nails : the hind feet pinni-
form, and without nails. When the animal is placed

on

OF QUADRUPEDS.- s^^

on its back, the fkin of the neck folds like a monk's
hood. Its length is eight feet fiven inches : the greateft
circumference above five feet. It inhabits the Medi-
terranean Sea, but as yet not difcovereJ in the ocean.
The common or oceanic fpecies is probably an in-
habitant of the fame fea, for the fpecies defcribed by
Ariftotle is of that kind ; he minutely defcribes the
feet, and attributes to the hind as well as the fore
feet five toes, every one furniilied with nails : that
fpecies therefore is the Phoca of the antients.

Synonvmcs. — Vitulus Maris Mediterranei. Rondel.
Phoca Monachus, capite inauriculafo, dentibus incis ;
utriufque maxilla; quatuor, palmis indivilis plantis ex*-
unguiculatis. Herman.

The LONG-NECKED SEAL.

THIS fpecies hath a {lender body: the length
from the nofe to the fore legs is as great as from the
fore legs to the tail : there are no claws on the fore
feet, which refemble fins. A good fpecimen of this
v/as preferved in the mufeum of the Royal Society.
Doftor Parfons has given a figure of it in the 48th
vol. of Philof. Tranf. tab. vi. but we are left unin-
formed as. to the country it inhabits.

The FALKLAND-ISLAND SEAL.

THIS fpecies is in length about four feet : hair
fhort, cinereous tipped with dirty white. Nofe fhort,
bcfet with ftrong black briftles : fhort, narrow, pointed
auricles. The upper cutting teeth fulcated tranverfely ;
the lower in an oppofite diredion : on each fide of the
canine teeth, a fmaller or fecondary one : the grinders
are conoid, with a fmall procefs on one fide near the
bafe. It has no claws on the fore feet; but beneath
the fkin are evident marks of the bones of five toes ;
the fkin extends far beyond their ends. On the toes
pf the hind legs are four long and flrait claws ; but

the

SG6 NATURAL HISTORY

the fkin ftretches far beyond^ which gives them a very
pianiform look.

This fpecies probably inhabits the feas about Juan
Fernandez J tor Don Ulloa intorms us of one kind,
which is not above a yard long. The fmall fsals alio
inhabit from the Falkland ifiands round Cup^ Horn,
even as far as New Zealandj and are (tzn farther from
ihore than any other kind. 1 hey are very fportive,
dipping up and down like porpoifes, and go on in a
progrdTive courfe like thofe fifh. When they deep,
one fill generally appears above the water. They per-
haps extend as far as the Society Ifiands, at leaft the
natives have a name for the feal, which they call
Humi.

•The TORTOISE-HEADED SEAL.

THIS hath ahead like that of a tortoife : neck
ilender.^r than the head or body : feet like thofe of the
common feal. We are indebted to Dodoi Parfons for
the account of this fpecies, who fays it is found on the
fhores of many parts of Europe.

The RUBBON SEAL

HAS very fhort fine glofly briftly hair, of an uni-
form colour, almoft black ; marked along the fides,
and towards the head and tail, with a ftripe of a pale
yellow colour, exaftly refembling a rubbon laid on it
by art ; words cannot fufficiently convey the idea ; it
was communicated by Dc(ftor Pailas, who received it
from one of the remoteft Kuril ifiands. Its fize is un-
known, for Dodor Pallas received only the middle
part, which had been cut out of a very large ficin, fo
fo that no particular defcription can be given of it.
Other obfcure fpecies in thofe feas, are, i. A middle-
fized feal, elegantly fpeckled in all parts : i. One with
brown fpots, fcarcer than the refi: : 3. A black fpecies,
with a peculiar conformation of the hind legs.

The

OF QUADRUPEDS. 567

The leporine SEAL.

THE fur of this fpecies is as foft as that of a hare,
upright and interwoven j of a dirty white colour :
whiikers long and thick, fo that the animal appears
bearded: the head is long ; the upper lip thick : four
cuttinof teeth above ; the fame below : nails on the
fore and hind feet. Its ufual length is fix feet an i a
half; its greateft circumference five feet two. It in-
habits the White Sea during fummer ; afcends and de-
fcends the rivers in queft of prey; is found alib off
Ireland, and from Spitfbergen to the Tchutkinofs.
Synonyme. — Phoca Leporina. Lepechin, atf, acad,
Petrop. pars i. 264. tab, viii. ix.

The GREAT SEAL.

THIS refembles very much the common, but
grows to the length of twelve feet : one defcribed in
the Phil. Tranf. was feven feet and a half long, yet fo
young as fcarcely to have any teeth; the common feal
is at full growth when it has attained the length of fix.
It inhabits the coaft of Scotland, and the fouth of Green-
land. The fkin is thick, and is ufed by the Greenland-
ers to cut out thonf^s for their feal filhery. Perhaps
it is the fame with the great Kamtfchatkan feal, called
by the Ruflians, Lachtach, weighing 8oolb. v/hofe
cubs are black. One of that fize was killed in the
north of Scotland. Synonymes. ---Sea-calf. Phil.
Tranf. ix. 74. tab. v. Le grand phoque, Bujfcny xiii.
345. Utluk ? Crantz Greenl. i. 125. Schreber Cah.

i- 43-

The rough SEAL.

THIS hath rough briftly hair, intermixed like that
of a hog; and of a pale brown colour. It inhabits
Greenland: the natives make garments of its fkin,
turning the hairy fide inmolr. Perhaps what our
Newfoundland fcal-hunters call Square Phipper; whofe

coat, .

568 NATURAL HISTORY

coat, they fay, is like that of a water- dog, and weighs
50olb. Synonyme.---Neitfek. Cnmtz Greenl. i. 124,
Schreber^ cJxxxvi.

The porcine SEAL.

THE porcine feal agrees in general form with the
urfine, but the nofe is longer, and refembles a hog's
fnout ; it has alfo the veftiges of ears : the feet have
five diftin(5t toes, covered with a common membrane.
It inhabits the coat!: of Chili, but is a rare fpecies.
Synonyme. — Phoca porcina. Molina Chili. 260.

The eared SEAL,

•WITH a conoid headj nofe rather pointed ; ears
an inch long, very narrow and pointed s whiikers very
long and white ; fore feet pinniform ; there are neither
toes nor tails apparent, but are terminated membrane-
Gufly : in the hind feet the toes are apparent, and each
furnilhed with its nail ; the membrane extends beyond,
and then divides into five narrow divifions, correfpon-
dent to each toe ; the tail a little more than an inch
long : the whole body is covered with long hair of a
whitifh or cream-colour : the length from nofe to tail
is rather more than two hzt. It inhabits the ftreights
of Magellan.

The HOODED SEAL.

TPIIS hath a ftrong folded fkin on the forehead^
•which it can fling over its eyes and nofe, to defend
them againft flones and fuid in Aormy weather : its
hair is white, with a thick coat of black wool under,
■which makes it appear of a fine grey. It inhabits only
the fouth of Greenland, and Newfouiidland : in the
the laft it is called the hooded feal : the hunters fay
they cannot kill it till they remove the integument on
the head. Synonymes. — Clap-myfs. Eagede GreenL
84. Neitrerfoak. Crantz Greenl. i. 124.

Ths

C F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 569

The harp SEAL,

WITH a pointed head and thick body, of a whitiih
grey colour, marked on the fides with two black cre-
Icents, the horns pointing upward towards each other;
but it does not attain this mark till the fifth year ; till
that period it changes its colour annually, and is diftin-
guifhed by the Greenlanders by different names each
year. It inhabits Greenland and Newfoundland, Ice-
land, the White Sea, and Frozen Ocean, and pafies
through the Afiatic fl:rait, as low as Kamtfchatka; it
is the moft valuable kind, the fkin being the thickeft
and beft, and its produce of oil the greateft ; it grows
to the length of nine feet. Our fi filers call this the
harp or heart feal, and fliyle the marks on its fides the
faddle. There is a blackifli variety, which they fay is
a young harp, called bedlemer,

Synonyme. — Black-fided feal. Egede Green!} plate
iii. Attarfoak. Crantx Greenl. i. 124. Schreber^ Cab,
I, 39. Phoca oceanica. Krylatca. Rufi". Lepechin a5f.
acad, Pefrop, pars i. 259. lab, vi. vii.

The little SEAL.

THIS fpecies hath the four middle cutting teeth of
the upper jaw bifurcated, the two middle of the lower
jaw flightly trifurcated ; a rudiment of an ear ; the
webs of the feet extending far beyond the toes and
nails : the hair foft, fmooth, and longer than in the
common feal ; its colour is dufi^y on the head and
back, beneath brownifli j its length two feet four in-
ches. Our feal-hunters affirm, that they often obferve,
on the coaft of Newfoundland, a fmall fpecies, not ex-
ceeding two feet or two feet and a half in length. Capt.
Abraham Dixon fays, that he faw off the coaft of North
America, in his voyages of 1785 to 1788, multitudes
of fmall feals, not exceeding a foot in length; they
were perpetually dipping and rifing again, but were {o
a(5livethat he never could procure a fpecimen.

Vol, III. No. 47. 4 C Synonyme.

570 NATURAL HISTORY

Synonyme.— Le petit phoque. Buffony'm. 341. tah,
liii. Schreberj cxxxv.

The ursine SEAL, or SEA BEAR.

THE urfme feal, commonly called the fea bear,
leads, during the three fummer months, a moft indo-
lent life : they arrive at the iflands vaftly fat, but du-
ring the above time they are fcarcely ever in motion :
they confine themfelves for whole weeks to one fpot,
fleep a great part of the time ; eat nothing ; and, ex-
cept the employment the females have in fuckling their
young, they are totally inadive : they live in families,
each male has from eight to fifty females, whom he
guards with the jealoufy of an eaftern monarch j and,
though they lie by thoufands on the fhores, each fa-
mily keeps itfelf feparate from the reftj and fometimes,
with the young and unmarried ones, amount to a hun-
dred and twenty. The old animals, which are def-
titute of females, or deferted by them, live apart, and
are exceffively fplenetic, peevilh, and quarrelfome: they
are very fierce, and fo attached to their old haunts, that
would die fooner than quit them : they are monftroufly
fat, and have a moft hircine fmell. If another ap-
proaches their fl:ation, they are roufed from their in-
dolence, and inftantly fnap at it, and a battle enfues ;
in the courfe of the confliA they perhaps intrude on
the feat of another j this gives new caufe of offence,
fo in the end the difcord becomes univerfal, and i:%
fpread along the whole fhore.

The other males are alfo very irafcible ; the caufes
of their difputes are generally thefe : the firft and moft
terrible is, when an attempt is made by another to fe-.
duce one of their miftrefles, or a young female of the
family. This infult produces a combat, and the con-
queror is immediately followed by the whole feraglio,,
who are fure to defert the unhappy wretch who is van-
quiftied. The fecond reafon of a quarrel is, when one
invades the feat of another. Th.c third arifes. from

their

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 571

their interfering in the difpiites of others. Theiji
battles are very violent. The wounds they give and
receive are very deep, and refemble the cuts of a
fabre. At the end of a fight they fling themfelves into
the fea, to wafh away the blood.

The males are very fond of their young, but very
tyrannical towards the females j if any body attempts
to take one of their cubs, the male ftands on the de-
fenfive, while the female makes off with the young in
her mouth ; fhould fhe drop it, he inftantly quits the
enemy, falls on her, and beats her againft the ftones
till he leaves her for dead. As foon as /he recovers,
fhe comes in the moft fuppliant manner to the male,
crawls to his feet, and wafhes them with her tears j he
in the mean time ftalks about in the moft infulting
manner s but, in cafe the young one is carried off, he
melts into the deepeft afflicftion, and fhews every fign
of deep concern : the female brings but one at a time,
never more than two.

They fwim very fwiftly, at the rate of (even miles
an hour : they can continue a long time under water :
they are very tenacious of life, and will live for a fort-
night after receiving fuch wounds as would immediate-
ly deftroy any other animal : the male is vaftly fupe-
rior in fize to the female : the body of each is of a
conic form, very thick before, and tapers to the tail :
the length of a large male is eight feet, circumference
five; near the tail twenty inches; weight eight hun-
dred pounds : the nofe projects like that of a pug dog,
but the head rifes fuddenly; the noftrils are oval, divi-
ded by a feptum ; th*: lips are thick; the infides are
red and ferrated ; the whiikers long and white : the
teeth, in all thirty-fix% lock into each other when the -
mouth is clofed : the tongue is bifid ; the eyes large
and prominent ; the iris black ; the pupil fmaragdine:
the eyes may be covered at pleafure with a f?efliy mem-
brane : the ears are fmall, fharp pointed, hairy without,
fmooth and polifhed within.

4 C 2 Thc^

572 NATURAL HISTORY

The length of the fore legs is twenty- four inches,
like thofe of other quadrupeds, not immerfed in the
body like thoie of feals,: the feet are formed with
toes, as thofe of other animals, but are covered with a
naked fkin, having; only the rudiments of nails on five
latent toes : the hind legs are twenty-two inches long,
fixed to the body like thofe of feals, but capable of
being brought forward ; fo that the animal can ufe
them to fcratch its head : thefe feet are divided, each
into five toes, connected with a great web, a foot broad ;
the tail is only two inches long.

The hair is long and rough, with a foft down of a
bay colour beneath : the hair on the neck of the old
males {lands eredt: the general colour of thefe animals
is black, but the hair of the old ones is tipt with grey :
the females are cinereous : the fkins of the young ones
cut out of their dams are very ufeful for clothing, and
coft about three fhillings and four pence each j the
fkin of an old one four fhillings : the fat and flefh of
the old males is very naufeous, but that of the fe-
males refembles lamb : the young ones, roafled, are as
good as fucking pigs.

Synonymes.---Urfus marinus, Steller, Nov. Com.
Petrcp. ii. 331. tab. xv. Sea cat. Hiji. Kamtjchatka,
123. Muller's Exfed. c^o, Phoca urfina. Ph. capite
auriculato, Lin. Jyji. 55, L'Ours marin. Brijfon quad.
166. SchreheVy cxxxii.

The BOTTLE-NOSED SEAL.

THE fnout of the male projedls five or {\yi inches
below the lower jaw : the upper part confirts of a loofe
wrinkled fkin, which this animal, when angry, has the
power of blowing up, fo as to give the nofe an arched
appearance : the i^^t are fhort and dufky, with five
toes on each furniftied with nails : the hind feet have
the appearance of great laciniated fins, Jt has large
eyes, great whifkers, fhort dun hair on the body, that
on the neck is a httle longer ; the fkin is very thick.

Ar>

OF (i_U ADRUPED S. 573

An old male will meafure twenty feet in length, and
fifteen in circumference.

The female has a blunt nofe, tuberous at the top ;
wide noftrils ; a mouth breaking very little into the
jaws ; conic teeth, eyes oblique and fmall, fore legs
twenty inches long, and toes with flat oblong nails ;
its hind parts are divided into two great forked fins,
without any tail; the whole body is covered with (hort
ruft-coloured hair : the length from the nofe to the
end of the fins is four yards, its greatefi: circumference
two and a half. They inhabit the feas about New
Zealand, Juan Fernandez, Falkland Iflands, from S.
lat. 54. deg. 40 min. They are feen in great numbers,
in June and July, the breeding-feafon, on the ifland
of Juan Fernandez, which they refort to for the pur-
pose of fuckling their young on fhore, and continue
there till September : they bring two at a time : the
female, during that feafon, is very fierce i one of Lord
Anfon's failors was killed by the enraged dam of a
whelp, which he had robbed her of: the male fhews
little attachment to its young, but the female is excef-
fively fond of it j the former will fuffer it to be killed
before his face without fhewing any refentment. To-
wards evening, both .male and female fwim a little way
to fea, the lail with the young on its back, which the
male will pufh oif, as if to teach it to fwim.

They arrive on the breeding-iflands very fat and full
of blood ; when they are in motion, they feem like a
great fkin full of oil, from the tremulous movement
of the blubber, which has been found to be a foot
thick. The Spaniards very properly call thefe, urigne
lohos de aceyte, or oil- wolves, from their looking like a
ikin full of oil, from the motion of the vaft quantity
of fat or blubber, of which their bodies confift. One
has been known to yield a butt of oil, and fo full of
blood, that what has run out of a fingle animal has fil-
led two hogfheads. The flelh is eatable ; Lord An-
fpn's people ate it under the denomination of beef, to

diftinguifh

574 NATURAL HISTORY

diftingulfh it from that of feal, which they called Iamb.
The old animals have a tremendous appearance, yet
are exceffively timid, except at the breeding-feafon,
When they feem to lofe their apprehenfions, and are
lefs difturbed at the fight of man. At other times
they hurry into the water, or, if awakened out of
their fleep, by a loud noife, or blows, fall into vaft
con'fufion, tumble down, and tremble in every part,
through fear.

Thefe animal aflbciate in families, like the former,
but not in fuch great numbers j the males fhew equal
jealoufy about their miftrefles, and have bloody combats
on their accounts ; oft-times there is one of fuperior
courage to the reft, and procures by dint of valour a
greater number of females than the others. They are
of a very lethargic nature, fond of wallowing in miry
places, and will lie like fwine on one another j they
grunt like thofe animals, and will fometimes fnort like
horfes in full vigour : they are very inadlive on land;
to prevent furprize, each herd places a centinel, who
gives certain fignals at appearance of danger : during
the breeding -feafon, they abftain from food, and be-
fore that is elapfed become very lean j at other times
they feed on fiib and the fmaller feals.

Synonymes.— Sea lion. Dampieys voy. u 90. iv.
45. Rogers's voy. 136. AnJorCsvoy. 122. Phoca leo-
niha. Ph. capite antice criftato. Lin. Jyft. ^^. Le
Y\onm2inn. Br ijjbn quad, 167. jB^«, xiii.351. Schre-
ier, cxxxiii. Le lame. Phoca elephantina. Molina
Chili, 261.

The leonine SEAL, or SEA LION,

HAS a fhort nofe turning a little up, a great head,
large eyes, long and thick whifkers, ftrong enough for
pick-tooths : on the neck and fhoulders of the male
there is a great mane of coarfe long waving hair, not
unlike the ftiaggy appearance of a lion : the reft of the
body is covered with a very fhort,: fmooth, and glofty,

coat

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OF QJJADRUPEDS. 575

coat of a deep brown colour : thofe of Kamtfchatka
are reddifti, the females tawny ; the fore feet are like
thofe of the urfine feal, without the leaft external ap-
pearance of toes i the hind feet are very broad, fur-
tiiflied with very fmall nails j the tail is very fhort ;
the hind parts are vaftly large, fwelling out with the
vaft quantity of fat. The old males arc from twelve
to fourteen feet long, of great circumference about the
Aioulders ; they weigh from twelve to fifteen hundred
pounds : the females are from fix to eight feet in length,
more (lender made than the males, and quite fmooth :
they inhabit in vaft numbers Pinguin and Seal iflands,
near Cape Defire, on the coaft of Patagonia; are found
within the ftraits of Magellan, and on Falkland Ifles;
they have not yet been difcovered in any other part of
the fouthern hemifphere, or in any other place nearer
■than the fea between Kamtfchatka and America : the
inhabitants of Chili call them thapel lame^ or the feal
with a mane : they live in families feparate from the
urfine and other feals j thefe pofifefs the beach neareft
to the fea ; they have much of the lethargic nature of
the former, and, like them, are polygamous ; they have
from two to thirty females apiece ; they have a fierce
look; the old ones fnort and roar like enraged bulls;
but, on the approach of mankind, fly with great preci-
pitation ; the females make a noile like calves ; tliQ
young bleat like lambs : the old males lie apart, and
poflefs fome large fl:one, which no other dare approach j;
if they do, a dreadful combat enfues, and the marks of
their rage appear in the deep gafhes on various parts
of their bodies. The males frequently go into the
water, take a large circuit, land, and carefs their females
with great affedion ; put fnout to fnout as if they
were kifling one another : the females, on feeing their
male deftroyed, will fometimes attempt to carry away
a cub in their mouth, but oftener defert them through
fear. The food of thefe animals is the fmaller feals,
pinguins, and fifh j but while they are afhore they

3 keep,

5?6 NATURAL HISTORY

keep, in the breeding- time, a fail: of three or four
months ; but, to keep their ftomachs diftended, will
fwallow a number of large Hones, each as big as two
fifts. — Synonymes. Beftia marina. Kurillis, Kami-
Jchadalis et Rujfts, Kurillico nomine fiwutfcha diita,
Nov. Com. Petrop. ii. 360. Phora leonina. Molina
Chili. 162, Sea lion. CooFs voy. ii. 203. Forjier^s
voy, ii. 513. Pernetii's voy. 2^0. tab, xvi.

The URIGNE SEAL, or SEA WOLF,

WITH the body very thick at the fhoulders, gra-
dually leflening to the hind legs ; head like a dog, with
the ears clofe cut j nofe fhort and blunt ; upper lip cu-
nilineatedi fix cutting teeth above, four below; the
fore foot has four toes inclofed in a membranous
fheath, fo as to refemble fins ; the hind feet are hid ia
a continuation of the fkin of the back, and have five
toes of unequal length, like thofe of the human hand ;
tail three inches long j the {kin is covered with two
forts of hairs, one like that of an ox, the other more
hard i the colours various ; length from three to eight
feet. Thefe'are the fea wolves which navigators fpeak
of off the ifland of Lobos, near the river Plata : they
appear in vaft multitudes, meet the fhips, and will
even hang by their fides wiih their paws, and feem to
ftare at and admire the crew j then drop off and re-
turn to their haunts : they fwim with incredible fwift-
nefs. The natives of Chili kill them for the fkins,
and for the oil.— Synonyme. L'urigne. Phoca lupi-
na, Molina Chili. 255.

The MANATI.

nPHIS genus has fin-like fore legs, the hind parts
-■- ending in a tail horizontally flat. It contains fix
ipecies, as follows :

The

a F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 577

The WHALE-TAILED MANATI.

THIS animal, in nature, (o nearly approaches the
cetaceous tribe, that, were it not in conformity to the
fyftematic writers, we might have left it and fome
others to come along with the fifhes in a fubfequent
volume. It fcarcely deferves the name of a biped,
much lefs that of a quadruped. What are called its
fore feet are little more than pe*5loral fins ; they ferve
only for fwimming, and are never ufed for walking ;
for it never goes afhore like the walrus and feal. It
brings forth in the water, and, like the whale, fuckles
its young in that element : like the whale it has no
voice, and, like that animal, has a horizontal broad
tail, without even the rudiments of hind feet. It in-
habits the feas about Bering's and the other Aleutian
iflands, which intervene between Kamtfchatka and A-
merica, but never appears off Kamtfchatka, unlefs
blown afhore by a tempeft. It is probably the fame
fpecies which is found above Mindanao, but is certainly
that which inhabits near Rodriguez, vulgarly called
Diego Reys, an Ifland to the eaft of Mauritius, or
the Ifle of France, near which it is likewife found. It
is likely that this fpecies extends to New Holland,
where Dampier fays he has ken it.

They live perpetually in the water, and frequent the
edges of the fhores ; and, in calm weather fwim in
great droves near the mouths of rivers, in the time of
flood they come fo near the land that a perfon may
ftroke them with his hand i if hurt, they fwim out to
fea, but prefently return again : they live in families,
one near another i each confifts of a male, a female, a
half-grown young one, and a very fmall one : the fe-
males oblige the young to fwim before them, while the
other old ones furround, and, as it were, guard them on
all fides. The affedion between the male and female
is very great, for, if fiie is attacked, he will defend her
to the utmoft, and, if fhe is killed, will follow her

Vol. III. No. 47. 4 D corpfe

578 NATURAL HISTORY

corpfe to the very fhore, and fvvlm for feme days near
the place it has been landed at. They copulate in the
fpring, in the fame manner as the human kind, efpecial-
Jy in calm weather, towards the evening : the female
fwims gently about, the male purfues, till, tired with
wantoning, fhe flings herfelf on her back, and admits
his embraces. The leonine and urfine feals copulate
in the fame manner, only, after fporting in the fea for
fome time, they come on fhore for that purpofe. Stel-
ler think they go with young above a year ; it is cer-
tain that they bring but one young at a time, which
they fuckle by two teats placed between the breafts.

They are vaftly voracious and gluttonous, and feed
not only on the fuci that grow in the fea, but fuch as
Aare flung on the edges of the fliore. When they are
filled, they fall afleep on their backs. During their
meals, they are fo intent on their food, that any one
may go among them and chufe which he likes beft.
Their back and their fides are generally above water,
and, as their fkin is filled with a fpecies of loufe pecu-
liar to them, numbers of gulls are continually perching
on their backs and picking out the infedls. They con-
tinue in the Kamtfchatkan and American feas the
whole year, but in winter are very lean, fo that we can
count their ribs : they are taken by harpoons faftened
to a fl:rong cord, and after they are fl:ruck it requires
the united force of thirty men to draw them on fhore.
Sometimes, when they arc transfixed, they will lay
hold of the rocks with their paws, and flick fo fafl as
to leave the ilcin behind before they can be forced off.
When a nianati is flruck, its companions fwim to its
alfiftancci fome will attempt to overturn the boat, by
getting under it ; others will prefs down the rope, in
order to break it i and others will flrike at the harpoon,
with their tails, with a view of getting it out, which
they often fucceed in. They have not any voice, but
make a JiQife by hard breathing, liks the fuortiug of
a horfe.

TJiey

O F QJJA D R U P E D S. 579

They are of an enormous fize^ fome are twenty-
eight feet long, and weigh eight thoufand pounds j but,
if the mindanao fpecies is the fame with this, it de-
creafes greatly in fize as it advances fouthward, joy
the largeft which Dampier faw there weighed only fix
hundred pounds : the head, in proportion to the bulk
of the animal, is fmall, oblong, and almoft fquare ; the
noftrils are filled with fhort briftles ; the gape, ovri^us,
is fmall J the lips are double ; near the junction of the
two jaws the mouth is full of white tubular briftles,
which ferve the fame ufe as the laminas in whales, to
prevent the food running out with the water; the lips
are alfo full of briftles, which ferve inftead of teeth to
cut the ftrong roots of the fea plants, which floating
aftiore are a fign of the vicinity of thefe animals. In
the mouth are no teeth, only two flat white bones,
one in each jaw ; one above, another below, with un-
dulated furfaces, which ferve inftead of grinders: the.
eyes are extremely fmall, not larger-than thofe of a
fheepj the iris black; it is deftitute of ears, having
only two orifices, fo minute that a quill will fcarcely
enter them ; the tongue is pointed and fmall ; the
neck is thick, and its junftion with the h^ad fcarcely
diftinguiftiable, and the laft always hangs down : the
circumference of the body near the ftioulders is twelve
feet, about the belly twenty, near the tail only four
feet eight ; the head thirty-one inches; the neck near
feven feet; and from thefe meafurements may be coU
kfted the deformity of this animal. Near the Shoul-
ders are two feet, or rather fins, which are only two
feet two inches long, and have neither toes nor nails,
beneath are concave, and covered with hard briftles ;
the tail is thick, ftrong, and horizontal, ending in a
ftift- black fin, and like the fubftance of a whalebone,
and much fplit in the fore part, and flightly forked ;
but both ends are of equal lengths, like that of a
whale. The flcin is very thick, black, and full of ine-
qualities, like the bark of oak, and fo hard as fcarcely

4 D a tft

58o NATURAL HISTORY

to be cut with an ax, and has no hair on it ; beneath
the fkin is a thick blubber, which taftes like oil of al-
monds : the flefli is coarfer than beef, and will not
foon putrefy : the young ones tafte like veal : the
/kin is ufed for ilioes, and for covering the fides of
boats. The Ruffians call this animal mcrjkaia korowa,
or fea-cowj and kapujlniky or eater of herbs.

Synonymes. — Manati. Rujforam.. m^orrAuia koro-
wa. Steller in Nov. Com..^etrop. ii. 294. Schrebery ii.
^^. Hiji. Kamtjchatka 132. Buffcriy Supplem. v'u 299*
Trichecus borealis. Gm. Lin. i. ^ i . j3.

The ROUND-TAILED MANATI.

THE round-tailed manati has thick lips, eyes as
minute as a pea, and two very fmall orifices for ears j
its neck is ihort, and thicker than its head ; it is
thickeil at the ilioulders, and tapers gradually to the
tail, which is quite round, lies horizontally, is thickeft
in the middle, growing thinner to the edges. The
feet are placed at the ilioulders, beneath the fkin there
are bones for five complete toes ; near the bale of each
foot, in the female, is a fmall teat : the fkin is very
thick and hard, having fome few hairs fcattered over
it. Dampier meafured fome of thefe animals in the
Weft Indies ten or twelve feet long ; their tails twenty
inches long, fourteen broad. The length of the fpe-
cimen preferved in the Leverian Mufeum is fix feet
and a half j the greateft circumference, three feet eight
inches ; tliat near the tail, two feet two. This was
taken near the Marigot of Kantai, in the river Sene-
gal 3 but they grow to the length of fourteen or fifteen
feet ; they are very fit, and both fat and lean re-
. femble vealj but the fat adheres to the fkin in form
of blubber; the negroes take them by harpooning,
and fell them at the rate of two long bars of iron
apiece : the feafon is only in the months of December
and January. Manati are found in moft of the Afri-
can rivers to the fouth of the Niger, and pofiibly tq

thQfe

OF QJJADRUPEDS. 581

thofe on the eaftern coaft : the woman-fifh, taken off
the ifles Bocicas, to the fouth of the river Cuama, is
moft probably of this fpecies.

The GUIANA MANATI

HATH a head hanging downward, the feet fur-
nifhed witli five toes, and the body almoft to the tail
of an uniform thicknefs ; near its jundlion with that
part it grows fuddenly thin; the tail is flat, and in form
of a fpatula ; thickeft in the middle, and growing thin-
ner towards the edges. It inhabits the rivers and fea
of Guiana; it grows to the length of fixteenor eighteen
feet; is covered with a dufky Ikin with a few hairs.
Thofe meafured by Dampier were ten or twelve feet
long ; their tail twenty inches in length, fourteen in
breadth, four or five thick in the middle, two at the
edges ; the largeft (according to the fame voyager)
v^^eighed twelve hundred pounds : but they arrive at
far greater magnitude. Clufius examined one which
was fixteen feet and a half long, and Gomora fpeaks
of them as fometimes of the length of twenty feet.

Synonymes. — BuffcUy xiii. 425. tab. Ivii. Rail fyn,
quad, 193. Trichechus manatus. Lin. Jyji. ii^^. Schrf-
ber, tab. Ixxx.

The ANTILLES MANATL

CLUSIUS, in his Exotics, gives a print and de.
fcription of a manati brought from the Weft Indies ;
but neither one nor the other enables us to define the
fpecies. He fays that it had fhort nails and broad htt,
and that the tail was broad and fhapelefs. Till we
are better informed, we fhall fuppofe it to be the fame
with the Guiana. M. de Buffon in his Supplement,
vi. 396, makes it a diftind fpecies, under the title of
le ^rand lamantia de$ Antilles,

Ths

5S2 NATURAL HISTORY

The ORONOKO MANATI.

THIS is the fpecles to which M. de BufFon has, in
his Supplement, p. 400, given the name of le petit la-
mantia de I'Amerique, and fays it is found in the Oro-
noko, Oyapoc, and the rivers of the Amazons : this
pufhes its way to the amazing diftance we have men-
tioned. By the defcription GumiJla has given of the
tail, it is circular, and probably muft be referred to
this fpecies. We cannot conceive why M. de BufFon
calls it le petit ^ for it grows to a vaft fize. Father Gu-
milla had one taken in a diftant lake, near the Orono-
ko, which was fo large that twenty-feven men could
not draw it out of the water; on cutting it open, he
found two young ones, which weighed twenty-five
pounds apiece.

Thefe animals abound in certain parts of the eaftern
coaftsand rivers of South America, about the Bay of
Honduras, fome of the greater Antilles, the rivers of
Oronoque, and the lakes formed by it ; and laftly, in
that of the Amazons, and the Guallaga, the Pafta^a,
and moft of the others which fall into that vaft river ;
they are found even a thoufand leagues from its mouth,
and feem to be flopped from making even an higher
advance, only by the great cataract, the Pongo of
Borja: they fometimes live in the fea, and often near
the mouth of fome river, into which they come once
or twice in twenty-four hours, for the fake of brouz-
ing on the marine plants which grow within their
reach ; they altogether delight more in brackifh or
fweet water than in the fait j and in (hallow water
near low land, and in places fecure from furges, and
where the tide runs gently. It is faid, that at times
they frolic and leap to great heights out of the water:
their ufes were very confiderable to the privateers or
buccaneers in the time of Dampier : their flefh and fat
are white, very fweet and falubriousj and the tail of a
young female was particularly efteemed. A fuckling

was

OF QUADRUPEDS. 583

■ was held to be moft delicious, and eaten roafted, as
were great pieces cut out of the belly of the old ani-
mals : the (kin cut out of the belly (for that of the back
was too thick) was in great requeft for the purpofe of
faftening to the fides of canoes, and forming a plac«
for the infer tion of the oars : the thicker part of the ikin,
cut frelli into lengths of two or three feet, ferves for
whips, and becomes, when dried, as tough as wood. In
the head, it was pretended that there were certain ftones,
or bones, of great value, on account of their virtues in
curing the gravel and cholic.

They are taken by an harpoon ftuck in the end of a
ftafF, which the Indians ufe with great dexterity : they
go in a fmall canoe with the utmoft filence, as the anU
mal is very quick of hearing. The harpoon is loofe,
but faftened to a cord of fome fathoms in length ; for,
as foon as the manati is ftruck, it fwims away with the
barb plunged in its body, attended by the canoe, till
fpent with pain and fatigue; in fome places the fmaller
are taken in nets. If a female, which has a young one,
is ftruck, fhe takes it under its fins or feet, if not too
large, and fhews, even in extremity, the greateft affec-
tion for its oifspring, which makes an equal return,
never forfaking the captured parent, but is always a
fure prey to the harpooner. The Indians of the Ma-
ragnon, or the river of Amazons, take them by the
means of intoxicating herbs, or by fhooting them with
thofe poiloned arrows, whofe leaft touch is fatal, yet
imparts no degree of venom to the thing ftruck,
whofe flefti is eaten with the utmoft fafety. At the
time the waters of the Oronoque (which annually
overflow the banks) begin to return into the bed of
the river, the Indians made dams acrofs the mouths of
the ftiallow lakes formed by the floods, and in that
manner take vaft numbers of manati, or pexi-buey, or
fifti-cows, as the Spaniards call them, together with
lortoifes, and variety of fiih.

We

584 NATURAL HISTORY

We conclude this account with the extraordinary
hiftory of a tame manati, preferved by a certain prince
of Hifpaniola, at the time of the arrival of the Spani-
ards, in a lake adjoining to his refidence. It was, on
account of its gentle nature, called m the language of
the country matum. It would appear as foon as it was
called by any of its familiars, for it hafed Spaniards,
on account of an injury it had received from one of
thefc adventurers. The fable of Arion was here re-
alifed. It would offer itfelf to the Indian favourites,
and carry over the lake ten at a time, finging and play-
ing on its back ; one youth it was particularly ena-
moured with, which reminds us of the claflical paral-
lel in the dolphin of Hippo, fo beautifully related by
the younger Fliny. The fates of the two animals were
very different ; matum efcaped to its native waters, by
means of a violent flood j the Hipponenftan fiih fell a
facrifice to the poverty of the retired colonifts. See
both relations, the firft in Peter Martyr's Decades of
the Indies, Dec. iii. book 8 j the other in lib. ix. epift.
22' of Pliny. The elder Pliny alfo relates the fame
ffory, lib. ix. c. viii.

The sea APE.

THIS is a very fingular fpecies of manati, feen by
Mr. Steller on the coaft of America. It was five feet
long, with a head like a dog $ it had ered and fharp
ears, large eyes, a fort of beard on both lips; its body
was round, thickeft near the head, tapering to the tail,
which was bifurcated, the upper lobe the longeft ; its
body was covered with thick hair, -grey on the back
and red on the belly. Mr. Steller could difcover nei-
ther feet nor paws. It was full of frolic, played a thou-
fand monkey tricks ; fometimes fwimming on one fide,
fometimes on the other fide of the fh^p, looking at it
feemingly with great amazement. It would come fo
near the ihip, that it might be touched with a pole ;
but, if any body ftirred, it would immediately retire.

2 It

O F Q^U A D R U P E D S. 585

"It often raifed one third of its body above the water,
and flood eredl for a considerable time : then fuddenly
darted under thefliip, and appeared in the fame attitude
on the other fide; and would repeat this for thirty
times together. It would frequently bring up a fea
plant, not unlike the bottle-gourd, which it would tofs
about and catch again in its mouth, playing number-
lefs tricks with it.

VESPERTILIO, the BAT, of the Order of
PRIiVIATES.

THE diftinguifhing characters of this genus are as
follow : all the teeth are ere6l, pointed, near
each other; and the firft four are equal. The fore-
feet have long extended toes, connected by a thin
broad membrane, extending to the hind legs, and ex-
panded into a kind of wings, by which the creature is
enabled to fly. There are tv\^o clafles, one with, and
the other without, tails. This curious animal feems
to form the link by which Nature pafles from the
quadrupeds to the winged tribes, fince it evidently
participates both of the quality of brute and bird.
There are twenty-five different ipecies, befide two or
three varieties, which are as follow : and firft of thofe
without tails.

The TERNATE, ROUSETTE, or ROU^

GETTE, BAT.

BATS of this fpecies have large canine teeth, four
cutting ones abpve, the fame below ; a ibarp black
nofe ; large naked ears ; and a pointed tongue, ter-
minated by fharp aculeated papillte. The exterior toe
is detached from the membrane ; the claw flrong and
hooked. There are five toes on the hind-feet, with
talons very crooked, ftrong, and compreffed fideways.
They have no tail; the membrane is divided behind
quite to the rump. The head is of a dark ferruginous
colour i the neck, fhoulders, and under fide, are of a

Vol. III. No. 48, 4 E mych

586 NATURAL HISTORY

much lighter and brighter red. On the back the hair
is fhorter, dufky, and fmooth : the membranes of the
wings are dufky. They vary in colour : feme are
entirely of a reddifh brown; others dufky. Some
are one foot long, and four from tip to tip of the
wings expanded ; but there are others vaftly larger.
This fpecies is not gregarious, though numbers of
them at times meet accidentally on the fame tree in
quefl of food ; and, being frightened, may chance to
fly the fame way in a flock.

The Rougette differs from the Roufette only in
that its whole body and head are cinereous, mixed with
fome black J and that on the neck there is a great bed
of orange or red. The fize is alfo much lefsj the ex-
tent of the wings being little more than two feet.
They inhabit the fame countries, agree in food, but
differ in manners. They are found in Guinea, Ma-
dagafcar, and all the other iflands in the Indian Ocean,
New Holland, the Friendly Iflands, the New He-
brides, and New Caledonia. The Rougettes fly in
flocks, and obfcure the air with their numbers. They
begin their flight from one neighbouring ifland to ano-
ther immediately on fun-fet, and return in clouds from
the time it is light till fun-rife. They lodge during
the day in Hollow trees. Both kinds live on fruits,
and are fond of the juice of the palm-tree, with which
they will intoxicate themfelves till they drop on the
ground. They fwarm like bees, hanging near one
another from the trees in great clufters. In New
Caledonia the natives ufe their hair in ropes, &c.
They grow exceflively fat at certain times of the
year. The Indians eat them, and declare the flefh to
be very good. The French in the Ifle de Bourbon
boil them in their bouillon, to give it a relifh ; but
the negroes hold them in abhorrence. Their bodies
ar« from the fize of a pullet to that of a dove. Whila
sating, they make a great noife : their fmell i^ rank :
they arc fierce, bite> and make great refiftance when
^2 lftjc«n.

O F C^tJ A D R U P E D S. 587

taken. They bring but one young at a time. They
copulate with ardour j and the fex of the male is very
confpicuous. The penis is not concealed in a fheath,
like that of quadrupeds, but hangs out of the body,
like that of the monkey. The fex of the female is alfo
very apparent. They have only two paps, placed on
the breail:, and they produce oftener than once a year.
The ancients had fome knowledge of thcfe animals.
Herodotus mentions winged wild-beafts like bats,
that molefted the Arabs, who gathered the caflia, to
fuch a degree, that they were obliged to cover them-
felves all but the eyes with flcins. From fuch rela-
tions, it is probable, the poets formed their fidions of'
Harpies.

Both the fmaller and greater fpecies are equally fond
of human blood. Perfons attacked by them are in
danger of pafling from a found fleep into eternity.
The bat is fo dextrous a bleeder, as to infinuate its
aculeated tongue into a vein without being perceived;
it then fucks the blood till it is fatiated, all the while
fanning with its wings, and agitating the air, in thofe
hot climates, in fo pleafing a manner, as to caft the
fufferer into a ftill founder fleep. It is therefore very
unfafe to fleep in the open air, or to leave open any
entrance to fuch dangerous animals. Nor do they
confine themfelves to human blood : in certain parts of
America, they even deftroy the cattle.

There is_a fmaller variety, with a head like a grey-

^ ^ hound J large teeth ; and long broad naked ears. The

whole body is covered with foft fhort hair of a ftraw

colour. It is near nine inches long : the extent of its

wings two feet two inches.

Synonymes. — Vefpertilio ingens. Cluf. exot. 94.
Canis volans ternatanus orientalis. Seb. Mus. i. 91.
tab, Ivii. Vefpertilio Vampyrus. V. ecaudatus, nafo
fun plici, membrana inter femora divifa. Lin.JyJl. 46.
La Roufette & la Rougette. BuffoUy x. 55. tab. xiv.
xvii. Schrebery 185. tab. xliv. Pteropus rufus aut

4 E 2 niger

588 NATURAL HISTORY

niger auricullsbrevibus acutiufculis. Brijfonquad. 15J
and 154. No. 2. Shaw Spec. Lin. viii. Great bat.
Edw. 180.

The hlftory of this very curious fpecies of bat has
been lately greatly elucidated by M. de la Nux, wha
refided fifty years in Bourbon, where they fo much
abound. He fays, the larger bats fly at noon-day ;
but not the fmaller ones. The former fly not in
troops during the day, but fingly, when they mount
very high, which greatly dimi'iiflies their apparent
magnitude. They fly long without flopping, and can
pafs from the ifle of Bourbon to the ifle of France, a
difl:ance of at lead thirty leagues, in a very Ihort time.
They never hover, like birds of prey. But, in the
great elevation of perhaps two hundred fathoms above
the furface of the earth, the motion of their wings,
which is rapid when near the ground, appears to be
very flow, Stridtly fpeaking, the great ternate bats
live not in fociety. VVhen in quefl: of food, they unite
into flocks or companies more or lefs numerous.
Thefe companies aflbciate by accident upon the trees
whofe flowers or fruits are agreeable to their palates.
They may be obferved arriving fuccefllvely, and lay-
ing hold of the trees by the claws of their hind feet,
where they refl: for a long time, if not difliurbed.
There are always fome, however, which detach them-
felves from time to time, and join the company. Bui;,
when a bird of prey paflTes above the tree, when they
hear the noife of thunder or of a muflcet, or when
they fpy any perfon In their neighbourhood, they all
take wing at once. It is on fuch occafions- that they
are fcen, during the day, flying in compaiifes, which,
though numerous, never obfcure the air, becaufe they
cannot fly clofe enough to produce this efi^ed : the
exprefllon Is at leaft hyperbolical.

" With regard to the fmaller ternate bats, they never
fly in the day : they live in fociety, to the number
fomctimes of more than four hundred, in the hollow

trunks

OF QUADRUPEDS. 589

trunks of large corrupted trees, from which they de-
part not till the duflc of the evening, and return before
day-break. It is firmly believed in Bourbon, that,
whatever numbers thefe focieties confift of, there is
never more than one male found among them ; and,
when this colony was firft eftablifhed, many people,
whofe tafte and ftomach were not too nice, colledled
vaft quantities of bat-greafe for food. A tree of bats,
as it is termed, was no inconfiderable treafure. It is
eafy to fhut up the entrance of their retreats, to take
them out alive one by one, or to fuffocate them with
fmoke, and in either way to afcertain the number of
males and females of which the fociety is compofed.
The noife of thefe bats, that is heard at a great dif-
tance, both in the night and the day, is that which is
natural to the animals when in a paflion, and when
difputing about their food; for it muft not be imagined
that the large ternate bats eat during the night only.
They have a fine eye, as well as an accute fcent.
They fee very well in the day; and it is not furprifing
that they fhould diftinguifli, in the woods, ripe fruit
and grain as well as flowers. The flefh of thefe ani-
mals is certainly not bad, if the reludance excited by
their figure could be overcome. When about five
months old, they are fat, and as good of their kind as
the Guinea hen, or young wild boar ; but, when old,
they are hard, though pretty fat during the fruit fea-
{ony which continues all the fummer and part of au-
tumn. The males, efpecially when aged, acquire a
ftrong difagreeable flavour. It is not correft to fay,
in general, that thefe animals are eaten by the Indians.
It is well known that the Indian neither eats nor kills
any animal. Perhaps they are eaten by the Moors
and Malayans. It is certain, that many Europeans
eat them. -Hence it is true, that bats are eaten in
India, though not by tlie Indians. In Bourbon, both
Species are eaten.

« Whei> ,

590 NATURAL HISTORY

" When M. de la Nux firft arrived in the ifle of
Bourbon, thefe animals were very common in diftridls
already fettled, where they are now become rare. The
reafons are obvious: i. The forefts were then at no
great diftance from the fettlements ; and they cannot
fubfift but in forefts. 2. The great ternate bats are
viviparous, and bring forth one young only each
year. 3. For the fake of their flefh and their greafe,
they are hunted, during the whole fummer, autumn,
and part of winter, by the whites with mufkets, and by
the negroes with nets. Befides thefe caufes of dimi-
nution in the fpecies, they abandon the neighbourhood
of our fettlements, and retire into the interior parts of
the ifland, where they are expofed to conftant deftruc-
tion by the chefnut-coloured negroes.

" The feafon of their amours here is in the month
of May, which is about the middle of our autumn,
and the females bring forth a month after the vernal
equinox. Hence the time of their geftation is from
four and a half to five months. Of the precife time
the young take in acquiring their full growth, we have
no knowledge : but they appear to be perfed: at the
winter folftice, which is nearly eight months from their
birth. BefideSj no fmall bats are (een except in April
and May, when the old are eafy diftinguifhed from
their young, by the more vivid colour of the latter :
the old ones become grey, though we know not at
what period ; and it is then that their flefh is hard,
and has fo ftrong and difagreeable a flavour, that the •
fat alone, with which they are well provided from the
end of the fpring to the beginning of winter, is eaten
by the negroes.

" It is certain, that thefe animals feed upon no kinds
of flefh, but folely on bananas, peaches, and other
fruits, which the forefts produce abundantly in differ-
ent feafons : they are likewife very fond of the juices
of certain umbellated flowers, particularly thofe of the
fl:inking tree, the nedarium of which is very fhort ;

thefe

Jf^

OF QJLJADRUPEDS. 591

thefe flowers abound in January and February, which
is the middle of fummer in Bourbon, and allure into
the lower parts of the ifland vaft numbers of bats ;
and, it is probable, for the purpofe of fucking the
ne<5laria of umbellated flowers of different fpecies, that
their tongue is furniflied with fo many fharp papillae.
The {kin of the mango fruit is refinous, and is never
touched by the bats. When confined in a cage, they
have been made to eat bread, fugar-canes, &c. Man
has nothing to apprehend from thefe bats, either per-
fonaliy, or for his poultry. It is impoffible for them
to feize even the fmaileft bird : they cannot, like a
falcon, ftoop down upon their prey. If they approach
too near the ground, they fall down, and are incapable-
of refuming their flight till they climb upon any ele-
vated objed they fii-il meet with, fuppofing it fhould
be the body of a man. When on the ground, they
trail their bodies flowly along, and make their fliay in
that fltuation as fliort as poflible. As they are by no
means adapted for running, how is it prafticable for
them to feize birds on the branches of trees ? The flow
and awkward manner in which they move towards the
end of a branch, in order to catch the wind in their
wings, fliews that every attempt of this nature would
be abortive. When about to fly, thefe animals cannot,
like birds, dart at once into the air. To difengage
their claws from the place to which they are attached,
they are obliged to beat the air feveral times with their
wings i and, however full their wings may be when
they quit their flation, their weight is apt to make
them fink. In order to r^ife themfelves, they traverfe
the concavity of a curve-line. But the place from
which they depart is not always commodious for the
free play of their wings ; they may be refl:rained by
the vicinity of branches j and, when thus fltuated,
they proceed to the part of the branch from which
they can take wing without any rifk. It frequently
happens, that, when a numerous flock reft upon trees

of

592 NATURAL HISTORY

of twenty or thirty feet high, and are furprifed by a
peal of thunder, or the firing of a gun, fcveral of them
faJl to the ground before they receive a fufficient quan-
tity of air to fupport them. In this cafe, they in-
ftantly climb the firft tree they men with, in order to
refume their flight as foon as pofTible. Let us fup-
pofe, fays M. de la Nux, that a traveller, hunting
animals of which he ha no knowledc^e, whofe figure
and afpecft ftrike him vvith terror, is fuddenly furround-
ed with a number of large bats 3 that he is entangled
by one or two of them ciimbing up his body j that,
by roughly endeavouring to diftngpge himfelf, he ir-
ritates the animals, and is fcratched or even bit by
them ; would not a fcene of this kind give rife to
the notion, that thefe bats were ferocious, rufhing
upon men, in order to wound or devour them, while
the whole affair is only a fortuitous rencounter of
animals of different fpecies, who are equally afraid
of each other ? I fay more : the foreft is abfolutely
neceflary to the exiflience of thefe bats, to which they
are led by the inftind of felf- prefer vation, and not by
any favage or ferocious difpofition. When to all thefe
fadts I add, that neither the greater or fmaller ternate
bats ever fix upon carrion, and that naturally they do
not eat upon the ground, but require to be in a hang-
ing pofiure when they feed, 1 think I have faid enough
to eradicate the prejudice which reprefents them as
carnivorous, voracious, d eft ru dive, and cruel, animals.
When I farther add, that their flight is as heavy and
noify, efpecially when near tlie ground, as that of the
vampire ought to be light ^id filent, I fhall have, by
this lafl: charader, removed the one fpecies to a con-
ftderable difhance from the other. And becaufe the
great ternate bats are fometimes obferved flying near
the furface of the water, like the fwallow, they have
been reprcfented as feeding upon fifli. But this fleih
is equally difagreeable to them as all other kinds ; for,
I repeat it, that they live entirely on vegetables. It

is

OF QUADRUPEDS. S93

is lolely for the purpofe of bathing that they frequent
the waters ; and, if they fly nearer the furface of the
Water than the earth, it is owing to the fewer interrup-
tions prefented by the former to the motion of their
wings. To this circumftance the natural cleanlinefs
of thefe animals muft be afcribed. I have {etn and I
have killed numbers, and never difcovered the fmalleil
degree of dirtinefs upon any of them.

*' The great bat is by no means a beautiful animal.
When {cQn nigh, its movements are all difagreeable.
There is only one point of viev/, a iingle attitude, in
which all its natural deformity difappears, and in
which it may be obferved with pleafure. When perch-
ed on a tree, it hangs with its head down, and its wings
folded, and placed exacflly on each fide of the body.
In this fituation, the vibrating wings which conftitute
its deformity, as well as the hmd paws, by the claws of
which it is fufpended, are concealed. We fee only a
roundifh, plump, pendulous, body, covered vvith deep
brown hair extremely clean and fmooth, terminated by
a head whofe phyfiognomy is vivacious, and by no
means difagreeable. This is their only attitude of re-
pofe, in which they remain a long time during the day.
They are feen to befl: advantage at an elevation above
the earth from forty to fixty feet, and at the diliance of
about one hundred and fifty feet. Now, figure to
yourfelf a large tree, whofe branches are garnifhed with
one hundred and fifty or two hundred ot fuch ohjeds,
having no other motion but what is communicated to
them by the branches, and you will have an idea of a
pii5lure, which I have regarded as curious, and contem-
plated with pleafure. In the richeO: cabinets of natu-
ral hiftory, the great Ternate bat is always ihewn with
its wings fully extended, which is its moft ugly atti-
tude. This pofition may anfwer one purpofe. But
fome of them ought to be viewed at a fide, or from
above, in their natural ftate of repofe."

Vol. III. No. 48. 4 F The

59+ NATURAL HISTORY

The spectre BAT

INHABITS South America J like the former it
lives in the palm-trees, and grows very fat; it has a
Jong nofe, large teeth, long, broad, upright, ears, a
conic ere(5l membrane at the end of the nofe, bending
at the end and flexible : the hair on its body is cine-
reous, and partly long j the wings are full of ramified
fibres ; the membrane extends from hind-leg to hind-
leg : from the rump extend three tendons, which ter-
minate at the end of the membrane. It is feven inches
and a half long, extent two feet two.

Synonyniss. — Andira-guacu, vefpertilio cornutus.
Pifo Brafil. 190. Marcgrave Braftl. 213. Canis vo-
Jans maxima aurita fasm. ex Nov. Hifpania. Seb. Muf.
i. tab. Ivii. Veipertilio fpedrum. V. ecaudatus, nafo
infundibuliformi lanceolato. Lin. Jyji. 46. Klein quad»
62. Pteropus aurlculis longis, patulis, nafo membrana
antrorfum inflexa audio. Briton quad. 1 54. Le vam-
pire. BuffoHy yi. ^^. Schrehery 192, tab. xlv.

The JAVElJN BAT

HAS large pointed ears, an ereft membrane at the
end of the nofe, in form of the head of an ancient ja-
velin. It inhabits the warm parts of America, is of
the fize of the common bat, and its fur is cinereous.

Synonymes. — Vefpertilio Americanus vulgaris. Seb,
Muf. i. tab. Iv. fig. 2. Vefpertilio perfpiciliatus. V.
ecaudatus, nafo foliato acuminato. Lin.JyJi. 47. V.
murini coloris pedibus anticis tetradadylis, pofticis pen-
tadadylis. Brijfon quad. 161. La chauve fouris fer de
lance, Buffony xiii. 226. tab. xxxiii. Supplem, vii. 292.
tab. Ixxiv. Schreber, 194. tab. xlvi. B.

The leap BAT

HAS fmall rounded ears, a membrane on the nofe,
of the form of an ovated leaf, and a web between the
hind legs. It is of the fame fize as the laft i its fur is

3 o^

OF QUADRUPEDS. 595

of a moufe colour, tinged with red. It inhabits Ja-
maica, Surinam, and Senegal. In the firft, it lives in
woods and caves, which are found full of its dung,
productive of faltpetre. It feeds on the prickly pear.

Synonymes. — Vefpertilio, roftro appendice auriculas
forma donata. Sloane Jam. ii. 330. Small bat. Edw.
101. fig. \. La feuille j8^», xiii. 227. Vefpertilio
foricinus. Pallas MifceL 48. tab. v. Schreher^ 195.
tab. xlvii.

The CORDATED BAT

HAS very broad and long ears, a heart-fhaped
membrane at the end of its nofe, and a web between
the hind legs; the colour of its face is a very light red,
that of the body ftill paler. It inhabits Ceylon, and
the ifle of Ternati, one of the Moluccas.

Synonymes.--- Glisvolans Ternatanus. Seb. Muf. i.
tab. W\. fig. I. Schreber, 191. /^^. xlviii. Vefpertilio
fpafina. V. ecaudatus nafo foliato obcordato. Lin.fyft. a^'i.

SECOND CLASS, WITH TAILS.

The PERUVIAN BAT.

THIS fpecies has a head like a pug-dog, large
ftraight pointed ears, two canine teeth, and two fmall
cutting teeth between them, in each jaw : the tail is
inclofed in the membrane that joins the hind legs, and
fupported by two ligaments alfo involved in the mem-
brane: the colour of its fur is of an iron grey ; its body
is equal to that of a middle- fized rat j the extent of
its wings two feet five inches.

There is a variety of this fpecies with hanging lips
like the chops of a maftiff \ its nofe and upper lip are
divided; it has long, narrow, fharp- pointed, ears : a few
joints of its fhort tail ftick out without the membrane,,
which, at fame time extends far beyond it, is angu-
lar, and ends in a point : the claws on the hind-feet are
large, hooked, and comprefled fideways : the mem-

4 F 2 branes

SjS natural history

branes of the wings are dufky, and very thin : the fur
on the head and back is brown, on the belly cinereous;
■five inches long ; extent of the wings twenty. It in-
habits Peru and the Mufquito fhore.

Synonyme.---Chauve-rouris de la Vallee d'Ylo.
Feuillee ohj. Peru^ 'TH- P- 623. Schreher^ 196. tab,
Ix. Velpertilio leporinus. Gm. Lin. 47.

The BULL-DOG BAT,

WITH broad round ears, touching each other it>
front i has a thick nofe and pendulous lips : the up-
per part of the body is of a deep afh colour, the lower
paler ; the tail is long ; its five laft joints are difen-
gaged from the membrane ; it is two inches long ; its
extent is nine and a half. It inhabits the Weft Indies.

Synonymes. ---Autre chauve fouris, Buffon^ x. 84,
87. tab. xix./^. I, 1. Schreber^ iq-j. tab. xlix.

The SENEGAL BAT

HAS a long head ; its nofe a little pointed 3 fhort
and pointed ears ; fur of a tawny brown, mixed with
afh colour i belly paler j two joints of the tail free: it
is four inches long; its extent twenty-one.

Synonymes. — Chauve-fouris etrangere. Buffon^ x.
82. tab. xvii. Schreber, 106. tab. Iviii. Vefpertilio
nigrita. Gm. Lin. 49.

The pouch BAT,

WITH the nofe fomewhat produced ; the end thick-
eft, and befet with fine whiflcers i the chin divided by
a fulcus ; ears long, rounded at their ends ; on each
wing, near the fecond joint, is a fmall purfe, or pouch;
the tail is only part involved in the membrane, the end
hanging out ; colour of the body a cinereous brown,
the belly paler : length an inch and a half: it inhabits
Surinam.— Synonyme. La chauve-fouris a bourfe,
^chrcbeVy 1Q>^. tab. Ivii.

Ths

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 597

The SLOUGH-EARED BAT.

THIS fpecies hath large pendulous ears, pointed ^t
the ends ; nofe obtufe at the end ; tail long, included
in the membrane, and ending with a hook ; colour a-
bove a deep chefnut, lighter on the belly, and cinereous
on the fides : leno;th three inches and four lines; ex-
tent of wings fifteen inches. It inhabits Guiana.

Synonyme. — Autre chauve-fouris, de la Guyanne/
Biifforij Siif-plem. vii. 214. tab. Ixxv.

The bearded BAT.

THIS hath the noftrils open for a great way up the
nofe ; hair on the forehead and under the chin very
long ; ears long and narrow ; upper part of the head
and body of a reddifh brown, the lower of a dirty white
tinged with yellow ; tail included in a membrane very
full of nerves. It is a very fmall fpecies.

Synonymes. — Autre chauve-fouris. Buffon, x. 92.
tab. XX. /ig. 3. Schreberj 204. tab. Ivi.

The new YORK BAT

HAS a head fhaped like that of a moufe j top of
the nofe a little bifid ; ear^ ihort, broad, and rounded;
no cutting teeth, tvv'o canine in each jaw 3 tail very
Jong, inclofed in the membrane, which is of a conic
ihape ; head, body, and the whole upper fide of the
membrane which inclofes the tail, covered with Jong
very foft hair o^ a bright tawny colour, lighteft on the
head and beginning of the back, the belly paler : at
the bafe of each wing a white fpot ; wings thin, na-
ked, and dufky ; bones of the hind legs very flender :
length, from nofe to tail, two inches and a half; tail
one inch eight-tenths; extent of wings ten and a half.
}t inhabits North America. It is alfo found in New-
Zealand. Mr. Schrebcr defciibesit inp.212.

598 NATURAL HISTORY

The striped BAT.

THIS fpecies hath a finall iliort nofcj ears fliort,
broad, and pointing forw.ird ; body brown; wings
ftriped with black, and fometlmes with tawny and
brown : length, from nofe to the end of the tail, two
inches; it varies in colour, the upper part of the body
being fometinies of a clear reddifh brown, the lower
whitifh. It inhabits Ceylon, called there, kiriwoula.
We may add to this little fpecies of bat, the mention
of a minute kind feen and heard in myriads of num-
bers in the ifle of Tanna, one of the New Hebrides,
but w hich efcaped every attempt of our voyagers to ob-
tain a near examination. ---Synonymes. Autre chauve-
fouris, Bufforii x. 92. tab. xx. Jig» 3. Zoopb Gronov,
No. 25. ^chrebeTi 205. tab. xlix.

The MOLUCCA BAT,

WITH a large head, thick nofe, fmall ears, tubu-
lar noftrils, terminating outwards in form of a fcrew ;
upper lip divided, tongue covered with papillae and
minute fpines ; claw, or thumb, joined to the wing by
a membrane ; firft ray of the wing terminated by a
claw; end of the tail reaches beyond the membrane;
colour of the head and back greyifh afh, the belly dull
white ; length, from nofe to rump, three inches three-
quarters ; extent of wings about fifteen. It inhabits
the Molucca ifles.---Synony me. Vefpertilio cephalo-
tes. Pallas SpiciL Zool, fajc, iii. 10. tab. i. Schreber^
ao8. tab. Ixi.

The slender-tailed BAT.

THIS fpecies hath tubular noftrils, long erefl ears,
colour dulky above, cinereous beneath. It inhabits
Surinam.— -Synonyme. Vefpertilio lepturus. Schreber^
tab, Ivii. Gm. Lin. 50.

The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 599

The ROUGH-TAILED BAT.

THIS hath upright fmall ears, tail broad at the bafc,
terminating in a point, thickly covered with hair; co-
lour a reddifh brown, and is a fmall fpecies.

Synonyme.-— Vefpertilio lafiurus. Schrebr, tab. Ixii,
Gm. Lin, 50.

The LASCOPTERUS BAT,

WITH a moft prominent rounded forehead, fhort
nofe; colour a bright ruft, upper part of the wings of
a paler ruft, ends and lower parts of the wings black.
It is a large fpecies.- — Synonyme. Vefpertilio lafcop-
terus. Schreber tab. Iviii. B. Gm. Lin, 50.

The HORSE-SHOE BAT.

THIS fpecies is diftinguilhed by a membrane at the
end of the nofe in form of a horfe-ftioe ; ears large,
broad at their bafe, and (harp-pointed, inclining back-
ward J it wants the little or internal ear \ colour of
the upper part of the body deep cinereous, of the
lower, whitifh. There is a greater and fmaller variety,
the greater is above three inches and a half long from
the nofe to the tip of the tail i its extent above four-
teen. This and all the following have the tail inclofed
in the membrane. It inhabits Burgundy, and has
lately been difcovered in Kent, by Mr. Latham of
Dartford ; it is found alfo about the Cafpian fea. The
long- eared bat has alfo been obferved there, and at
Peter/l)urg. — Synonymes. La chauve-fouris fer a che-
val. BuffoHy viii. 131, 132. tab. xvii. xx. Schreber ^ 210.
tab. Ixii. Br. Zool. i. 129.

The NOCTULE BAT,

WITH the nofe flightly bilobated ; ears fmall and
rounded i on the chin a minute verruca; hair of a
reddifh afh-colour: length to the rump two inches
eight-tenths, tail one feven-tenthsj extent of wings

thirteen

6oo NATURAL HISTORY

thirteen inches. It inhabits Great Britain and France,'
and is very common in the open deferts of Ruflia,
wherever they can find fhelter in caverns ; it flies high
in fearch of food, not flcimming near the ground. A
gentleman informed Mr. Pennant, that he faw taken
under the eves of Queen's College, Cambridge, in one
night, one hundred and eighty-five, the fecond night
fixty-three, the third night two, and that each that
was meafured had fifteen inches extent of wings.

Synonymes. — La noftule. Buffon, viii. 128. tal/.
xviii. Schreber^ 200. tab hi. Great bat. Br. Zool.
illufir, tab. ciii, Br. Zool. i. 128.

The SEROTINE BAT.

THIS hath a longifli nofe, ears fliort, but broad at
the bafe ; hair on the upper part of the body brown,
mixed with ferruginous ; the belly of a paler colour :
length from nofe to rump, two inches and a half ; no
tail. It inhabits France, and is found in caverns of
rocks upon the river Argun, beyond lake Baikal; but
as yet not difcovered in any other part of the vaft Ruf-
fian dominions. ---Synonyme. La ferotine. BuffonyWm,
129. tab. xviii. Schreber^ 201. tab. lin.

The GREAT SEROTINE BAT.
THIS hath a very long, ftrait, and ftrong, nofe,
floping down at the end ; ears long, ered, dilated to-
wards the bottom, rounded at the end -, colour of the
upper parts of a reddifli chefnut, fides a clear yellow,
the reft of a dirty white : length five inches eight lines;
extent of the wings two feet ; and no tail. It inhabits
Guiana, aflembles in vaft numbers in open places, par-
ticularly meadows, and flies in company with the goat-
fuckers, and, both together, in fuch numbers as to
darken the air. ---Synonyms. La grande ferotine de la
Guyanne. Bujj'on Supplem. vii, 289. tab. Ixiii.

The

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 6oi

The PIPISTRELLE BAT.

THIS animal hath a fmall nofe ; the upper lip
fwelling out a little on each fidci the ears broad j the
forehead covered with long h:^ir j colour of the upper
part of the body a yellowifh brown, the lower part
dufl<;y, the lips yellow : this is one of the leail: of bats,
not an inch and a quarter loiig to the rump ; extent of
the wings fix inches and a half. It inhabits France,
and is common in the rocky and mountainous parts of
Ruffia and Siberia.— -Synonyme. La pipiftrelle. Buf-
fonj yiii. 129. tal?. xix.fg. 2. Schreherj 202. tab, liv.

The BARBASTELLE BAT.

IS diftinguifhed by its funken forehead j long and
broad ears, the lower part of the inner fides touching
each other, fo as to conceal the face and head when
looked at in front; the nofe fhort, the end flatted;
cheeks full ; the upper part of the body of a du/ky
brown, the lower afh-coloured and brown: its length
to the rump is about two inches, its extent ten and a
half. It inhabits France. — Synonyme. La barbaftelle.
BuffoHi viii. i^o.tab. xix.7%. 1. Schreher^ 203. tab, Iv.

The common BAT.

THE common bat hath a tail ; the lips and nofe
fimple j the ears fmaller than the head. It inhabits all
Europe, and is the fpecies principally found in Britain.
This animal flies only during the night, living chiefly
on moths : when it lights on the ground, it is unable to
rife again till it has crawled to fome height; it remains
torpid during winter, revives in the beginning of the
fpring, and comes abroad in the duflc of the evening.
This fpecies is two inches and a half long, when full
grown, and about nine inches in extent j the fur is of
a moufe- colour, tinged with reddifh i it generally
fkims near the ground, with an uneven jerking flight i
and often feeking for gnats and other aquatic infeds ;

Vol. hi. No. 48. 4 G flies

6oi NATURAL HISTORY

flies clofe by the furface of the water. It breeds in the
fummer feafon, and fuckles its young at the breaft.

Synonymes. — nl^cte^k. Arift. hift, an. lib. i. c, 5*
Vefpertilio. Plmii lib. x. r. 61. Gefner quad. 766. Agri-
cola Anim. Subter. 483-. Bat, flitter-moufe. Raii Jyn»
quad. 243. Rear-moufe. Charlton Ex. 80. Vefpertilio
major, fpeck-maus, fleder-maus. Klein quad. 61. Vef-
pertilio murinus. V. caudatus nafo oreque fimplici, au-
ribus capite minoribus. Lin. Jyft. 47. Laderlap, flader-
mus. Faun.Juec. No. 1. La grande chauve-fouris de
notre pais. BriJJbn quad. 158. Buffon, v'm. 113. fab,
xvi. Short eared bat. Br. ZooL i. 130. Edw. aoi.
Scbreber, 199. tab. li.

The LONG-EARED BAT.

THE ears of this fpecies are above an inch long,
thin, and almoft pellucid : its body and tail both mea-
fure only one inch and three quarters : this, and all
other bats except the ternati and the horfe-fhoe, have a
leffer or internal ear, ferving as a valve to clofe the
greater when the animal is afleep. It inhabits Europe,
and is alio found in Great Britain.

Synonymes. — Souris chauve, rattepenade. Belon oyf,
147. Vefpertilio auritus. V. nafo oreque fimplici,
auriculis duplicatis, capite majoribus. Lin. Jyft. 47.
Faun. Juec. No. 3. Klein quad. 61. La petite chauve-
fouris de notre pais. Brijfon quad. 160. Shaw Jpec. Lin,
vii. L'oreillar. Buffcn. viii. 118. tab. xvii. Schreber^
197. tab. 1. Long-eared bat, Edw, 201. Br. ZooL i,
129. Br. ZooL illuftr. tab. ciii.

Bats are very voracious, if proper food is to be had ;
and, though moths and other infed^s be their natural
and common food, yet if flefh, whether raw or roarted,
frefh or corrupted, comes in their way, they devour it
1|^th greedinefs. In this country they appear abroad
c^rly in the fpring, flying about only in the evenings j
but are fometimes roufed from their torpidity by a
varm day or two during winter, and will then venture

out

O F QJJ A D R U P E D S. 603

out in queft of food, but recommence their ftate of hy-
bernation whenever the cold returns: they retire at the
end of the fummer into caves, ruined houfes, or the
roofs and eaves of houfes, where they remain fufpend-
ed by the hind legs, and enveloped in their wings, ge-
nerally in large numbers. Bats may be caught by
means of the flower- cups of burdock, whitened and
thrown up in the way of their flight : they are attracted
by the whitenefs, and the hooks of the bur, flicking to
their membranous wings, make them fall to the ground.
Thefe animals are the prey of owls, and, when attack-
ed, cry with a weak and plaintive voice. Ovid, in the
following lines, takes notice both of the weakness of
their voice and the origin of their Latin name :

Minimam pro corpore vocem
Emittunt ; peraguntque leves ftridore querelas.

Tedaque, non fylvas celebrant : lucemque perofaj
No(5te volant: feroque trahunt a vefpere nomen.

4 G 2 INDEX.

INDEX.

ALGAZEL, 153.
Altom and Bakewell, improvers of the breed of flieep in
Leicefterfliire, 118.

Antelope, 146 ; blue and Egyptian, 151 ; elk, 154; harneffed, 156;
Guinea, 157 ; royal, 158 ; Indoftan, 159 ; white-footed, 159 ; fwift,
160 ; red and firiped, 161 ; common, 162 ; Barbary, 164 : kevel and
fpringer, 165; Chinefe, 167; faiga, or Scythian, 168; canine and
cervine, 171; Gambian and wood antelope, 173.

Ant-eater, great, 552 ; middle-fized, 554 ; (Iriped and lead, 555 ;

Cape, 556 ; porcupine, 557.
Armadillo, 545 ; three-banded, 547 ; fix, eight, and nine, banded,
548 ; twelve-banded, 549.

Ass, 62-68 ; wild, 62 ; tame or domeftic, 65.

Badger, 369; manner of building his Iiabitation, &c. 370; unknown
to the Greeks, 371 ; American and Indian badger, 372.

Bakewell, his manner of improving the breed of ftieep, 118.

Bat, rougette and rouflette, 585 ; ternate, 588 ; fpedre, javelin, and
'^^P> 594 ; cordated and Peruvian, 595 ; buU-dog, Senegal, and
pouch,- 596 ; flouch-eared, bearded, and New York, 597 ; (Iriped,
Molucca, and flender-tailed, 598 ; rough-tailed, lafcopterous, horfe-
ftioe, and nodlule, 599 ; ferotine and great ferotine, 600 ; pipiftrelle,
barbaftelle, and common, 601 ; long-eared, 602.

Bear, {even fpecies of, 357-372 ; brown, 357 } black, 360 ; white or
polar, 361; wolverene, 363; glutton, 365; racoon, 366; New-
Holland bear, 368. See Badger.

Beaver, caftor, 448; induftryand (kill in conftru6ting their dwellings,
449 5 terrier- beavers, 451 ; mode of taking them, 452 j mufk-bea-
ver, 453 ; guillino beaver, 454.

pIsoN, or American ox, 81 ; hunted by the Indians, 82 ; mode of de-
fending themfelves againft wolves, 83.

Buffalo, 86 ; of the Cape, 90; dwarf buffalo, 99.

Bull and Cow, different forts, 72; in Scotland, 73. See Ox,
Bison, &c.

Bursting, or blafl, in (heep, 136.

Camel, di(tingui(hing marks of, 210; Arabian camel, or dromedary,
310 ; its gentle manners, 211 ; peculiar ufefiilnefs- in Arabia, 212 ;
Ba(5trian or Turkifti dromedary, 215 ; lama, or Peruvian camel,
217 ; guanaco, 220 ; pacos, 221 ; vicugna, 222.

Cats, different fpecies, 346-357 ; Cayenne and Bengal cats, 346 ; ma-,
nul and common wild cat, 348 ; domefticcat, 349 : Japan, blotched,
and Chilian, cat, 351; corolo and New Spain cat, 353; ferval or
mountain cat, 353. See Lynx and Civet.

Cavia, or Cavy, of Capibara, 424; reftlefs, or Guinea-pig, 435;
rock, or aperea, 427 ; Magellanic or Patagonian, 428 ; paca, or
fpotted, 428, 429 ; briftly, 431 ; long-nofed, 432 : olive and Javan,
433 ; Cape and mufk cavy, 434..

Chamois, 149.

Chinchimen, a fpecies of otter, 421,

CiNOHE, a fpecies of weafel, 410.

Civet-cat, 414 ; zibet, 415 ; Malacca civet and genet, 416.

Corolo, a fpecies of cat, 352,

CUJA,

INDEX. <ros

CujA, a kind of weafel, 387.

CuY, 443.

Def.r, their cliaraclerirtic marks, 175 ; elk, 176 ; rein-deer, 181 ; ftag,
186 ; fallow deer, 197 ; roe, 199 ; axis, 202 ; Virginian deer, 203 ;
Mexican deer, 204 ; porcine deer, 205 ; muntjae, or rib-faced deer,
205 ; grey or Guinea deer, 205.

Doc, his diftinguifhing chara<^leri flics, 260; value as a domeflic ani-
mal, 260 ; how varied by climate, &c. 261, 266 ; Linnaeus's account
of the dog, 261, 262 ; BufFon's account, 263 ; unknown in America
at its firlt difcovery, 265 ; (hepherd's dog, 266 ; Pomeranian dog,
267 ; Siberian dog, 267 ; ufed in drawing fledges, 267, 268; hounds,
different kinds, 268; Britifti harriers and fox-hounds, 269 ; blood-
hound, his extraordinary fagacity, 270; fpaniel, 271 ; grey-hoiind,
372; Newfoundland dog, 272 ; maftiff, 273; buU-dog, 274; dogs
of the South-fea iflands, 275 ; propagation of dogs, 277 ; fonie
curious in dances of the fpirit, fagacity, and fidelity, of dogs, 269,
275, 280-284.

Dormouse, its diftingui{hing characters, 480 ; the flriped, 481 ; fat,
and garden, dormoufe, 482; Chilian and common, 483; earlefs,
484; gilt.tailed, 485 ; guerlinguets, 485.

DsHiKKETAi, or wild mule, 58-62.

Elephant, 248 ; his manners, 249 ; haunts, 250 ; method of catch-
ing, 251 ; taming, &c. 252; introduced in (liows, ibid, ftories re-
lated of them by various authors, 254 & feq. their flefli eaten in
Africa, 258; ufe of their tuiks, 259 ; longevity, 259, 260.

Elk, 176; colour and form, 176; countries it inhabits, 177; their
ules, 178 ; method of hunting them, 179 ; medical virtues, &c. iSo.

Feline genus of animals, &c. 312.

Ferret, a fpecies of weafel, 390.

Fisher, a foit of weafel, 398.

FiTCHET of South America, 387.

Flux in flieep, 135.

Fly- STRUCK in flieep, 135.

FossANE weafel, 418.

Fox, as defcribed by Pennant, 294 ; varieties, 295 ; his fagacity, 296 ;
eaten in fome countries, 299 ; Arctic fox, 299 ; Antarctic fox, 301 ;
Culpen, or Chilian fox, 301 ; blue or grey fox, 302 ; filvery fox,
302 ; Bengal and Barbary fox, 303 ; the jackal, 303. SeejACKAL.

Glutton, a fpecies of bear, 365.

Gnu, 147.

GoAT, wild, 137; common domeflic, 140; Angora, 144.

GUERLINGUETS, 485.

GuiNEA-^iG, 425 ; extremely prolific, 426.

Hamster, a fpecies of rat, 516.

Hare, common, 435 ; varying hare, 438 ; American hare, 439 ; Bai-
kal and Cape hare, 442; Brafilian and Alpine hare, 444; Ogtona
hare, 446 ; calling hare, 447.

Hedce-hog, 534 ; common, 536; Siberian and Afiatic, 537 ; Guia-
na or American, 538.

Hippopotamus, 240.

Hog, chara6leri(tics of, 203 ; common hog, 203 ; poracs, or Chlnefe
hog, 228 ; tajalTu, or Mexican hog, 222 ; ^tliiopicus, or Ethiopian
hog, 230; Africanus, or Cape-Verd hog, 231 ; barbyroufTa, 23a.

^^OR$E, 5-58 ; not ferocious in a favage flate, 7 ; wild horfes, 8 } me-
thod of taking and taming them, 9, 10 ; treatn^ent of foals, u ;

training

<o6 INDEX.

training them to labour, 12 ; the various paces of a horfe, 13 ; the
horle compared with other animals, 18 ; his proportions, 19 ; age df
a horfe, 21 ; technical terms explained, 23 ; management of ftallions
^nd mates, 25, 33 ; to preferve or improve the breed, 26, 32 ; Ara-
bian horfcs, 36, 41, &c. Spajiifh horfes, 37 ; Englifh horfes, 38 ;
Italian horfes, 39 ; Danifli horfes, 40 ; German horfes, 40 ; Perfian
horfes, 45 ; Icelandic horfes, 47 j Norwegian horfes, 47 ; Nordland,
48; Japanefe horfes, 48; horfes in America, 48; wild Tiirkifh
horfes, 49 ; wild horfes in Finland, 50 ; in the Indies, 51 ; defcrip-
tion of horfes among the ancients, 52 ; method of gelding horfes,
53 ; other remarks on the horfe, with tho names given it by various
aiitiiors, 55-58.
HuEMEi,, a kind of afs, 72.
Hy^na, 309; fcarcely to be tamed, 310; fpotted hysena, or tiger.

wolf, 311.
Ibex, or wild goat, 137.

Ichneumon, 401 ; battles with poifonous ferpents, 402.

Jackall, 303 ; a fpecies of fox, and will couple with the dog, 304;
mode of hunting for food, 305 ; Cape jackall, 306 j Ceylon and
Surinam, 307.

Jaguar, a very fierce animal, but a fcarce fpecies, 343.

Jerboa, Egyptian, 486; Siberian, 487; African, 488; Cape and
torrid jerboa, 491.

Kanguroo, a native of New Holland, 381 ; fmaller and fpotted kan-
garoo, 382.

Lemmus, a fpecies of rat, 510.

Leopard,338 ; fmaller leopard and hunting leopard, 340; ounce, 341.

Leucoryx, 152.

Lion, 312; appear to diminifh in number, 313 ; their temper and dif-
pofition, 314; examined by Dr. Sparrman, 320, &c. anecdotes,
315, 320, &c. amours, time of geftation, 8cc. how he hunts his prey,
317,319; his roaring,. 3 18, 320 ; method of hunting him, 327, &c.

Lizard, fcaly, with a long tail, 550; (hort-tailed, 551 ; broad-tailed,

55^-

Lynxes, or cats with fliort tails, 352; mountain lynx, ibid, lynx,
how defcribed by the ancients, 354 j bay lynx, 355 ; Cafpian lynx,
355 ; Herfian, 356 ; Lybian, 357.

Manati, 576; whale-tailed, 577; round tailed, 5S0; Guiaaa and
Antilles, 581 ; Oronoko, 582 ; fea-ape, 584.

Manul, a fpecies of cat, 348.

Mariputo, a fpecies of weafel, 412.

Marmot, cre/ted,46o ; (Quebec, Maryland, and hoary, 461 ; bobak,
463 ; muuline and earlefs, 466 ; gundi, or Arabian, 467 ; tail-lefs,
468.

Marten, 391 ; grey-headed, 392.

Mo$CHUs, or Musk, charafleriftics of, 206 ; mufk of the bat, 206 ;
Indian and Brafilian mufk, 208 ; meminna, or Ceylon chevrotii),
208 ; Java or pigmy mufk, 209 ; Guinea mufk, 209.

Mole, European, 530; Cape, radiated, and long-tailed, 53a; brown
and red, 533 ; how to deftroy, 533.

Mouse, field, 500 ; harvell, 501 ; Oriental and Barbary, 502 ; Mexi-
can, Virginian, and wandering, moufe, 503 ; birch and ruftic moufe,
C04; foricene, lineated, and little, moule, 505; rock-moufe, 506;
Indian viverraj zeniC| and economicj moufe) ^07 j red and garlic

moufe^

INDEX. «07

moufe, 510 ; lemmus, 510 ; fecial and Siberian moufe, 514 j mea-
dow, 515 ; gregarious, 516.
OrossuM, 373-383 ; of Virginia, 373 ; of Molucca, 375 ; of Java,
376 ; murine opoirum, 376 ; Mexican and Cayenne opoflum, 3.J7 }
New Holland and vulpine opolFum, 37S ; fhort-tailed and phalan-
gcr opoflum, 579 j Merian and flying opoirum, 380 ; kanguroos,

381-383-

Otter, the greater, 419; Br^lian, 420; leflTer, 421; fea, 422;
flender, 424.

Ounce, a fpecies of leopard ufed for thechace, 341.

Ox, profitable for draught, 76 ; all parts of them turn to account in
trade, 77, &c. conjectures relative to wild oxen, 79; the befl oxea
are ihofe of HoUtein and Jutland, 80.

Panther, 336 ; known to the ancients, 337.

PiLOSELLo, a fpecies of weafel, 417.

Pole-cat, or fitchet, 388.

Porcupine, dillinguilhing marks of, 455; crefted porcupine, 455;
Malacca and long-tailed, 456} Braftlian, 457 ; Mexican and Cana«
dian, 458.

Puma, Icmetimes mifiaken for the lion, 344.

Quadrupeds, definition ot the term, 3; what animals fhould be
ftriilly termed quadrupeds, 4, 5.

QuAGGA, fometimes confounded with the zebra, 71,

QuiQUi, a fpecies of weafel, 387.

QuoLL, a fpecies of weafel, 413.

Rabbit, 440.

Racoon, a fmall fpecies of bear, 366 ; his manners defcribed in a let-
ter to M. Buffon, 367.

Rat, Canadian, 492; Labrador, 493; tamarifk, 494; black, 495;
Coypu and brown rat, 496; Indian and American rat, 498 ; Straf-
burgh and water rat, 499; woolly rat, 509; ringed, 512; Hud-
fon's bav, 513 ; hair-tailed, 513 ; hamfler, 516; vermela and yaik,
518; mus phacus, 319; fand-rat, 519; (ongar and Barbara rat,
520; blind mole-rat, 520; Danurian and African rat, 523; Cape
and talpine rat, 524.

Ratel, a fpecies of weafel, 411.

Rein-deer, not unknown to the ancients, 181; their ufes and great
Value to tlie Laplanders, 182 j the wild ones hunted, 184.

Rhinoceros, its charat:terirtic marks, 232 ; rhinoceros with one horn,
or unicorn, 233 ; with two horns, 235 ; ditferent opinions of authors
relative to this animal, 236, &c.

Rickets in flieep, 134.

Rot, in flieep, itscaufes, prevention, and cure, 129.

Sable, 393; mode of hunting them in Siberia, 394; how to clioofe
the molt valuable fkins, 396 ; American fable, 397.

Saricovienne, a fpecits of otter, 422.

Scab in fljeep, how to cure, 133.

Sea-ape. See Manati.

Sea-horse. See Walrus.

Seal, common, 561 ; pied and Mediterranean, 564; loffg-neckedand
Falkland Ifland, 565 ; tortoife-headcd and rubbon, 566 ; leporine,
great, and rough, 567 ; porcine, eared, and hooded, 568 j harp and
little, 569; uriine, or fiea-bear, 570; bottle-nofed, 572; leonine,
or fea-lion, 574.

Sheep, dittcient forts of, J9-137 ; Hungarian, hornlefs, and m'any-

^ lioiHed,

cS I N D E X^

homed, flieep, lOo ; African and broad-tailed ftjeep, loi ; fat-
nirnped ftieep, 102; Siberian (heep, 103 ; a curious fheep brought
over by General Paoli, 104 ; bearded fheep, 109 ; every part of the
Iheep ufcfu) to man, no ; method of rearing and rules for purcha-
fing, 124; prevention and cure of diforders, 129.

Shrew, 524 ; mufky fhrew, 525 ; perfuming and Mexican, 526 ; Bra-
filian, murine, and fetid, 527 ; water, elephant, and marine, 528;
Surinam, Perfian, minute, and pigmy, 529 ; white-toothed, fquarc-

. tailed, carinated, and unicolor, 530.

Skunk, afpeciesof weafel, 410.

Sloth, three-toed, 538; two-toed, 539; urfiform, 540 j Buffon'j
account, 541.

Squirrel, common, 468; Ceylon, Abyflinian, and Malabar, 47* j
gingi and aye-aye fquirrel, 471 ; Javan, Bombay, and ruddy, fquir-
rel, 471 ; grey, 472 ; black, 473 ; Madagafcar and Hudfon's Bay
fquirrel, 474; varied, fair, Bratilian, and Mexican, fquirrel, 475;
palm and Barbary fquirrel, 476 ; failing fquirrel, 477 ; Severn-river
and flying fquirrel, 478 ; Norfolk-ifle and hooded fquirrel, 479 j
European flying fquirrel, 480.

Stag, 186 ; form and flieddingof their horns, 187 ; acutenefs of their
ienfes, 188; period of propagation, 189; varies in fize in various
climates, 191 ; technical terms ufed in hunting the flag, 192; flag-
hunting among the ancients, 193 ; in Sicily, 193 ; in Fiance and
England, 194; ancient foreft laws, 195.

Stoat or ermine, 385.

Sus. See Hog.

Tafa, tcpoa and fpotted, 413.

Tapiir, 246.

Tiger, a moft ferocious and cruel animal, 330; untameable, 331 ;
anecdotes of, 332 ; battle between a tiger and two elephants, 334 ;
this animal peculiar to Afia, 335 ; Brafilian tiger, 341 ; Mexican
tiger, 342 ; cinereous tiger, 343 ; Cape tiger, 345.

TouAN, a fpecies of weafel, 3S5.

Viscaccia, afpeciesof rabbit, 443.

Walrus, ariflic, or fea-horfe, 558 ; Indian walrus, 560,

Weasel, common, 383 ; its haunts, &c. 384; Sarmatian weafel, 3S9 ;
Siberian, 390 ; pine, 393 ; Madagafcar, 398 ; Pekin, vifon, and
white-cheeked, weafels, 399 ; Grifon, Guinea, and Guiana, weafels,
400; woolly weafel and ichneumon, 401 ; caffre and four-toed wea-
fels, 404; yellow weafel, 405; Mexican, 406; Brafilian, 407 ; (tifling,
408 ; flriated, 409 ; the ikunk and cinghc, 410 , zorrina and ratel,
411 ; mariputoand Ceylon weafel, 412 ; hermaphrodite weafel, 413 ;
quoU, ibid, tapoa tafa and fpotted tafa, ibid, mufky weafel, ibid, ci-
vet-weafel or civet-cat, 414 ; foflfane weafel, 418.

Wolf, a fpecies of dog, 284 ; the wolves of North America and of
Siberia, 284 ; mode of living, 285 ; fond of luinian-flerti, 286 ; mode
of propagation, 286, 287 ; great ftreng'h, 287 ; method of hunting
them, 288 ; exterminated in England, 289 ; how delhoyed in Swe-
den, 290 ; in Germany, 293 ; fpecies of wolf mentioned by Buf-
fon, 291 ; dog and wolf compared, 291, 292 j Mexican wolf, 294.

Worms in (hecp, 136.

Zebra, 68.

Zenic, a fpecies of moufe, J07.

Zero A, a beautiful fpecies of fox, 307 ; curious difpute relative to this
animal, 308.

Zqrrina, fpecies of weafel, 411-

EUD OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

O F O U A D R U P E D S. 585

It often raifed one-third of its body above the water,
and (lood ere6l for a coiifiderable time: then fuddcnly
darted uiider the fhip, and appeared in the fame atti-
tude on the other fide; and would repeat this lor
thirty times together. It would frequently bring up
a fea-plant, not unlike the bottle gourd, which it would
tofs about and catch again in its mouth, playing num-
berlefs tricks with it. This animal is the Trichechus
manatus firen; and from it, more probably than from
either the Lamantin or Manati, the fables conceriung
firens and mermaids have taken their rife.

Synonymcs. — Trichechus manatus iiren, Kerr and
Tiuicn. Sea ape. Pennant.

\9L, III. No. 107. 4 E APPENDIX.

t 586 J

APPENDIX.

IN order that the anrraals comprehended under the
general denomination of" QUADRUPEDS, miffht
be infpetled atone view, we Ihall now arrange them
agreeable to the Claflihcation of Sir Charles Lin-
naeus. That great naturalilt has thought it more fci-
entific to defignate the animals called quadrupeds^ by
the term Mammalia; becaufe they all fuckle their
young by means of lafliferous teats, as in the human
fpccies. He has ihereforeidiitributed them into the
feven following Orders:

ORDER I. PRIMATES.

THE eiiARACTERS of this order are: Foreteeth
Cutting, upper four parallel, (except in fome fpecieso^"
bats which have two or none;) tuJJis, folitary, that is,
one on each (ide, in each jaw; teats two, pectoral; feet<f
two are hands; nails^ (uiiially) flattened, oval; Jood^
fruits, except a few who ufe animal food. Thi^ order
includes the four following genera: 1. Homo, man;
including all the fpecics on the earth, as- defcribed in
our firit volume. 2. Simla, the apes, baboons, and
monkeys. 3. Lemur, the maucauco. 4. Vefpcr-
tilio, the bats: now included in our lecond vo-
lume.

ORDER IL BRUTA.

THE CHARACTIRS of this order are: Fore-teeth^
none in either jaw; feet with (Irong hoof-like nails;
motion, flow; food, (moftly) mafticated vegetables.
This order includes nine genera, viz. 1. Bradypusy
the fioth. 2. Myrmccophaga, the ant-eater. 3. Pla-
typus. 4. Manis. 5. Dafypus, the armadillo. 6.
Rhinoceros. 7. Sukotyro. 8. Elephas, the elephant.
Q. Trichechus, the walrus.

ORDER

APPENDIX. ^^7

ORD^LR III. FER.E.

THE CHARACTERS of tliis ordcr are: Fore teeth
conic, ufualiy fix in each jaw; tuJJis longer; grinders
with eonic projections; ^a^ with claws; clangs inbii'
htc; J ood, carcafes, afid preying on other animals.
This order contanis ten genera, viz. i. Ph(;ca. ihe
ieal. 2. Canis, the dog, woU, fox, &-C. 3. Fclis, the
lion, liger, leopard, pdnther, lynx, cat, &c. 4. Vi-
verra, the ichneumon, Ibme ot the wealeLs, civet cat,
&c. 5. Muftela, the otter, weaiels, polecats, float,
&c. 6. Urlus, the bear, badger, wolverene, o^c. y.
Didelphis, the opoffum, kangaroo, cScc. 8. Talpa,
the mole. 9. Sorex, th^ fhrew. jo. Erinaceus, the
hedge-hog.

ORDER IV. GLIRES.

THE CHARACTERS oF this order arc: Fore-teeth
cutting, two in eacn jaw; tufp^s non^; feci with claws
formed for running and bounding; yoccf, bark, roots,
vegetables, &c. which they gnaw. This order con-
tains the ten following genera, VIZ. 1. Hyltrix, the
porcupine. 2. Cavia, the cavy, guinea-pig, 6Lx. 3,
Caltor, the beaver. 4. Mus, the whole trtoe of rats
and mice. 5. Ardomys, the marmor. 6. Sciiirus,
the fquirrel. 7. Myoxus, the dormoufe. 8. Dipus,
the jerboa, g Ltpus, the hares and rabbits, ic.
Hyiax, the Cape and Syrian cavy.

ORDER V. PECORA.

THE CH.\RACT£RS of this order arc: Forc.-teeth
upper none; lower cutting, n\d\\) ; feet hoofed, clo-
ven; food^ herbs which ihey pluck; chtiv ire cud;
Jlomaclis tour, tlie paunch tu macerate and ruminate
ihe food, the bonnet.^ reticulate, to receive it, the oma-
fus, or maniplics c^f numerous folds to digtft it, and
abomofus or caiile, fdlciaie, to gi\e u acefcency and
prevent putrcfattion. This order contains ci'Tht oe-

4 i^ 2 ncra.

588 APPENDIX.

nera, viz. i; Camel us, the camel and dromedary.
2. Mofchus, the mufk. 3. Cervus, the elk, ftag, and
deer. 4. Camelopardalis, the giraffe, or camelopard.
5. x\ntilopus, the antelope. 6. Capra, the goat. 7.
Ovis, the fheep. 8. Bos, the ox, bull, and cow.

ORDER VI. BELLUyE.

THE CHARACTERS of this order are: Fore-teeth
obtufe; y^d hoofed; motion heavy; food gathering ve-
getables. This order comprehends only Four genera,
viz. 1. EquLis, the horfe, afs, zebra, &c. 2. Hip-
popotamus, the river horfe. 3. Tapir, the land hip-
popotamus. 4. Sus, the wild boar, domeftic hog, &c.

ORDER VH. CETE.

THIS order, notwithdanding it is cla fled with the
quadrupeds, contains the largefl and mod confpicuous
of the finny tribes, viz. the Monodon, or narval; the
Balaena, or whale; the Phyfeter, or cachalot; and the
Delphinus, or dolphin, porpoife, &:c. Thefe Linnseus
thought neceffary to arrange with the mammalia, from
their fimilarity of ftruQ.ure, though they are fifh. The
heart has two auricles, and two ventricles ; blood warm ;
lungs rcfpiring alternately; eyelids moveable; ears
hollow, receiving found through the medium of the
air; vertebrcc of the neck feven; lumbar bones, and
coccyx; teats laftiferous, with which they fuckle their
young, like the quadrupeds. This laft order, how-
ever, we have thought more confonant to nature, to
place at the head of our Natural Hiftory of Fifhes,
where the reader will find them corre6lly figured, and
methodically defcribed. We fhall now proceed to
notice all fuch real quadrupeds as have paffed unno-
ticed in the former part of this volume, either from
having been before but little known, or as having
been difcovered by voyagers and travellers of the pre-
fent day.

Ik

APPENDIX. 589

In the order of BRUTA,

PLATYPUS, the Flat-mouth.

THIS new genus is brought into the claffification
by Dr. Turton in his tranflation oF Linnaeus. Gene-
ric charaBer: Mouth fhaped like the bill of a duck;
feet palmate. There is but one fpecies, called

The Duck-billed Platypus. Of all the mam-
malia, yet known, it feems the moft extraordinary in its
conformation; exhibiting the perfect refemblance of
the beak of a duck engrafted on the head of a quadru-
ped. So accurate is the fimilitude, that, at firft view
it naturally excites the idea of fome deceptive prepa-
ration by artificial means: the very epidermis, pro-
portion, ferratures, manner of opening, and other par-
ticulars, of the beak of a fhoveller, or other broad-
billed fpecies of duck, prcfenting themfelves to the
view: nor is it without the moR minute and rio-id ex-
amination that we can perfuade ourlelves of its bcing^
the real beak or fnout of a quadruped. The body is
deprcfTed, and has fome relemblance to that of an otter
in miniature : it is covered with a very thick, foft, and
beaver-like, fur; and is of a moderately dark brown
above, and of a fubferruginous white beneath. The
head is flattifh, and rather Imallthan large: the mouth
or fnout,as before obferved, fo exactly reftmbles tliat
of (ome broad-billed fpecies of duck, that it might be
miftaken for fuch: round the bafe is a flat circular

membrane.fomewhatdecperorwiderbelowthanabove;
viz. below near the hfth of an inch, and above about
an eighth. The tail is flat, furry like the body, rather
fhort, andobtufe, with an almoil biiJd termination: it
is broader at the bafe, and gradually Icflcns to the tip,
and IS about three inches in length : its colour is fimi-
lar to that of the body. The length of the whole ani-
mal from the tip of the beak to that of the tail is thir-
teen inches: of the beak an inch and a half. The
legs are very fliort, terminating in a broad web, which

on

590 APPENDIX,

on the fore-feet extends to a confidcrable diftance be-
yond the claws; but on the hind-feet reaches no far-
ther than the roots of the claws. , On the fore-feet are
five claws, ftrait, ftrong, and Iharp-poinied: the two
exterior ones fomcwhat (iiortcr than the three niiddle
ones. On the hind-feet are fix claws, longer and more
inclining to a curved form than thole of the fore-feet:
jhe exterior toe and claw are conliderably ftiortcr than
the four middle ones: the interior or iixih is feated
jnuch higher up than the red, and refembles a ftrong
iharp fpur. All the legs arc hairy above: the fore-
feet are naked both above and- below; but the hind-
feet are hairy above, and naked below. The internal
edocs of the under mandible (which is narrower than
the upper) are ferrated or channelled with numerous
ilri«, as in a duck's bill. The nollrils are fmall and
round, and are fituated about a quarter of an inch
from the tip of the bill, and arc about the eighth of an
inch diftant from each other. There is no appear-
ance of teeth: the palate is removed, but feems to
have refembled that of a duck; the tongue alfo is
v;anting in the fpecimen. The ears, or auditory fo-
ramina, are placed about half an inch beyond the eyes :
they appear like a pair of oval holes of the eighth of
an inch in diameter; there being no external ear.
On the upper part of the head, on each fide, a little
beyond the beak, are fituated two Imallifh oval white
fpots; in the lower part of each of which are imbedded
the eves, or at leaft die parts allotted to the animal for
fome kind of vifion; for from the thicknefs of the fur
and the fmall ncfs of the organs they feem to have been
but obfcurely calculated for diflinft vifion, and are
probably like thofe of moles, and fome other animals
of that tribe: or perhaps even fubcutaneous; the
whole apparent diameter of the cavity in which they
were placed not exceeding the tenter of an inch. When
Ave confider the general form of this animal, and par-
ticularly its bill and webbed feet, we Ihall readily per-
ceive

APPENDIX. 591

ceivc that it mufl; be a refident in watery fituations;
that it has the habits of digging or burrowing in the
banks of rivers, or underground; and that its food
confilts of aquatic plants and animals. This is all
that can at prefent be reafonably gucfl'cd at : future
obfervations, made in its native regions, will, it is
hoped, afford us more ample information, and will
make us fully acquainted with the natural hi (lory of
an animal which differs fo widely from all other qua-
drupeds, and which verifies in a mod ftriking manner
the obfervation of Buffon; viz. that whatever was
poffible for nature to produce has aftually been pro-
duced. On a fubjeft fo extraordinary as tlie prefent,
fays Dr. Shav/, from whom this account is taken, a de-
gree of fcepticifm is not only pardonable, but laud i-
ble; and I ought perhaps to acknowledge that I al-
moft doubt the teftimony of my own eyes with refoeft
to the ftruBure of this animal's beak; yet mull con-
fefs that I can perceive no appearance of any decep-
tive preparation; and the edges of the ri6ius, the in-
fertion, &:c. when tried by the teft of maceration in
water, fo as to render every part completely moveable,
feeni perfe6lly natural; nor can the moll ticcurate exa-
mination of expert anatomifts difcover any deception
in this particular. The platypus is a native of Aiijtra^
lafia or New Holland, and is at prefent in the poffef-
lion of Mr. Dobfon, fo riiuch diftinguiflied by his
exquifite manner of preparing fpecimens of vegetable
anatomy. — Synonymcs. Platypus anatinus, the duck-
billed platypus, Shauis Nalurahji\ Mifcdlany. Turton.

SUKOTYRO.

THIS is a new genus, alfo from Turton. Gene-
ric charafter, A horn on each fide of the head near
the eyes. There is but one fpecies,

The Indian Sukotyro. Mane upright, fiiort,
narrow, reaching from the top of the head to the rump.
Inhabits Java: thick, clumfy,Teeds on herbs. Snout

like

692 APPENDIX.

like a hog, truncate; ears long, rough; tail thickj^
bufhy; eyes placed upright in the head; hoofs four;
Ikin fmooth, without plaits. — Synonyme. Sukotyro
ludicus, Turton.

ELEPHAS, the Elephant.

It will be neceffary here to correft fome errors
copied from Buffon and others in a former part of
this volume, (fee p. 249.) and we fliall add a more
detailed account of the method of catching elephants.

And firft it may be proper to obferve, that young
elephants fuck conftandy with their mouths, and never
^vith their trunks, as Buffon has afi'crted; a conclu-
fion he made merely from conjeclure, and the great
and various ufes to which the trunk is adapced and
applied by every elephant.

The mode of connexion between the male and a
female is now afcertaincd beyond the poflibility of
doubt; as Mr. Buller, Lieut. Hawkins, and many
others, faw a male copulate with a female, af(er they
were fccured, in the Eaft-Indies, in a manner exadly
limilar to the conjunftion of the horfe with a mare^
This fad entirely overturns what has been {o often re-
lated concerning the fuppofed delicacy of this ufcful
animal, and a variety of other hypothcfes, which are
equally void of foundation. The exa£i: time an ele-
phant goes with young, has not yet been afcertaincd,
but it cannot be lefs than tw'o years, as an eltphant
brought forth a young one twenty-one months and
three days after fhe was taken. She was obferved to
be with young in April or May 1788, and file was
only taken in January preceding; io that it is very
likely fhe mutt have had connection with the male,
fome months before file was fccured, otherwife they
could not difcover that flie was with young, as a fce-
tus of lefs than fix mouths cannot well be fuppofed to
make anv alteration in the fizc or fiiape of lo large an
animal. The young one, a male, was produced Oc-
tober

APPENDIX.. 593

tober i6, 1789, and appeared in every refpeft to have
arrived at its full time. He was thirty-five inches high
at his birth, and grew four inches in nearly as many
months. Elephants are always meafured at the (lioul-
der; for the arch or curve of the back, of young ones
particularly, is confiderably higher than any other part,
and it is a fure fmn of old age whenever this curve is
found flattened or conhderably deprefled, after an
elephant has once attained his full growth.

The following is the mode at prefcnt ufed for catch-
ing wild elephants in the Eafl-Indies.

In the month of November, when the weather has
become cool, and the fwamps and marfhcs, formed by
the rains in the five preceding months, are leflened,
and fome of them dried up, a number of people are
employed to go in queft of elephants.

At this feafon the males come from the rcceffes of
the forellinto the borders and out{ls.irts thereof, whence
they makenofturnalexcurfions into the plains in fearch
of food, and where they often deltroy the labours of
the hufbandman, by devouring and trampling down the
rice, fugar-canes, &:c. that they meet with. A herd or
drove of elephants, from what we can learn, has never
been feen to leave the woods : fome of the largeft
males often ftray to a connderable diftance; but the
young ones always remain in the forefl; under the pro-
te6lion of the palmai^ox leader of the herd, and of the
larger elephants. The goondahs, or large males, come
out fingly, or in fmall pardes, fometimes in the morn-
ing, but commonly in the evening; and they contihue
to feed all night upon the long grafs, that grows amidft
the fwamps and marfhes, and of which they are ex-
tremely fond. As often, however, as they have an
opportunity, they commit depredations on the rice-
fields, fugar-canes, and plantain-trees, that are near,
which obliges the farmers to keep regular watch, un-
der a fmall cover, ciefted on the tops of a few long
bamboos, about fourteen feet from the ground: and

Vol, III. No. 107. 4F this

594 APPENDIX,

this precaution i^ neceflary to proteO: them from the
tigers, with which this province abounds. From this
lofty Itaiion the alarm is foon communicated from one
■watchman to another, and to the neighbouring villages,
by means of a rattle with which each is provided. With
their fhouts and cries, and noile of the rattles, the
elephants are generally feared and retire. It fomc-
times, however, happens, that the males advance even
to the villages, overturn the houfes, and kill thofe who
unfortunately come in their way, unlefs they have had
time to light a number of fires ; this element feems to
be the mod dreaded by wild elephants, and a few
lighted wifps of Itraw or dried grafs feldom fail to (lop
their progrefs. To fecure one of the males, a very
different method is employed from that which is taken
to fecure a herd: the former is taken by koomkees or
female elephants trained for the purpofe; whereas the
latter is driven into a ftrong enclofure called akaddah.

As the hunters know the places where the elephants
come out to feed, they advance towards them in the
evening with four koomkees, which is the number of
which each hunting party coniifts: when the nights are
dark, (and thefe are the moft favourable for their
purpofe,) the male elephants are difcovered by the
noife they make in cleaning their food, by whilking
and Itriking it againd their forelegs; and by moon-
light tliey can fee them diftin6tly at fomcdiltance.

As foon as thev have determined on the goondah
they mean to fecure, three of the koomkees are con-
duced filcntly and flovvly by their mahotes (drivers)
at a moderate diilance from each other, near to the
place where he is feeding; the koomkees advance very
cautioufly, feeding as they go along, and appear like
wild elephants that have Itrayed from the jungle. When
the male perceives them approaching, if he takes the
alarm and is vicioufly inclined, he beats the ground
with his trunk and makes a noife, fliewing evident
marks of bis difpleafure, and that he will not allow

them

APPENDIX. 595

llicm to approacli nearer; and, if they perfift, it will
immediately attack and gore them with his tulks; for
which reafon they take care to retreat in good time.
But fliould he be amoroufly difpofed, which is gene-
rally the cafe, (as thefe animals are fuppofed to be dri-
ven from the herd at a particular period by tlicir feni-
ors, to prevent their having conne6lion with die fe-
males of that herd,) he allows the females to approach,
and fometimes even advances to meet them.

When, from thefe appearances, the mahotes judge
that he will become their prize, they condu£l two of
the females, one on each fide, clofe to him, and make
them advance backwards, and prefs gently with their
pofteriors againfl: his neck and Ihoulders: the third fe-
male then comes up and places herfelf directly acrofs
his tail; in this fituation, fo far from fufpe^ling any
defign againll his liberty, he begins to toy with the fe-
males and carefs them with his trunk. While thus en-
gaged, the fourth female is brought near, wiih ropes
and proper affiftants, who immediaielv get under the
belly of the third female, and put a flight cord round
his hind legs; fliould he move, it is eafily broken; in
which cafe, if he takes no notice of this flight confine-
ment, nor appears fufpicious of what was going for-
ward, the hunters then proceed to tie his legs with a
Ilrong cord, which is palfed alternately, by means of a
forked flick and a kind of hook, from one leg to the
other, forming the figure of 8) and, as thefe ropes are
fliort, for the convenience of being more readily put
around his legs, fix or eight are generally employed,
and they are made faft. by another cord, which is paf-
fed a few turns perpendicularly between his legs, where
the folds of the bundahs interfeft each other. A ftrong
cable with a running noofe, fixty cubits long, is next
put round each hind leg immediately above the bun-
dahs, and again above them, fix or eight additional bun-
dahs, according to the fize of the elephant, arc made
fait, in the fame manner as the others were: the put-
\ing on thefe ropes generally takes up about twenty

4 F 2 minutes.

59^ APPENDIX.

minutes, daring which the iitmoft filence is obferved,
and the mahotes, who keep flat upon the necks of the
females, are covered with dark coloured clothes, which
ferve to keep them warm, and at the fame time do not
attra6l the notice of the elephant. While the people
are bufily, employed in tying the legs of the goondah,
he careffes fometimes one and fometimes another of
the feducers, examining their beauties and toying with
different parts, by which his defires are excited, and
his attention diverted from the hunters, and in thefe
amorous dalliances he is indulged by the females.
But, if his paffions fiiould be fo roufed, before his legs
are properly fecured, as to induce him to attempt
leaping on one of the females, the raahote, to infure
his own fafety and prevent him gratifying his defires
any farther, makes the female run away, and at the fame
time by raifing his voice and making a noife, he deters
the goondah from purfuing; this however happens very
feldom, for he is (o fecured by the preffure of a koom-
kee on each fide and one behind, that he can hardly
turn himfelf, or fee any of the people, who always keep
fnug under the belly of the third female, that flands
acrofs his tail, and which ferves both to keep him Hea-
dy and to prevent his kicking any of the people who
are employed in fecuring him; but in general he is fo
much taken up with his decoyers, as to attend very
little to any thing elfe. In cafe of accidents^ how-
ever, fiiOLild the goondah break loofe, the people up-
on the firft alarm can alwavs mount on the backs of the
tame elephants, by a rope that hangs ready for thepur-
pofe, and thus get out of his reach. When his hind
legs are properly fecured, they leave him to himfelf,
and retire to a linall diftance; as foon as the koom-
kees leave him, he attempts to follow, but finding his
legs tied, he is roufed to a proper fenfe of his fituation,
and retreats towards the jungle; the mahotes follow
at a moderate diftance from him, on the tame elephants,
accompanied by a number of people that had been
previoufly fent for, and who, as foon as the goondah

paffes

APPENDIX. 597

paffes near a (lout tree, make a Tew turns of the phandSi
or long cables, that are trailing behind him, around
its trunk: his progrefs being thus Itopt, he becomes
furious, and exerts his utmolt force to difengage him-
felf; norwillheallowanyof thekoomkeesto come near
him, but is outrageous for fome time, falling down and
goring the earth with his tuflcs. If by thefe exertions
the phands are once broken, which fometimes is efFeCl-
ed, and he efcapes into the thick jungle, the mahotes
dare not advance for fear of the other wild elephants,
and are therefore obliged to leave him to his fate; and
in this hampered htuation, it is faid, he is even unge-
neroufly attacked by the other wild elephants. As the
cables are very llrong and feldom give way, when he
has exhaulted hiinlelf by his exertions, the koomkees
are again brought near and take their former pofitions,
viz. one on each fide and the other behind. After
getting him nearer the tree, the people carry the ends
of the long cables around his legs, then back and about
the trunk of the tree, making, if they can, two or three
turns, fo as to prevent even the poflibility of his efcape.
It would be almod impqlfible to fecurean elephant in
any other manner, as he would tear up any itake that
could at the time be driven into the ground, and even
the noife of doing it would frighten the elephant: for
thefe reafons, nothing lefs than a ftrong tree is ever
trufted to by the hunters. For ftill farther fecurity,
as well as to confine him from moving to either fide,
his fore legs are tied exactly in the fame manner as
the hind legs were, and the phands are made fall, one
on each fide, to trees or flakes driven deep into the
earth. During the procefs of tying both the hind and
fore legs, the fourth koomkee gives affiftance where
necefl'ary, and the^Dcople employed cautioufly avoid
going within reachof his trunk; and, when he attempts
to feize them, they retreat to the oppofite fide of the
koomkees, and get on them, if nccelfary, by means of
the rope above-mentioned, which hangs ready for them
to lay hold of. Although by thefe means he is perfeflly

fecured

•59S APPENDIX.

iecured and cannot efcape, yet as it would be both uir-
iafe and inconvenient to allow him to remain in tiie
verge of the jungle, a number of additional ropes are
afterwards put on, as fliall be mentioned, for the pur-
pofe of conducing him to a proper' Itaiion. When
the goondah has become more fettled, and eats a lit-
tle food, with which he is fupplied as foon as he is ta-
ken, the komkees are again brought near, and a llrong
rope is then put twice round his body, clofe to his fore
legs, like a girth, and tied behind his fnoulder; then
the long end is carried back clofe to his rump, and
there faitened, after a couple of turns more have been
made round his body. Another cord is next faftened
to the pharah, and from thence carried under his tail
like a crupper, and brought forward and faltened by a
turn or two to each of the pharahs, or girths, by which
the whole is connefled, and each turn of theie cords
ierves to keep the reft in their places. After this a
ftrong rope is put round his buttocks, and made fait
on each iide to the girth and crupper, fo as to con-
jfine the motion of his thighs and prevent his taking a
full ilep. Thefe fmaller ropes being properly adjull-
ed, a couple of large cables, Sec, with running noofes,
are put around his neck, and, after being drawn mo-
derately tight, die noofes are fecured from running
clofer, and then tied to the ropes on each Iide forming
,ihe girth and crupper already mentioned; and thus all
thelc ropes are conneded and kept in their proper
places, without any rilk of the nooies of the dools be-
coming tight, l"o as to endanger the life of the elephant
in his exertions to free himlelf. The ends of thefe
cables are made faft to two koomkees, one on each
fide of the goondah, by a couple of turns round the
belly, clofe to the ftioulder, like a girth, where a turn
.is made, and it is then carried acrofs the cheft and
faftened to the girth on the oppolite fide. Every
thing being now ready, and a palfage cleared from the
jungle, all the ropes are taken from his legs, and only
the tooman remains round his buttocks to confine the

motion

APPENDIX. 599

motion of his hind legs: the koomkees pull him for-
ward by the dools, and the people from behind ur^e
him on. Inltead of advancing in the dire c.l ion they
wifli, he attempts to retreat farther into the jungle; he
exerts all his force, falls down and tears the earth with
his tulks, fcrcaming and groaning, and by his violent
exertions often hurts and bruifes himlelf very much;
and inftanccs happen of their furviving theie violent
exertions only a few hours, or at moll a few days. In
general, however, they ibon become reconciled to
their fate, willeat immediately afterthey are taken, and,
if neceflary, may be conducted from the verge of the
jungle as (bon as a palfage is cleared. When the ele-
phant is brought to his proper Ration and made fad,
he is treated with a mixture of feverirv and g;entlenefs,
and in a few months (if docile) he becomes tradable,
and appears perfetfly reconciled to his fate. It ap-
pears fomewhat extraordinary, that though the goon-
dah ufes his utmoft force to difengage himfelf when
taken, and would kill any perfon coming within his
reach, yet he never or at leaft feldom attemps to hurt
the females that have enfnared him, but on the contra-
ry feems pleafcd, (as often as they are brought near, in
order to adjult his harneffing, or move or flacken thofe
ropes which gall him,) foothed and comforted by them,
as it were, for the lofs of his liberty. All the ele-
phants, foon after they are taken, are led out occafi-
onally for exercife by the koomkees, which attend for
that purpofc.

Having now related the manner in which the male
elephants are fecured; we fhall next defcnbe the me-
thods employed for fecuring a herd of wild elephants.
Female elephants are never taken fingly, but always
in the herd, which confifts of young and old of both
fexes. This noble, docile, and ufeful, animal, feems
naturally of a focial difpofition, as a herd in general
confifts of from about forty to an hundred, and is con-
duced under the dire6lion of one of the oldeft and
largell females, called the pahnai^ and one of the larg-

ett

Goo APPENDIX.

ell males. When a herd is difcovered, about five
hundred people are employed to furround it, who di-
vide themlelves into fmall parties, called ChokeySi con-
fifting generally of one mahote and two coolies, at the
diftance of twenty or thirty yards from each othet, and
form an irregular circle in which the elephants are in-
clofed : each party lights a fire and clears a foot-path
to the Itation that is next him, by which a regular com-
munication is foon formed through the whole circum-
ference from one to the other. By this path reinforce-
ments can immediately be brought to any place where
an alarm is given; and it is alfo neceflary for the fu-
perintendants, who are always going round to fee that
the people are alert upon their polls. The firft cir-
cle (the dawkee) being thus formed, the remaining
part of the day and night is fpent in keeping watch by
turns, or in cooking for themfclves and companions.
Early next morning one man is detached from each
ftation, to form another circle in that dircQion where
they wifii the elephants to advance. When it is finifli-
ed, the people ftationed nearefl: to the new circle put
out their fires and file off to the right and left, to form
the advanced party, thus leaving an opening for the
herd to advance through; and, by this movement, both
the old and new circle are joined and form an oblong.
The* people from, behind now begin Ihouiing and ma-
king a noife with their ratdcs, tomtoms, &c. to caufe
the elephants to advance; and, as foon as they are got
"within the new circle, the people, clofe up, take their
proper fiations, and pafs the remaining part of the day
and night as before. In the morning the fame pro-
cefs is repeated; and in this manner the herd advances
flowly in that dire£lion where they findthemfelves leaft
incommoded by the noife and clamour of the hunters,
feeding, as they go along, upon branches of trees,
leaves of bamboos, Sec. which come in their way. If
they fufpefted any fnare, they could e'afily break through
the circle; but this inotfenfive animal, going merely
in quelt of food, and not feeing any of the people who

furround

APPENDIX. 6oi

furround him, and who are concealed by the thick
jungle, advances widiout fufpicion, and appears only
to avoid being peftered by their noife and din. As
fire is the thing elephants Teem moft afraid of in their
wild {tate, and will feldom venture near it, the hunters
always have a number of fires lighted, and particularly
at night, to prevent the elephants coming too near, as
well as to cook their vi£luals and keep them warm.
The fentinels iupply thefe fires with fuel, efpecially
green bamboos, which are generally at hand, and which,
by the crackling and loud report they make, together
with the noife of the watchmen, deter the elephants
from coming near; fo that the herd generally remains
at a dillance near the centre of the circle. Should
they at any time advance, the alarm is given, and all
the people immediately make a noife and ufe their
rattles to make them keep at a greater diftance. In
this manner they are gradually brought to the kcddah,
or place where they are to be fecurcd. As the natives
are extremely flow in theiroperations.they feldom bring
the herd above one circlein a day, except on an emer-
gency, when they exert themfelves and advance two cir-
cles. Theyhave no tents or covering but the thick woods,
which, during the day, keep off the rays of the fun;
and at night they fleep by the fires they have lighted,
upon mats fpread on the ground, wrapt up in a piece
of coarfe cloth. The feafon is then fo mild, that the
people continue very healthy; and an accident feldom
happens except to (Iragglers about the outlkirts of the
woodjwho arc fom.etmics, though very rarely, carried oft
by tigers. The keddah, or place where the herd is to
be fecured, is differently conltruaed in different places;
here it confilts of three enclofures, communicating
with each other by means of narrow openings or gate-
ways. The outer enclofure, or the one next to the
place where the elephants are to enter, is the largcft;
the middle oneis generally, though not always, the next
in fize; and the third, or farthermoltj is the fmallclf.
Vol. III. No. 107. iO 1'^<^i^

€o2 APPENDIX.

Thefe propo:tions, however, are not always adhered
to in the making of a kcddah, nor indeed does there
appear to us any reafon for making three enclofures:
but, as our intentions are merely to relate faBs, we
Ihall pr6ceed to ohferve, that, when in the third or
laft enclofure, the elephants are then only deemed fe^
cure; here they are kept fix or eight days, and are re-
gularly though fcantily fed from a fcafFold on the out-
fide, clofe to the entrance of an outlet called the Roomee,
which is abouffixty feet long and very narrow, and
through which the elephants are to be taken out one
by one. In many places this mode is not adopted;
for, as foon as the herd has been furrounded by a
ftrong palifade, koomkees are fent in with proper peo-
ple, who tie them on the fpot; in the fame manner as
was mentioned above of the goondahs, or male ele-
phants, that are taken fingly. Thefe enclofures are
fill pretty (Irong; but the third is the ftrongell, nor are
the elephants deemed fecure, as already obferved, till
they have entered it. This enclofure has, like the
other two, a pretty deep ditch on the infide; and, upon
the bank of the earth, that is thrown up from the exca-
vation, a row of itrong palifades of middle-fized trees
is planted, flrengthened with crofs bars, which are tied
to them about the diftance of fourteen inches from
each other; and thefe are fupported on the outfide by
Itrong pofts like buttreffes, having que end funk in
the earth and the other preffing againft the crofs bars
to which they are fattened. When the herd is brought
near to the firft enclofure, or baigcote, which has two
gateways towards the jungle, from which the elephants
are to advance, (thefe, as well as the other gateways,
are difguifed with branches of trees and bamboos ftuck
in the ground fo as to give them the appearance of a
natural jungle,) the greateft difficulty is to get the herd
to enter the firfl or outer enclofure; for, notwiihfland-r
ing the precautions taken to difguife both the entries
as well as the palifade which farrounds this enclofure,

the

APPENDIX. 603

the palrriai, or leader, now appears to fufpeCt fome
fnare, from the difficulty and hcfitation with which in
general fhe paffes into it; but as foon as fhe enters,
the whole herd implicitly follows. Immediately,
when they have all palled the gateway, fires are light-
ed round the greatelt part of the enclofurc, and parti-
cularly at the entries, to prevent the elephants from
returning. The hunters from without then make a
terrible noife by fliouiing, beating of tomtoms, (a kind
of drum,) firing blunt cartridges, to urge the herd on
to the next enclofure. The elephants, finding them-
felves enfnared, fcrcam and make a noife; but, feeing
no opening except the entrance to the next enclofure,
and which they at firit generally avoid, they return to
the place through which they lately pafled, thinking
perhaps to efcape, but now find it ftrongly barricaded;
and, as there is noicditch at this place, the hunters to
prevent their coming near forcing their way, keep a
line of fire conilantly burning all along where the
ditch is interrupted, and lupply it with fuel from the
top of the palifade; and th.e people from without make
a noife, Ihouting and hallooing, to drive them away.
Whenever they turn, they find themfelvcs oppofed by
burning fires, or bundles of reeds and dried grafs,
which are thruft through the opening of the palifades,
except towards the entrance of the fecond enclofure,
or doobraze-cote. After traverfing the Baigcote for
fome time, and finding no chance of efcaping but
through the gateway into the next enclofurc, the lea-
der enters, and the red follow; the gate is inftantiy
ihut by people v,'ho are Rationed on a fmall fcaffold
immediately above it, and ilrongly barricaded, fires
are lighted, and the fame difcordant din made and con-
tinued, till the berd has pafled through another gate-
way into the lall enclofure, or rajecote^ the gate of which
is fccured in the fame manner as the former was. The
elephants, being now completely furrounded on all
fidesj and perceiving no outlet through which they

4 G a can

6o4 APPENDIX.

can efcape, appear defperate, and in their fury advance
frequently to the ditch in order to break down the pa-
Jifadejinfiatingtheirtrunks, fcreaming louder and fhril-
ler than any trumpet, fometimes grumbling like the
hollow murmur of diftant thunder; but, wherever they
make an attack, they are oppofed by lighted fires, and
by the noife and triumphant fhouts of the hunters. As
they mud remain fome lime in this enclofure, care is
always taken to have part of the ditch filled with water,
■which is fupplied by a fmall ftream, either natural, or
conduced through an artificial channel from iomc
neighbouring refervoir. The elephants have recourfe
to this water to quench their third and cool themfelves
after their fatigues, by fucking the water into their
trunks, and then fquirting it over every part of their
bodies. While they remain in this enclofure, they
continue fulky, and feem to meditate their efcape; but
the hunters build huts, and form an encampment as it
were around them clofe to the palifade; watchmen
are placed, and every precaution uled to prevent their
breaking through. This they would foon effeft, if
left to themfelves, notwithftanding the palifade is made
of very ftrong (takes funk into the earth on the outfide
of the ditch, and Itrengihened by crofs bars and but-
tjedes as already mentioned.

When the herd has continued a few days in the kedr
dab, the door of the roomee is opened, into which fome
one of the elephants is enticed to enter, by having
food thrown fird before, and then gradually farther on
into the paffagc, till the elephant has advanced far
enough to admit of the gate's being fhut. Above this
■wicker-gate, or door, two men are dationed on a fmall
fcaffold, who throw down the food. W^hen the ele-
phant has paffed the door, they give the fignal to a
man who from without fliuts it by pulling a dring, and
they fccure it by throwing two bars that dood perpen-*
dicular on each fide, the one acrofs the other thus
Xj forming the figure of St. Andrew's Crofs; and, then

two

APPENDIX. 60s

two fimilar bars are thrown acrofs each other behind
the door next to the keddah, fo that the door is in the
centre: for farther fecurity, horizontal bars are pufli-
cd acrofs the roomee, through the openings of the pa-
iifades, both before and behind thofe crofles, to pre-
vent the pofTibility of the door's being broken. The
roomee is fo narrow, that a large elephant cannot turn
in it; but, as foon as he hears the noife that is made
in fliutting the gate, he retreats backwards, and en-
deavours to force it} being now fecured in the man-
ner already noticed, his efforts are unavailing. Find-
ing his retreat thus cutoff, he advances and exerts his
utmoff force to break down the bars, which were pre-
vioufly put acrofs a little farther on in the outlet, by
running agaiiiff them, (creaming and roaring, and bat-
tering them, like a ram, by repeated blows of his. head,
retreating and advancing with the utmoft fury. la
his rage he rifes and leaps upon the bars with his fore-
feet, and ilrives to break them down with his huge
weight. In February 1788, a large female ele-
phant fell down dead in the roomee, from the
violent exertions ffie made. When the elephant
is fomewhat fatigued by thefe exertions, ftrong ropes
^vith running noofes are placed in the outlet by
the hunters; and. as foon as he puts a foot within the
noofe, it is immediately drawn tight and fattened to
the palifades. When all his feet have been made pret-
ty faft, two men place themfelves behind fome bars
that run acrofs the roomee to prevent his kicking them,
and with great caution tie his hind legs together, by
palling a cord alternately from the one to the other,
iike the figure 8, and then faftening thefe turns as
above defcribed. After this, the pharah, dools, &:c,
are put on in fucceffion, in the fame manner as on the
goondah, only that here the' people arc in greater fe-
curity. While thefe ropes are making fall, the other
hunters are careful not to go too near, but keep on
the outfide of the palifade, and divert his attention as
much as they can from thofe employed in falleniog

them,

6o6 APPENDIX.

thenij by fupplying him with grafs, and fometimes witfj
plantain-leaves and fugar-canes, of which he is re-'
niarkably fond, by prefenting a flick, giving him hopes
of catching ir, or by gently (Irikingor tickling his pro-
bofcis. He frequently, however, feizes the ropes with
bis trunk, and endeavours to break them, particularly
thofe with which his feet are tied, and fometimes tries
to bite them through with bis grinders, (as he has nc^
incifors or front teeth;) but the hunters then goad him
with fliarpened bamboos, or light fpears, fo as to make
him quit his hold. Thofe who are employed in put-
ling the ropes round his body, and over his head, (tancJ
above him, on a fmall kind of platform, confiiting of a
few bars run acrofs through the openings of the pali-.
fades; and, as an elephant cannot fee any thing that
is above and rather behind his head, they are very
little incommoded by him, although he appears to
fmell them, and endeavours to catch them with his
trunk. When the whole apparatus is properly fccured,
the ends of the two cables (dools) which were faftened
round his neck, are brought forward to the end of the'
roomee, where two female elephants are waiting; and
to them thefe cables are made/aR. When every thing
is ready, the door at the end of the oudet is opened,
the crofs bars are removed, and the paffage left clear.
The ropes that tied his legs to the pallifades are loofen-
ed, and, if he does not advance readily, they goad him
"with long poles fharpened at the ends or pointed with
iron, and urge him on with their noife and din, and at
the fame time the females pull Win) gently forward : aS'
foon as he has cleared the roomee, his condutlors fepa-
rate; fo that, if he attempts to go to one fide, he is pre-
vented by the elephant that pulls in the oppofite di-
veftion, and vice verja. The bundahs, which tie his
hind-legs, though but loofely, yet prevent his going
faft ; and, thuslituated,he is conducted like an enraged
bull, that has a cord fattened to his horns on each fide,
fo that he cannot turn either to the right or left to*
avenge himfclf. In like manner is this noble animal

led

APPENDIX. 607

!cd to the next tree, as the goondahs before-mention-
ed were. Sometimes he becomes obllinate, and will
not advance; in which cafe, while one of his conduc-
tors draws him forward, the other comes behind and
puflics him on: fliould he lie down, fhe puts her fnout
under and raifes him up,"^pporting him on her knee,
and with her head pulhing him forward with all her
flrength; the hunters likewife affill by goading him,
and urging him forward by their noife and din; fome-
times they are even obliged to put lighted torches near,
in order to make him advance. In conducing fmall
elephants from the roomee, only one cable and one
koomkee are made ufe of. As foon as each elephant
is fecured, he is left in charge to the mahote, or keep-
er, who is appointed to attend and inflrutl him; and,
•under him, there are from two to five coolies, accord-
ing to the fize of the elephant, in order to affift and to
Supply food and water, till he becomes fo tradable as
to bring the former himfelf. Thefe people ere£l a
hut immediately before him, where the mahote, or one
.of the coolies, conftantly attends, fupplies him with
food, and foothes and carefl'es him by a variety of little
arts. Sometimes the mahote threatens and even goads
him with a long ftick. pointed with iron, but more ge-
rerallv coaxes and flatters him, fcratchincj his head
and trunk with a long bamboo fplit at one end into
many pieces, and driving away the flies from any fores
occafioned by the hurts and bruifes he got by his ef-
forts to efcape from the roomee. This animal's flviii
is foft, confidering his fize; is extremely fenfible, and
is eafily cut or pierced, more fo than the fkin of moft
Jarge quadrupeds. The mahote likewife keeps him
cool, by fquirting water all over him, and Handing
without the reach of his trunk: in a few days he ad-
vances cautioufly to his fide, and flrokes and pats him
with his hand, fpeakiiig to him all the while in a footh-
ing tone of voice, and in a little time he begins to
Jiinow his keeper and obey his commands. By degrees

the

6o8 APPENDIX,

the mahote becomes familiar to him, and at length gets
upon his back from one of the tame elephants, and,
as the animal becomes more tractable, he advances
gradually forward, towards his head, till at lafl he is
permitted to feat himfelf on his neck, from which
place he afterwards regulates and directs all his mo-
tions. While they are training in this manner, the
tame elephants lead out the others in turn, for the fake
of exercife, and likewife to eafe their legs from the
cords with which they are tied, and which are apt to
call them moll terribly unlefs they are regularly flack-
ed and ftiifted. In five or fix weeks the elephant be-
comes obedient to his keeper, his fetters are taken off"
bv degrees, and generally in about five or fix months
he fuffers himfelf to be conduced by the mahote from
one place to another: care, however, is always taken
not to let him approach his former haunts, left a recol-
leflion of the freedom he there enjoyed Ihould induce
him attain to recover his liberty. This obedience to
his conduftorfeems to proceed partly from a fenfe of
generofity, as it is in Ibme meafure voluntary; for,
whenever an elephant takes fright, or is determined to
run away, all the exertions of the mahote cannot pre-
vent him, even by beating or digging the pointed iron
hook into hishead, with which he direftshim; on fuch
an occafion the animal feems to difregard thefe feeble
efforts, oiherwife he would fhake or pull him off" with
his trunk, and dafli him in pieces. Accidents of this
kind happen almoil every year, efpecially tothofe ma-
hotes who attend the large goondahs; but fuch acci-
dents are in general owing entirely to their own care-
leffnefs and neglect. It is neceffary to treat the males
with much greater feverity than the females, to keep
them in awe; but it is too common a practice among
the mahotes, either to be negligent in ufing proper
meafures to render their elephants docile, or to truft
loo much totheirgood nature before they are thorough-
ly acquainted with their difpofilions. The iron hook,

with

APPENDIX. 609

with which they direft him, is pretty heavy, about fix-
teen inches long, with a ftraight fpike advancing a litile
beyond the curve of the hook, fo that altogether it is
cxaftly like that which ferrymen or boatmen ufe fafl.-
ened to a long pole.

The elephant, when tamed, is the mod friendly and
obedient of all animals. A tame elephant will do
more labour than fix horfcs, but then he requires a
proportionable quantity of food. They are the prin-
cipal beads of burden in many parts of Africa and the
£aft-Indies.

The elephant's teeth, or ivory, brought from Afri-
ca, are frequently picked up in the woods, fo that it is
uncertain whether they are fhed teeth, or thofe of dead
animals: thofe from Mofambique are ten feet long,
from Malabar only three or four: the largeft in Afia
are thofe of Cochin China, which even exceed the
fize of the elephants of Mofambique.

Of this genus there is but one fpecies at prefent
known. Gmeiin fays, the elephant is afraid of mice,
left they fliould creep into his throat while afleep. —
Synonymes. Elephas maximus, Gmelins Linn. Ele-
phas, Brijf. Ray, and Seba» Elephantus, Gefn. AU
drov. Johnjl. and Buffon.

TRICHECHUS, the Walrus.

THE Manatus, or walrus without tufks. This,
andtheremaining fpecies of walrus, notinfenedp. 558-
561. will be found p. 576, under the tide Manati.

In THE ORDER of FER^.
CANIS, the Dog, Wolf, Fox, Hyaena, <&:c.

The Surinam Wolf. Tatl fmooth, bent down-
wards; body greyifh, white underneath. Ears ere^,
of the colour of ihe body; a wart above the eyes, on
the cheeks, and under the throat; tongue fringed at the

Vol. III. No. 107. 4H fid,es;

6id APPENDIX.

fidesj fizeoFacat. — Synonymes. Canls thousj Gwr*
lins Linn. Surinam wolf, Penn.

The Abyssinian Hy<€Na. The account of thisr
is included in that of the other hyaenas, p. 309-312.-—
Canis yEthiopicus, Turton.

The Karagan Fox. Tail ftrait, body grey^ ears
black; inhabits the defertsof the Calmucsand the Kir-
gifees. — Canis Karagan, GmeL and Turton. Karagari
et fteppenfu'chfe, Pallas,

VIVERRA, the Ichneumon and fome Weasels.

THIS genus has been but lately diftinguifhed from
the Muftela, which contains the otters and the rell of
the weafels, &:c. Generic chara£lers, Fore-teeth fix,
intermediate ones fhorter: tuflis one each fide, lon-
ger; grinders more than three; tongue often aculeate
backwards; claws not retraftile. Their bodies are
long, of equal thicknefs, legs fhort, ufually with five
toes, ciaws immoveable, ears fmall, fnout pointed ; be-
tween the anus and genitals an orifice leading to a du6l
fecreting an un6tuous fetid matter; aftive and fwift,
fome walk on the heels, fome climb, and fome burrow;
females produce many at a litter. The following fpe-
cies are lately added.

The Zenik. For the defcription, fee p. 507^—
Synonymes. Viverra zenik, GmeL and Turton.. Ze*
iiik des Hottentots, Sonn. ii. 145. t. 92.

The Narica. Brownifh, tail of the fame colour;
nofe elongated, moveable. Inhabits South America;
digs fodeep as to bury itfelf except the tail ; feeds oa
■worms, bread, fruit, and roots; takes, the water, climbs
trees. Hair dulky at the roots, brown in the middle,
yellow at the tips; tail fometimes obfcurely annulate;
feet black, naked. — Synonymes. Viverra narica,
Gmel. and Turton. Urfus nafo produfto et mobjli^
Briff. igo. Coati brun, 5w^. viii. 48.

The Quasje. Of a chemut colour, yellow ifh he-
neaih; fnout lengthened; tail annulate. Inhabits Su-
rinam; digs; feeds on worms, infects, and fruit; tamc-

ablei

APPENDIX. 6it

able, fetid. — Synonymes. Viverra qiiasje, Gmel. and
Turton. YzquepatI, Stba. Meles ex i'aturate Tpadi-
ceo nigricans, &c. Brijf, 185.

The CoNEPATL. Blackilh, with two white lines
along the back to the tail. Inhabits New Spain.—
Synonymes. Viverra conepatl, Gmel. and Turton,
Conepatl, feu vulpecula puerilis, Hernand. Mcx. 232,

The Cape Weasel. Black; back grey, edged
with white. Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and
Guinea; feeds on wild honey; emits an intolerable
vapour. Ears none; hair long, rough ; two feet long,
tail eight inches. — Synonymes. Viverra Capenfis,
Gmelins Linn. Stinkbinfen, Xo/Z»<?. Blaireaupuant,
La Caille. Fizzler, Pennant. Cape weafel, Turton, 54,

TheANNuLATED Weasel. Tail long, annulate;
face with a white fpot each fide the nofe, and outer
fide of each eye. Size of the laft; fides, rump, and
upper part of the legs, cinereous, with fcattered black
fpots; nole at the tip, cheeks, and throat, black; ears
large, upright, thin, naked, black, behind each a black
line to the fhoulder; tail cinereous mixed with tawny
near the bafe, annulate with black. — Viverra ar>nulata,
Turtons Linn. 55.

The Spotted Weasel. Tail annulate,, brown
at the tip; body cinereous fpottcd with brown, with a
black ftreak from the head to the tail. Inhabits the
Cape of Good Hope; fizeof a common cat; fond of
flefh, efpecially birds; has no civet odour. Head
round; nofe fliort; whiflvers white; cheeks yellowifh-
white; a round black fpot each fide the nofe; fore-
head with a dufky line down the middle. — Synonymes.
Viverra ligrina, Gmd. and Turton, Chat bizaam,
Vojmaer,

MUSTELA, the Otters and Weasels.

IN many circumftances the otters and weafels re*
femble each other; body long, of the fame thicknefs,
feet fhort, hair lliining, claws immoveablej burrow ki

4 H 2 ib«

6i2 APPENDIX.

the ground, prowl and prey by night; but the otters
live moftly in the water, fwim on the furface and un-
der, feed chiefly on fifli; do not climb, or leap with
the body curved and tail ftretched out like the weafels;
head larger and thicker, tongue ilrewed with foft
prickles; otters have five grinders in each jaw on each
fide; weafeis four or five above, five or fix below.

The Paraguay Otter. Mixed grey and black;
feet pahnate. Inhabits on the Rio de la Plata; fize
of a cat; fur velvety, fiefh delicate. — Synonymes.
Muftela Paraguenfis, 7wr/c>7z'5 Linn.

The Pale Weasel. Back and belly pale cine-
reous-yellow; face, crown, legs, and tail, black. Head
flat; ears rounded; nofe broad, blunt; cheeks and
chin white; throat rich yellow; length eighteen inches,
tail long as the body. — Synonymes. Muftela melina,
yellow weafel, Turton.

The following are perhaps included in fome of the
foregoing defcriptions, though under other names.

The Krmined Weasel, defcribed by Pennant in
his edition of 1793, and by Harrifon,No. 78. Body
white and fpotied ; tail annulated, ears rofe-coloured.

The Lobster Weasel, common in Norfolk and
Suffolk, foraewhat like a polecat, but the volume of
its body larger; colour reddifli brown or bright cho-
colate; throat white tinged with yellow; fnout fliarp,
fmell when hunted very fetid.

URSUS, the Bear, Badger, &c.

THE Sand Bear. This has only ybwr toes ob
each foot. It islefsthan the badger; almoft deditute
of hair; impatient of cold; and burrows in the ground.
Body yellowifh white; eyes fmall; legs fiiort; claws
white, fharp; tail long. Firft defcribed and figured
by Bewick from one kept in the Tower of London.
He fuppofes it may be a variety of the badger, proba-
bly that given by Brilfon from New York, " white
above, yellowifli white below,"— Synonymes. Urfus

tetradaBylus,

APPENDIX. 613

tctradaHylus, Turf on. U. fupra alba, infra ex albo
flavicaiis, Brijf. Quad. 185. U. meles alba, Gmclins
Linn. 102. Sand bear, Bewick's Oiiad. 257.

DIDELPHIS, the Opossum,

THE generic characters, as now correftly ftated by
Gmelin, are as follow: Fore-teeth minute, rounded ;
upper ten, intermediate two longer; lower eight, in-
termediate two broader, very fhort; tulkslong; grind-
ers crenate; tongue fringed with papillae; a pouch (in
many) abdominal, covering the teats. This tribe is
chiefly found in America, living in holes in woody
places, burrowing in the earth, and climbing trees by
means of their prehenfile tail; they move flowly, feed
on birds, ei'pecially poultry, infefts, worms, and vege-
tables ; feet ufually five toed divided, the great toe re-
mote; penis moftly concealed, glans divided; females
fometimes with abdominal pouclies which can be open-
ed or fhut at pkafure, in which the young are hid in
time of danger, and which is preient fometimes in the
wales.

The Br AS I L Opossum. Tail bufhy at the bafe;
ears pendulous; teats four. Inhabits South America;
length nine inches, tail fourteen. Whiflvcrs fix rows;
margin of the orbits dufl^y; feet whitifh; naked part
of the tail whitifli with brown fpots. — Synonymes.
Didelphis philander, Braiil opoffum, Turton, Phi«
lander Brafilienfis, BriJf.

The PoRCULiNE Opossum. Taillongifh, fore-
feet five-toed, exterior claws fwiall; hind-feet four*
toed, two interior united. Inhabits New Holland;
fize of a half grown rat. Body rufly above, whitifh
beneath, corpulent; hind-legs much longer; interior
clavvs double; ears rounded; hair coarfe. — Synony-
mes. Didelphis obefula, porculine opoffum, TiLrton.

The Woolly Opossum. Tail flender, naked, hairy
at the tip; heels of the hind-feet long, naked; thumb-
nail flat. See p. 149, where this fpccies is defcribed

under

6i4 APPENDIX,

under the name of the tarjicr, it having formerly been
placed in the lemur genus. — Synonymes. Didelphis
macrotarfusj Gmclins Linn> Tarfier, Biiff. Woolly
jerboa, Ptnn. Lemur podje, Turton.

The Sqirrel Opossum. A lateral flying mem-
brane; body grey above, fnowy beneath; tail prehen-
iile, very hairy, black towards the tip. Inhabits New
Holland; torpid by day, aftive by night. Size of a
fquirrel; eyes black, full; ears round, thin; membrane
edged with blackifh; pouch large; thumb of the hind-
feet rounded, unarmed ; a black ftripe down the head
and back; two interior toes of the hind-feet joined.
— Synonymes. Didelphis fciurea, the fquirrel opof-
fum, Turton s Linn.

The LoNG-TAi LED Opossum. A lateral flying
membrane; body dark-grey above, whitifh beneath;
tail long, flender, black. Inhabits New Holland; lefs
than the laft, but refembles it in manners and appear-
ance.—Synonymes. Didelphis macroura, long-tailed
opoflum, Turton s Linn.

The Pigmy Opossum. A lateral flying mem-
brane; tail flat, pinnate, linear. Inhabits New Hol-
land; fize of a moufe. Body browp above, whitifli
beneath; whifl^erslong; tongue large, long, flattened;
pouch femilunar at the opening. — Synonymes. Di-
delphis pigmaea, the pigmy opoffum, Turton s Linn.

ERINACEUS, the Hedgehog.

THE Malacca Hedgehog. This was placed
by Linnaeus among the porcupines; fee p. 456 of this
volume. — Synonymes. Erinaceus Malaccenfis, Gwf/.
Hyftrix brachyura, Linn. ed. x. Malacca hedgehog,
Turton.

The Madagascar Hedgehog. This is proba-
bly the variety noted in p. 537. It has no tail, fnout
very long, acute. Inhabits India and Madagafcar;
eight inches long; in habits exatlly refembles the Afia-
{ic fpecies. Mouth and eyes fmall; ears rounded,

longer

APPENDIX. 615

longer than that: fpines black in the middle, cover-
ing the \vhole back and fides; hair yellowifli; feet
tawny. — Synonymes. Erinaceus ecaudatus, Gmelins
Xinn. Madagafcar hedgehog, Turtoiu Tanrec, le
jeune tanrec, Biiffo?i, xii. Siipp. iii.

In the order of GLIRES.

MUS, the Rat, Mouse, &:c,

THE Car AGO. Tail long, fcaly, bluntifh; body
grey J hind-feet flightly palmate. Inhabits the waters
of eaitern Siberia and China, burrows on the banks,
fwims well, frequents houfes; f;x inches long. Head
long, narrow; eyes nearer the ears than the nofe; toes
of the hind-feet connefted by a fold of fkin ; back
brown mixed with grey, belly whitifli afh; feet dirty-
white; tail four inches and a half. — Synonymes. Mus
caraco, Gmcl. and Turton.

The Blue Mouse. Tail middle length, hairyifh;
fore-feet four, hind five-toed; body blue, whitifli be-
neath. Inhabits Chili; in hze and appearance refem-
bles the field moufe; very timid, forms large burrows
divided into many chambers, colle6\s vaft ftores of
bulbous roots, which the natives fearch carefully after.
—Synonymes. Mus cyanus, Gmel. Blue moufe,
Turton.

The Lena Mouse. Tail fhort, covered with

■ coarfe hair; toes four before, five behind; body white.

Inhabits the banks of the river Lena; three inches

long. — Synonymes. Mus lena, lena moufe, Turton,

The Maulinus, will be found among the Mar-
mots, p. 466. to which Gmelin thinks it may poffibly
belong, though he has left it here. Turton has re-
moved it. — Synonymes. Mus maulinus, Gmel. Arc-
tomys maulinus, the Chilefe marmot, Turton.

ARCTOMYS, the Marmot.

THE Casan Marmot, which feems included by
Gmelin under the earlefs marmot, is made a feparate

fpecic*

6i6 APPENDIX.

fpecies by Turton. It has ears, though very fhort;
tail hairy, fliort; body above yellowifh-brown with
many fmall white fpots. Inhabits Cafan and Auftria,
in holes on the declivities of mountains; burrows
deep, winding, withfeveral entrances and many apart-
ments in which are ftored pulfe and corn; fize of a
large rat. Head and body lengthened; face, breaft,
and belly, pale yellow; tail yellowifli-brown; toes four
before with a fhortthumb, five behind, two outer fhort,
three other long. — Synonymes. Arctomys fuflica,
cafan marmot, Turton s Linn. 89.

The PoDOLiAN Marmot. Ears fhort; body
moufe-grey; feet five-toed; eyes minute, concealed.
Inhabits Riiflia, Poland, Perfia, and China; ftrong,
mifchievous, larger than the lalt, refembles in habits
A. marmota; the prey of birds and vermin; gravid
g-__4 weeks, brings 3 — 8 young. Varies in colourand
iize, fometimes fpotted with white ; tail fometime*
ongifh, and the hair flaed like a fquirrel. — Synony-
mes. ArQomys zemni, Podolian marmotj Turton, 90.

SCIURUS, the Squirrel.

GENERIC charafters accurately as follow: Fore-
teeth two, upper wedged, lower acute; grinders upper,
each fide five, lower fgur; clavicles perfe6l; tail Ihed
each fide; whiflcers long. They are ufually attive,
elegant, eafily lamed, and climb dexteroufly, leaping
from tree to tree; a few are fubterraneous; they live
moftly on feeds and fruit; fome leap in running, fome
are furnifhed with a flying membrane. Body thick-
ifh; feet fhort; toes four before with the rudiments
of a thumb, five behind; head broad; earslong oval j
tail long, hairy, generally turned over the back.

-The Virginian Squirrel. Body mixed dirty-
white and black; fur coarfe. Inhabits Virginia; fize
of S. cinereus. Throat, infides of the legs and thighs,
black; tail fliort, dull yellow. — Synonymes. Sciurus
Virginianusj Turton,

The

APPENDIX. 617

The Persian Squirrel. Ears plain; body
dark, fides while, belly yellow;, tail mixed black and
a{h, widi a while ring. Inhabits the higher mountains
of Perfia; refembles S. vulgaris, but does not vary in'
colour; foles reddifh. — Synonymes. Sciurus Perli-
cus, Gmelin. Perfian fquirrel, Turton.

TheGEORGiAN Squirrel. Ears plain, rounded;
body above yellow mixed with brown, beneath dark
tawny; tail fame as the upper parts. Inhabits Geor-
gia in Afia; larger than S. vulgaris. Mouth white;
nofe black at the tip; cheeks yellow; whiflvers and
orbits brown; ears flame-coloured, within whitifh. —
Synonymes. Sciurus anomalus, Gmel. Georgian
fquirrel, Turton.

The Ground Squirrel, by Pennant called the.
Jlriped dormoufe; fee p. 481.

The Carn ATic Squirrel. Body brick-duft e<5-
lour; lateral ftripes and orbits white; tail black. In-
habits the Indian Carnatic; larger than S. vulgaris. —
Synonymes. Sciurus dfchinfchicus, Gmel. Carnatic
fquirrel, Turton.

The Chilese Squirrel, otherwife the Chilian
dormoufe; fee p. 483.

The Guiana Squirrel. Body above pale yel-
lowifh-brown; fides and belly white; tail long, hairy,

rpotted. Inhabits Guiana; refembles S. vulgaris

Synonymes. Sciurus Guianenfis, jBj?zc?'o//. Sc. Ban-
crofti, Turton.

The Cayenne Squirrel. Body reddifh, very
fmall. Inhabits Cayenne; lives folitary on trees; feeds
on feeds; naturally fierce, but may be tamed; brings
two young, once a year; fize of a rat. — Synonymes.
Sciurus Guianenfis, Dc la Bordc. Cayenne fquirrel,
Turton.

The Cape Squirrel, or earlejs dormovje; Ice p.
484.

The Jumping Squirrel. Body above deep
chefiiul, beneath pale rulty; or above black, beneath

Vol. III. No. 108. 4 I hoarv;

6i8 APPENDIX.

hoary ; tail longer than the body, very hairy, round,
blackifli, rufty in the middle. Inhabits the iflands oi"
the Indian Ocean; a foot and a half long. Head
rounded; whifkers and claws black; teats fix pero-
ral and abdominal; pupils long, narrow, like thofe of
the cat. — Svnonymes. Sciurus petaurilta, Gruel.
Taquan, Buff. Supp.

The Southern Flying Squirrel. Body above
blackifli-brown, beneath whitifli; hind-thumbs round-
ed; tail long, bufhy; ears large. Inhabits New
South Wales; the largeft and mofl elegant of its
tribe. Membrane fomewhat fcolloped at the edges,
paler; fur exquifitely foft; ears longifh; over each
eye a black ftripe; claws, except of the hind-thumbs
fliarp, hooked; two toes next the hind-thumb united
by the fkin.— Synonymes. Sciurus Auftralisj South-
ern flying fquirrel, Turtons Linn. 96,

MYOXUS, the Dormouse.

THESE all remain torpid during winter; walk or
rather leap on their hind-legs, bounding 3 or 4 feet at
a time, in which they are aifilledby the long lliff tail;
feed only on vegetables, burrow under ground; flecp
by day, watch by night; carry food to the mouth by
the fore-paws, and drink by dipping the fore-palms in
.water. Three fpecies defcribed under this head, the
ftriped, the Chilian, and the earlefs, p. 481, 3, 4, now
appear to belong to the fquirrels. The only fpecies
omitted is

The Wood Dormouse. Body above tawny grey,
beneath dirty white; a llraighl black^line from ear to
ear acrofs the eyes. Inhabits Europe; differs from
the reft only in colour, tail fhorter, more bufhy; no
black fpots near the ears. — Synonymes. Myoxus dry-
as, Gmtlm's Linn. Wood dormoufe, Turton.

HYRAX, the Hyrax.

THIS new genus includes only two fpecies, for-

merly

APPENDIX, 619

merly known by the name of the Gape and ihe Syri-
an Cavy, tor vvliich fee p. 431, 434. of this volume.
We (hall give the generic charafters, that fiicceedmg
naturaliils may be enabled properly to arrange any
new I'pecies that may be difcovered hereafter : Fore-
teeth upper two, broad diftant; lower four, contigu-
ous, broad, flat, notched; grinders large, four on each
fide, of each jaw; fore feet four-toed, hind-feet three-
toed; tail none, clavicle none.

In the order of PECORA.

CAMELUS, the Camel.

TH E LoN G- E AR E D C A M £ L. Body woolly, fmooth ;
fnout turned upwards; tail and cars pendulous. In-
habits Peru and Chili; refembling in many things the
flieep; tail longer; wool finer; body white, black, or
brown; flefii good. — Synonymes. Camelus arcuca-
rms, GmeL Sheep of Peru, Chiefa, Peru camel, Tur-
tons Linn. 106.

CERVUS, the Deer, Elk, &c.

THE Red Deer. No tail; horns three-forked.
Inhabits the woody mountains of Hircania, Ruffia, and
Siberia; becomes hoary in winter, and defcends into
the plains; larger than the roe. Body deep red ; be-
neath and on the limbs paler; round the nofe and on
the fides of the lower lip black; tip of the lip and rump
white; horns tuberculate at the bafe; earswiihin white,
hairy. — Synonymes. Cervus pygargus, GineL and
Turton.

The American Elk, figured by Bewick from a
livingone brought out of the interior parts of America,
feems to be a different animal from that generally de-
fcribed under the name of the elk or moofe-deer, to
which it has very little refemblance. It feems, indeed,
to belong to a di(\ind fpecies; and is probably the
elk or orignal of Canada and the northern parts of

4 I a America.

620 APPENDIX.

America. At the age of five years, the length oftliis
creature was nine feet, from the end of the muzzle to
the infertion of the tail; the head and neck being ex-
tended in a line with the body : its height at the flioul-
der was four feet P.x inches; length of the head,
one foot fix inches; breadth over the forehead, feven
inches; length of the fore-legs, two feet five inches;
length of the neck, two feet fix; its ears, nine inches;
and tail, three; its horns, which it had jud flied, are
not palmated, like thofe of the moole: they are
large; and, when full grown, mealure above fix
feet, from tip to tip. The antlers are round, and
pointed at the ends; the lowermoft antler forms a curve
downward over each eye, to which itappears a defence.
Its hair was long, of a dark dun colour on the hack
and fides; on the head and legs, dark-brown: its eyes
full and lively; and below each eye there is a deep
flit, about two inches in length, the ufe of which v^e
are unable to difcover. It was very lively and aftive;
of great flrength of body and limbs: its hoofs fhort,

^ and like thofe of a calf; the divifion between them is
lefs than in thofe of the rein-deer; and, when the ani-
mal is in motion, they do not make a rattling noife. It
has no mane; but the hair under its neck is longer than
that on any other part of the body. The o\\ ner of this
very rare and beautiful animal, faid, that it does not
attain its full growth till twenty years old, and that it
fheds its horns every third year. — Synonymes. Ame-
rican elk, Bewick's QiLad. 112. Orignal, Charlevoix

^Noiiv. France^ ii'i. 126,

CAMELOPARDALIS, the Giraffe.

THIS animal confiitutesafolitarygenus; efrentiallir
difiinguifhed from all the other genera of animals,
though not diverfihed into diftind fpecies or different
varieties,

Its generic charaBers are, fhort upright horns, trun-
cated at the top, and covered with flan and hair; the,

hair

.////r Y//jr^//r, rr (^'a/z/r/r/urrr/ ^.

' L..„.lL r..Mulml .<t Ou .lit direct, ir /"'' '?«»■

APPENDIX. ^621

hair increafing in length towards the extremity of the
horn, and forming a Ibrt of tutt around its top; the
neck and (houidcrs longer in proportion to the reft of
the body, than thofe of other annuals: eioht cimins
teeth in the lower, but none in the upper, jaw ; and iix
grinders or douljle teeth on each lide. both above and
below. Theheighiof the camelopardalis, when {land-
ing cred, is commonly between fourteen and fifteen
feet from the hoofs of the (ore-legs to the top of the
horns. His fore and hinder legs are nearly of tb,e
iame length; which is commonly between five and ii:<
feet. His height behind, from the hinder feet to the
rump, is between eight and nine feet. His neck and
head are nearly eqvial in length to the reft; of the body ;
and his whole length from the head to the rumpgene-r
rally about eleven, or between eleven and twelve feet.
The mane does not extend beyond the flioulders; the
hair of which it is coinpofed is ufually between three
and four inches long. His tail refembles tlie bullock's;
is bare till near the extremity, but terminates in a beau-
tiful tuft of ftrong hair of confiderable length. He is
cloven-footed. The female has few teats.

Thefe animals are either of a reddifli colour, or of
a mixture of dark brown and white, or of black and
white. The hair of the tail is moft frequently black.
The body and thighs are, according to fome accounts,
fpotted ail over with fpots of a lighter colour than the
ground; according toothers, chequered with light bars.
The length of his neck and (boulders renders it difficult
for thecamelopard, though a ruminating animal, tocrop
grafs on the ground. He feeds chiefly, therefore, on
the leaves and tender (hoots of trees. The miinola
and the wild apricot-tree fupply the chief part of his
nouri(hment. Wh.en he eats grafs from the ground,
he fometimes bends one of hiskiiees ashorfes do; when
plucking leaves and fmall branches from tall trees, he
brings his fore-feet about a foot and a half nearer each
other than his hinder feet. The. camelopard is mild

and

622 APPENDIX.

and peaceful in his difpofitions. Far from attackino-
mankind or other animals, he does not even exprel's
refeniment or attempt refiltance when attacked him-
felf.

The flefli of die young camelopard is agreeable
food enough; but has fometimes a ftrong flavour of a
certain ilirub of the raimofa tribe. The marrow is a
favourite delicacy with the Hottentots; it is chiefly for
that they hunt the animal. They kill it '.vith poifoned
arrows. Of its fliin they make veffels for containing
vaterand other liquors.

This Angular animal, though not eminently fwift, is
not fo eafily overtaken in the chace as has been faid.
It does not limp in walking, but fometimes paces and
fometimes gallops. Notwithflanding the irregularity
and apparent unwieldinefs of its form, it runs long be-
fore being fenfibly affefted with fatigue; and the
ground over which it moves with eafe, is often fo fliarp
and rough as to lame horfes that follow it. It ap-
pears to have been known to the Romans in early
limes. Pliny defcribes it with tolerable accuracy as a
native of Ethiopia; and informs us that it was firft exhi-
bited in the circus at Rome by Julius Caefar, in a fhow
of wild beafts; with which, as we learn from others,
he entertained the people, three years before his death.
It is {till found in the forefts of Ethiopia; and is be.
lieved to inhabit the interior parts of Africa; but it is
chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good
Hope that Europeans have had opportunities of get-
ting acquainted with it, in modern times. The fingu-
larity of its form, the mildnefs and limplicity of its
manners, and its being confined to a region of the
globe, of which the topography, the natural and the ci-
vil hiRory, are but veiy ituptrfetil) kno\\n,have oc-
calionfd a good many miiicprefeiitations and doubts
concerning this animal, button in his hiltory of it,
prefeiits us with a variety of inforniaiion communica-
led Lo him by correfpondcnis. But he feems to offer

it

APPENDIX. 623

it with doubt and hefitation; and his friends, from
whom he received thofe communications, appear to
have been but imperfe£lly informed themfelves, and
even difagree in various particulars. Mr. Pennant, in
his account of the camelopard, fcarcely difcovers his
ufual accuracy; nor is the defcription given by Lin-
naeus remarkably diftinft or authentic. Happily, three
travellers who have of late vifued the fouth of Africa,
Dr. Sparrman, Lieutenant Paterfon, and M. Vaillant,
eager (Indents of natural hiftory, have examined and
defcribed the form, the manners, and the general cha-
ra6ler, of this animal in a very faiisfaftory manner.
The above hiftory of it refts chiefly on their authority.
Synonymes. — Camelopardalis giraffe, Gmelin. Cer-
vus camelo-pardalis, Linn. Hajfelq. and Pallas. Came-
lus Lidicus, Johnjl. Giraffe, Thtv, Lobo, and Bitffon,
Camelpardj Gefner and Pennant.

ANTILOPE, the Antelope.

THE White-footed Antelope, or Nyl
Ghau. Since printing our account of this animal in
p, 1 59, we have been favoured by a correfpondent with
fome additional particulars refpe6ling two of the male
kind Ihewn in Norwich in 1798. They were aJmoft
uniformly of a flate colour; body and limbs nearly re-
fembling a fmall mule. Head, neck, and face, like
the deer; tail like a cow; hoofs cloven; horns black,
fmooih, and about four inches round at the roots,
gently arched towards each other, and reclined back-
wards; eight or ten inches long. Countenance inno-
cent and placid; after eating its hay, Scq. laid down
and chewed the cud at leifure like the deer. The fe-
male is fo much like the female deer that it requires a
critical eye to difcern the difference. — Synonymes.
Antilope pi6ta, Gmelins Linn. White-footed ante-
lope, Penn. Nyl-ghau, Hunter mPhil. TranJ. Ixi. 170.

The Persian Antelope. Horns lyrate; body
above afiiy-brown, beneath fnowy; lateral ttripe pale

tawny.

624 APPENDIX.

tawny. Inhabits Perfia; gregarious, refembles the roe.
Horns thirteen iiiches long, linooth at the tip; head
of the larynx prominent; knees tulied; flefh good. —
Synonymes. Antjlope fubgutlurolia, CmeL Perfiari
antelope, Turton.

The Sen EG AL Antelope. Horns lyrate, thick,
annulate; tips fmooth, fharp, bent back. Inhabits
Senegal; feven feet long. Ears large, feven inches
long, horns fevgntecn, rings fifteen, prominent; body
pale reddjfli-brown; ftripe down the neck black; rump
dirty white; on each knee and above each fetlock a
dufky fpot; tail a foot long, covered with blackifii
hair. — Synonymes. Aniilope koba, Senegal antelope,
Turton.

The African Antelope. Horns ftraight, ta-
pering, a little wrinkled at the bafe; head tawny; bo-
dy gre^nilh-yellow, beneath white-a(h; tail very fhort.
Inhabits Africa. — Synonymes. Antilope oreotragus,
Gmeh and Turton.

CAPRA, the Goat.

THE Caucasan Goat. Horns turned back-
wards and outwards, verginginwards at the tips, fli:ghtly
triangular, knotty behind. Inhabits the bare rocky
fummits of mount Caucafus, near the rife of the Te-
rek and Cuban rivers; fize of a common goat, but
broader and Ihorter. Horns dark grey, of the male
darker; body above brownilh grey witli a dark fpiral
Jine, beneath whitifii ; extremities black; hair cinere-
ous at the bafe, harfii, ftiff, intermixed with grey waol.
—Synonymes. Capra Caucafica, Gmclms Linn.
Caucafan goat, Turton.

OVIS, the Sheep.

THE following varieties of the avis aries, or com-,
inon {beep, were not noticed in the early part of the
volume. The bacharica^ or Bucharian fheep, with
Urge pendulous ears; culliions on the hips lefs than in

the

APPENDIX. 625

the fat-rumped fheep ; inhabits the fame places, tail
long, flat. The longicaiida, or long-tailed Iheep, with
a very long woolly tail. 'The capenfis,OT Cape fheep;
ears lar^e and pendulous; tail large broad. Gmelirii
Linn.--T^Q morvant ; beard long on the fore part of
the breaft, coarfe •-'*.'^>f":^^grey; mane on the neck
reaching to the -xuw ot the back; body bright yel-
low; legs -^ ^. red; tail yellow and white, with long
coarfe hairs. Turtons Linn,

The Chilian Sheep. Horns round, fmooth, di-
vergent. Inhabits the Cordeleras in South America,
gentle, defcends in winter into the vallies; fize of a
half grown kid; refembles a goat, but the horns are
turned round outwards; beard none; female no horns;
colour dufky.— -Synonymes. Oyis pudu, Gmehn's
Linn, Capra pudu, Molina's Chili,

BOS, the Ox.

THE Bos Arnee, has horns, long, ereB, femi-
lunar, wrinkled; tips fmooth, round, approaching.
Inhabits India, of vaa fize; eight feet high; black.
Turton,

The American Ox. Horns round, diftant point-
ing outwards; mane long, woolly; back gibbous. In-
habits reedy marlhes of New Spain ; it is very large,
fierce, and dangerous. Horns fhort, black, diftant at
the bafe; gibbofily large, flelhy; neck thick; hind-
parts flender, weak; tail a foot long, tufted; hair ot
fhe head and bunch long, woolly, waving, rufty-brown.
—Synonymes. Bos Americanus, Linn, ^nd GmeL
Bifon d'Amerique, Buff. Buffalo, Law/on and Catejby,
American ox, Dobbs. American bull, Penn,

The Bo \s, or Bearded Ox. Horns Ihort, chin,
and breaft bearded. Inhabits north of the Cape; lar*
gerthan an ox; grey.— Synonymes. Bos barbatus,
boas, Turtons Linn.

Vol. 111. No. 108. 4 K- ^^

626 APPENDIX.

In THE ORDER of BELLU^.

THE Guinea Hog. This is the yif5j&orcw5, which
name has been erroneoufly given in p. 228 to th«
Chinefe variety of the domeltic hog. — The back of
the Guinea hog is briftly on the hind parts, and the
tail reaches to the ground; there is a variety which in-
habits Siam, with ereft ears, and the tail not quite fq
long. This fpjscies is lei's than the common hog, with z.-^
naked tail and pointed ears; the body is red,andthehair
longer on the head than on the buttocks. — Synonymes,
Sus porcus, G7nelins Linn. Guinea hog, Brown and
Pcnn. Cochon de Guinee, cochon de Siam, /3. BuJF,

The MERIAN OPOSSUM.

THIS curious animal is partly defcribed in p. 380,
of this volume. The figure we have hereunto annex-
ed, is taken from the elegant drawings of Madam Me-
rian, preferved in the Britifh Mufeum; and from whom
it takes its name of Merian Opoifum. When thefe
animals go abroad in fearch of food, the young family
accompany them on foot, but when their hunger isfa-
tisfied, or if alarmed with fudden danger, they mount
on their mother's back, winding their tails rouncj her
' tail, as fhewn in the engraving; in which pofture fhe
.carries them home, either to a hole in the earth, or to
the hollow of an old tree. This advantage they de-
rive from having the faculty of a prehenlile tail, like
a tribe of monkeys defcribed in our fecond volume.
With this they hold, as it were, by a finger; and they
have not only the advantage of holding themfelves or»
the old one's back in times of danger, but the whole
fpecies have the property of hanging by the tail on the
flender branches of trees, for the purpofe of obtaining
their prey, which confifts of various infeQs, fmall birds,
.and fruit. The tail is confiderably longer than the bo-
dy, very flender, of a light cinereous colour, annulated
with equidiilant rings or belts of dufky brown or black.
Synonymes. — Didelphis dorfigera, GmeL Philandre
de Surinam, BuJJ'. Merian opoITum, Fcn7i,

INDEX.

•In i.tti ./*•/

^^.^ulrieu ^yi ^^nc/^^^^'^^ 6^t^^m.

J'itHishrd JTnnfultoS •

t 627 ]

INDEX.

ALGAZEL, , eg.
Altom and Bakewel l, improvers of the breed of fheep in Leicefter-

(hire, 11 3-
Antelofe, 146; blue and Egyptian, 151 ; elk, 154; harnefled, 156; Guinea,

157; royal, 158; Indollan, i^g; white-footed, 159, 623; rwift,i6o; red and

ftriped, 161; jcommon, 162; Barbary, 164; kevel and fpiinger, 165; Chi-

nele, 167 ; faiga, or Scyihian, 168 ;. canine and cervine, 171 ; Gambian and

■wood antelope, 173 ; Perfian, 623; Senegal and African, 624.
Ant-eater, great, 552; middle-iized, 554; flriped and leall, 555 ; Cape,

556; porcupine, 557.
Arctomys, the Marmot, 460-468, 615.
Armadillo, 545; three-banded, 547; fix, eight, and nine, banded, 548;

twelve-banded, 545.
Ass, 62-68 ; wild, 62 ; tame or domeftic, 65.
Badger, 369; manner of buildiui^ his habitation, &c. 370; unknown to th:

Greeks, 37 i ; American and Indian badger, 37 2.
Bakewell, his manner of improving the breed of (beep, 118.
Bear, feven fpecies of, 357-372; brown, 357; black, 360 ; white or polar,

361 ; wolverene, 363; glutton, 365; racoon, 366; New-Holland bear, 368;

land-bear, 612.
Beaver, caftor, 448; induflry and fkill in conftrufting their dwellings, 449;

terrier-beavers, 45X ; mode of taking them, 452 ; muik-beaver, 453 ; guiUino

beaver, 454.
Bison, or American ox, $1 ; hunted by the Indians, 82; mode of defending

themfelves againft wolves, 83. ,

Bos, the Ox, &c. 72-99, 628.
Bradvpus, the Sloth, 538-545.
Buffalo, 86; of the Cape, go; dwarf buffalo, 99.

BuL I, and Cow, different forts, 72 ; in Scotland, 73. See Ox, Bison, &c.
Bursting, or blafl in (heep, 136, 625.
Camel, diftinguifliing marks of, 210; Arabian camel, or dromedary, 2i9';

its gentle manners, 211; peculiar ufefuliiels in Arabia, 212; Badtrian or

Turkilh dromedary, 215; lama, or Peruvian camel, 217; guanaco, 220;

pacos, 221; vicugna, 222; long-eared camel, 61 g.
Camelopardalis, the Giraffe, 62O.
Can IS, the Dog, 266-284.
Capra, the Goat, 137-146,624.
Castor, the Beaver, 448-454.
Cats, different fpecics, 346-357 ; Cayenne and Bengal cats, 346 ; manul and

common wild cat, 348; domedic cat, 349; Japan, blotched, and Chilian,

cat, 351 ; corolo and N'ew Spain cat, 352 ; ferval or mountain cat, 353. Sre

Lv NX and Civet. '

Caa/ia, or Cavy, of Capibara, 424; reftlcfs, or Guinea-pig, 425 ; rock, or apr-

rea, 427 j'Magsllanicor ?aiagonian, 428 ; paca, or fpotted, 428, 429 ; briftly,

431 ; long-nolVd, 432 ; olive and Javan, 433 ; Cape and mufk cavy, 434.
Cervus, the Deer, Elk, &c. 175-206, 6ig
Cete, the 7th order of the Mammalia, why placed by us at the head of the

Filhes, 588.
Chamoi s, 149.

CiiiNCHiMEN, a fpecies of otter, 421.
Ci NGHE, a fpecies of wealel, 41a.
Oivsi-cat^ 414; zibet, 415; Malacca cK-ct and genet, 416.

^ K a Classi-

628 INDEX.

Classification of Quadrupeds, and other Mammalia, according to die Lin*

nxan Syftetn, as improved by Gmelin and Turton, 586.
CoROLO, a fpecies of cat, 352.'
CujA, a kind of weafel, 387.
CuY,443.

D\SYPUS, the Armadillo, 545-55O.

DeeR) their charafteriftic marks, 175; elk, 176; rein-deer, 181; flag, 186;
fallow deer, 197; roe, igg; axis, 202; Virginian deer, 203; Mexican deer,
204; porcine deer, 205 ; muntjac, or rib-faced deer, 2O5 ; grey or Guinea*
deer, 205 ; red deer, 6ig.

PiDELPHis, the Opoffum and Kanguroo, 373-383, 613.

Dipus, the Jerboa, 486-492.

Dog, his diftinguifhing charafteriflics, i6® ; value as a demeftic animal, 260;
how varied by climate, &c. 261, 266; Linnaeus's account of the dog, 261,
262 ; BufFon's account, 263 ; unknown in America at its firft difcovery, 265 ;
fiiepherd's dog, 266; Pomeranian dog, 267; Siberian dog, 267 j ufed in
drawing fledges, 267, 268; hounds, different kinds, 268; Britifh harriers and
foxhounds, 269; blood-hound, his extraordinary fagacity, 270; fpaniei, 271 ;
grey-hound, 272; Newfoundland dog, 272 ; maftiflF, 273; bull-dog, 274;
dogs of the South- fea iflands, 275 ; propagation of dogs, 277 ; fome curious
infiances of the fpirit, fagacity, and fidelity, of dogs, 260, 275, 280-284.

Dormouse, its diftinguifhing charaflcrs, 480; the ftriped, 481 ; fat, and gar-
den, dormoufe, 482; Chilian and common, 483; earlefs, 484; gilt-tailed,
485 ; guerlinguets, 48,5 ; wood, 618.

DsHiKKETAi, or wild mule, 58-62.

Elephant, 248; his manners, 249; haunts, 25O; "WJethod of catching, fi^i,
593; taming, &c. 252, 607 ; introduced in fhows, 252 ; {lories related of
them by various authors, 254 & feq. their flefh eaten in Africa, 258 ; ufe
01 their tufks, 259; longevity, 2519, 260; generation, 592; ivory, 609.

Elk., 176; colour and form, 176; countries it inhabits, 177; their ufes, 178;
method of hunting them, 179 ; medical virtues, &c. i8p; Ainevican, §19.

Ep,inaceus, the Hedgehog, 534-538, 614.

Eftuus, the Horfe, Afs. &c. 5-72.

Feline genus of animals, 312-357. • ^

Feubet, a fpeciesof weafel, 390.

Fisher, a fort of weafel, 398.

FiTCMET of South America, 387.

Flux in fhcep 135.

Fly-struck in fheep, 135.

Fossa NE weafel, 418.

Fox, as defcribed by Pennant, 294; varieties, 395; his fagacity, 296; eatcc
in fome countries, 290; Ar£lic fox, ig^; Antarftic fox, 301; Culpen, or
Chilian fox, 301 ; blue or grey fox, 302 ; fllvery fox, 302J Bengal and Bar-
baryfox, 303; the karagan, oio.

Genet, a kind of weafel, 416.

Clutton, a fpecies of bear, 365.

Gnu, 147.

Goat, wild, 137 ; common domeftic, 140 ; Angora, 144 ; Caucafan, 624.

GUERLINCI>£TS, 485.

GuLVEA-pic, 425^ extremely prolific, 426.

Hamster, a fpecies of rat, 516.

Hare, common, 435; varying hare, 438; American hare, 439; Baikal and
Cape hare, 442; Brafilian and Alpine hare, 444; Ogtona hare, 446; calling
hare, 447.

Hedc»hog, 534; common, 536; Siberian and Afiatic, 537 ; Guiana or Ame-
rican, 538 ; Malacca and Madagafcar, fe 4.

Hippopotamus, only one fpecies, 240.

Hoc, charaftoriflics of) 823; cummou hog, S23; Clilnefe hog, 228; Mexican

hog,

INDEX. 6:5

liog, 2««>; ^Ethiopian hog, 230; Cape-vcrd hog, 231; barbyrouffa, 232;
Guinea hog, 626.
HoRSF, 5-58; not ferocious in a favage ftate, 7; wild horfcs, 8; method of
taking and taming them, g, 10; treatment of foals, 11 ; training them to la-
bour, 12; the various paces of a horfe, 13; the horfc compared with othr^r
animals, i8; his proportions, 19; age of a horfc, 21 ; technical terms explaiu-
ed, 23; management of ftallions and marcs, 25, J3; to prcferve or improve
the breed, 26, 32 ; Arabian horfcs, 36, 41, &c. Spanifh horfes, 37 ; Engliff*
horfes, 38; Italian horfcs, 39; Danifh horfes, 40; German horfes, 40; Per-
fian horfes, 45 ; Icelandic horfes, 47 ; Norwegian horfes, 47 ; Nopdland, 48;
Japanefe horfes, 48; horfes in America, 48 ; wild Tiirkilh horfes, 49; wild
horfes in Finland, 50; in the Indies, 51; defcription of horfes am<ing the
ancients, 52; method of gelding horfes, ^3 ; other remarks on the horic,
with the names given it by various authors, 55-58.
HuEMT. L, a kind of afs, 72.

Hv.tNA, 3O9; Icarccly to be tamed, 31O; fpotted hyxna, or tiger wolf, 311,
Hv RAX, the Hyrax, 618.
Hystrix, the Pofcopine, 455-458.
Ibex, or wild goat, 137-.

Ichneumon, 401 : battles with poifonous ferpcnts, 4021
Jackall, 303; a fpecies of fox, and will couple with the dog, 3O4; raod»

of hunting fo» food. 3O5; Cape jackall, 30 G ; Ceylon and Surinam, 307.
Jacuar, a very fierce animal, but a fcarce fpecies, 343.

Jerboa, Egyptian, 486; Siberian, 487 ; African, 488; Cape and torrid jer-
boa, 491.
Kavgu roo, a native of Mew Holland, 381 ; fmallcr and fpotted kanguroo, 38*.
Lem^ius, a fpecies of rat, ^10.

Leopard, 338 ; fmaller leopard and hunting leopard, 340 ; ounce, 341-
Lkpus, the Hare and Rabbit, 435-448.
Leucoryx, 152.

Lion, 312 ; appear to diminilh In number, 313 ; their temper and difpolition,
314 ; examined by Dr. Sparrman, 320, &c. anecdotes, 315, 320, &c. amours,
time of geftatioo, &c. how he hunts his prey, 317, 319; his rcrarlng, 3ift»
319, 320; method of hunting him, 327, &.c.
Lizard, Ccaly, with a long tail, 550; fliort-tailed, 551 ; broad-tailed, 552-
Ly n X Es, or cats with fhort tails, 352 ; mountain lynx, 352 ; lynx, how dcfcrib-
ed by the ancients, 354 i bay lynx, 355; Cafpian lynx, 355 ; PerGan, 3^65
Lybian, 357.
Manati, 576; whale-tailod, 577; rOund-tailed, 580; Gu;ana and Antlllej,

581; Oronoko, 582; fea-ape, 584.
Man IS, the Scaly Lizard, 550-552.
Manul, a fpecies of cat, 348.
Mariputo, a fpecies of weafel, 418-

Marmot, crefted, 460; Quebec, Maryland, and hoary, 461; bobak, 463;
mauline and earlefs, 466 ; gundi, or Arabian, 467 ; tail-lefs, 468 ; Cafan, 615 ;
Podolian, 616.
Marten, 391; grey-headed, 392.

MoscHUS, or Musk, charafterillics of, 206; mufk of the bat, 206; Indian aod
Brafilian mufk, 208; meminna, or Ceylon chevrotin, 208; Java or pigmy
raufk, 209.
Mole, European, 530; Cape, radiated, and long-tailed, 532; brown and reel,

533 ; how to dcftroy, 533.
Mouse, field, 500 ; harvelt, 501 ; Oriental and Barbary, 5O2 ; Mexican, Vir..
ginian, and wandering, moufe, 5O3; birch and rullic jnoufe, 5O4 ; furiceue,
lineated, and little moufe, 5O5 ; rock-moufe, 506; Indian viverra, zenicand
economic moufe, 507 ; red and garlic moufe, 510; lemmus, 510 ; focial and
Siberian moufe, 514; meadow, 515; gregarious, 516; blue, Sena, and Mau-
linus, 615.
Must EL A, the weafel and otter, 383-401, 419-424, 611.

MvoxvCf

630 INDEX. ■ >

Myoxus, the Dormoufc, 480-485, 618.
Myrmecophaca, the Ant-fatrr. ,552-558-

Opossum, 373-383; of Virginia, 373 ; of Molucca, 375; of Java, 376; mu-
rine opoirum, 376 ; Mexican and Cayenne opolTum, 377 ; New Holland and

vulpine opofTum, 378; fhort-tailed and phalanger opofTum, 579; Merian

opoffum, 380,626; flying opoffam, 380 ; kangaroos, 381-383 ; Brafil, por-

celine, and woolly opoffum, 613 ; fquirrel, long-tailed, and pigmy, 614.
Otter, the {greater, 419; Brafilian, 420 ; leffer, 421 ; fea, 422; flender, 424 ; '

Paraguay, 61 2.
Ovis, the fliecp, go- 137, 624.

Ounce, a fpecies of leopard uffid for the chace, 341.

Ox, profitable for dvaught, 76; all parts of them turn to account in trade,
, 77, &c. conjfftures relative to wild oxen, 79 ; the befl oxen are thofe of Hol-

ftein and Jutland, 80 ; bos arnee, 625; American and bearded ox, 626.
Panther, 336; known to the ancients, 337.
Phoca, the Seal. 561-556.
PiLOSELLO, a fpecies of weafej, 417.

Platypus, i/i" Flat-mouth, a curious newly-difcovered animal, 589. ■
Pole-cat, or fitchet, 388.
Porcupine, diftinguiftiing marks of, 455 ; crefted porcupine, 455; Malacca

and long-tailrd, 456; Brafilian, 457 ; Mexican and Canadian, 458.
Puma, fometimes mifi'aken for the lion, 344.
<^UADi< upEDo, definition of the term, 3; what animals fhould be ftriQly termed

quadrupeds, 4, 5.
QuAGCA, fometimes confounded with the zebra, 71.
QuiQui, a fpecies of weafel, 387.
OuoLL, a fpecies of weafel, 413.
Rabbit, 440.
Racoon, a fmall fpecies cf bear, 366; liis' manners defcribed in a letter to

M. Buffon, 367.
Rat, Canadian, 492; Labrador, 403 ; tamavifk, 454 ; black, 495 ; Coypu and

brown rat, 496; Indian and American rat, 498; Strafburgh and water rat,

459; woolly rat, 509 : ringed, 512 ; Hudfon's bay, 515 ; hair-tailed, 513 ;

hamfler, 51G; vcrmela and yaik, 518; mus phacus, 519; fand rat, 519;

fongar and Barbara rat, 520 ; blind-mole rat, 520 ; Danurian and African rat,

523; Cape aiid talpinerat, 524.
Ratel, a fpecies of weafel, 411.
Rein-deer, not unknown to the ancients, 181 ; their ufes and great value to

the Laplanders, 182; the wild ones hunted, 184.
Rhinoceros, its charafteriffic marks, 23a; rhinoceros with one horn, or

unicorn, 233 ; with two horns, 235 ; diflWent opinions of authors relative to

this animal, 236, &c.
Rickets in fheep, 134.

Rot, in fheep, its caufes, prevention, and cure, 129. I'

Sable, 393 ; mode of hunting them in Siberia, 394'; hovr fo choofc the naoft

valuable fkins, 396 ; American fable, 397.
SaRicov 1 en n e, a fpecies of otter, 422.
Scab in (heep, how to cure, 133.
SciURUS, the Squirrel, 468-480, 616.
SEA-AfE.See Man ATI.
Se.\-horse. See Walrus.
JSeal, commorr, 561 ; pied and Mediterranean, 564; long-neck«fl and Falkland

Ifland, 565; tortoife-headed and rubbon, 566; leporine, great, and rough,

567 ; porcine, eared, and hooded; 568 ; harp and little, 569 ; ift-finc, or fea-

bear, 570; bottlc-nofed, 572 ; leonine, or fca-lion, 574.
$HEEP» different forts of, 99-137; Hungarian, hornlefs, and many-horned,

fheep, too; African and broad-tailed (heep, lOi ; fat-rumped fheep, 102;

Siberian fheep, 103; a curious fheep brought over by General Paoli, 1O4;

bearded fheep, 109 ; every pan of the fheep ufeful tp man, i lO ; method af

rearing

INDEX. 631

rearing and rules for purchaling, i?^; prevention and cure of difo.dcrs, 129.

SHt?^.^5H'i'"""<^y'<^^'^^' 5^-5 •. perfuming and Mexican, 526; Brafilian, mu-
ring and W, 527; wau'r, elephant, aud mar.nr. 5.8; Surn.a:n, Perfun
^bm! and ;.gnn', 5^-9 ^ , -l-'ite-coothed, fquare-udcd. caru.ated, and

unicolor, 53O.
<;kunk, a fpecies of weal-1, 410. ^ „■ ,

Sloth, three-.ocd, 538 ; two-ioed, 539 ; uniform, 540 ; Buffon s account, 541.

Sru'r^iL'?ormon:'468? Ceylon, AbyfTmian, and Malab.r, ,70; gingi and
^''av 'aye^;«rrrel, 47 ^t Javan,'Bombay; and ruddy fquhrcl, 47 -. g-y, 47 a ;
black' 47V. Madagafcar and Hudfon's Bay Iquirrel, 474; vaned, hnr B.a-
f an a^nd Mcx.can, iq.nrrcl, 475; ?=>'- ->d Barbary iqmrrel 476-. fa.bn|
toZrcl. 477 ; Severn river and flying fquirrel, 478 •. Norlolk-He and hooded
[jZelSg; European flying fqu.rrcl, 480 ; V.rgm.au, 6.6 ; tea other fpc,

Sxto' 186 ;^form and n.edding of their horns, 187 ; acu'.enefs of their fenfes,
"^88- period of propagation, ij^g ; varies ,n f,z= m yar.ous cl .mates, 19. ;
technical terms ul*ed inlmntingthcftag, .92 jftag-hummo; among J^heanoents,
193; inSicHy, 193; m France a.id England. .94; ancient toreft laws, 195.

Stoat, or ermine, 3S5. , , , '

SuKOTY Ro, a new genus of quadrupeds, 591.

Sus, the Hog, 223-'23a.

Tafa, tepoa and lp.)tted, 413.

Tal PA, the Mole, 533-534.

^f::L%m;,4f::^:S:;djLlanimal,330;untameaUe,33.; anecdotes^
00 2- bank between a tiger and two elephant., 334 ; this anunal pecuhar to
aV,335; Brafilian tiger, 34'; Mexican tiger, s-l^ ; cmereous tiger, 343 J
Cape tiger, 345.

TouAN, a fpeciesof wealel, 385. , ^ <,

Trichechus, the Walrus, 558-561, 57D-5p5-

Vi V ERR A, the Ichneumon, &c. 401-418,610.

URSUS,the Bear, Racoon, Badger, &c. 357-37 2, bi2.

Walrus, araic 01 fca-horfe, 558 ; Indian walrus, 56o._ . . -, . <.,,,,

Me^^can 406? Braiillan, 4*7; ^'fling, 408 ; .f^^^' ^^^^'^^^^f-^-/.

^f-^^-fs T^, tt ^h^^^win^t^ih^w:^; and of Siberia.
°«. • mo^de o bving, ;85 ; fond of human flefh. 286 ; mode ot proi>agatio.s
^86 ' S^ grl flre'ng'h,-^ ^ 87 ; method of hunting the^m, 288 ; extern.ina.ed
LEnInd,^8q; how dcftroyed m Sweden, 29O; ,n Germany, 293 ; Ipeoc,
of wolf mention;! by Butfon,'29i; dog and wolf compared, 291, .9^-; Mex-
ican wolf, 294 ; Surinam, 609.
Worms in ftieep, 136.
Zebra, 68.

^::n',V£::it:l rp™!:; su ,or. -riou. airp.>, „..«« ^m> »;-

mal, 308. . , r 1

?,ORRiNA, fpccies of wealel, 411-

END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

DIRECTIONS TO the BINDER for PLACING
♦THE COPPER-PLATES in VOLUME III.

ERONTISPIECE, — _ _ to face the title

The Horfe, — — — — — p. 24

e Zebra, — — — — — 68

The American Bifon, — — — — — ■ Sz

Four-horned Ram; with Korns of Iceland and Cretan Sheep, 100
The Syrian Goat, — — — — — 14^

. The white-footed Antelope, or Nyl Ghaw, — — 160

The Striped Antelope, — — — . — 162

The Stag, — -^ — — — — 186

The Tiirkifh Dromedary, — — — — 216

.The Babyrouffa, or Indian Hog; and the Tapiiror American Hog, 232
The Rhinoceros with one horn, or Unicorn, — ' 234

The Hippopotamus, — — — — 240

The Elephant, — • — — ■ — 248

The Wolf, the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wild Dog of Ceylon, 284
The Blue Fox, — — ■ — — — 302

The Zerda Fox, -— — — — 303

The Spotted Hyaena, — — — — 310

The Lion, — — — — — 3^%;

The Royal Bengal Tiger, — — — — 336'

The Leopard, — — • — — — 338

The Lynx, — _ w_ w. _ 3^

The Black Bear, — — — . — - — 360

The Polar or White Bear, — — — 362.

The Wolverene Bear, — — . — — 364

The Badger, OpolTum, and Kangupoo, — — 372

The Weafel, Stoat, Ermine, Polecat, Ferret, Marten, and Sable, 384
The Egyptian Ichnenmon, the Indian Ichneumon, and the Fof-

far>e Weafcl, — — — — 40a

The Civet Car — ^ — — 414

The Sea Otte. , Capibara Cavy, Spotted Cavy, and Guinea Pig, 424
The Callin<f, Alpine, and Varying, Hare; the Hooded Rabbit, 444
The CaftoTOi Shaver; the Alpine, Bobak, and Earlefs Marmots, 450
The CreTf-d Porcupine of Africa, — — 456

The Flyi;.^ and Striped Squirrels, — — 478-

The Egyptian and Syrian Jerboas ; the Dormoufe ; the Tama-

rifkRat; the Lineated Moufe ; the Economic Moufe, 486

The Lemmu.^; theHamfter; theSongar; the blind Mole Rat j

the Perfuming Shrew ; and the Elephant Shrew, — ^12

The Cape or Siberian Mole ; and the common Hedge-hog, 532
The Urfiform Sloth, and the Three-toed Sloth, — 54©

The Thre' banded Armadillo; the fhort-tailed Manis, or

Scaley Lizard ; and the Great Ant-eater, — • 54^

The Ardtic Walrus, and round-tailed Manati, — ^ 358

The Leonine Seal, or Sea Lion, — — 574

The Platypus, and the Sukotyro, — — 590

The Girafle, or Cameleopard, — — 630

The Guinea Hog, and Merian Opofliim, inftead of the plate in-
titled the Wc-d-moufe of America, which myft be cancelled 626.

yiinced t»y Lewis and Co. Paceiuostifi-Jiow.

'eh:

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