164 >775- py- A V O Y A G E T O T H E entertained and fed in T h ’m Z been fddom known to do any mifchief there, i t «U wife a well-known fadt, that thefe wolves, in different parts of Africa, exhibit different degrees of courage, this, however, may perhaps p r o c e e d from their being “ S s S « r o f ' « h e ^ and itsdifpo- fition to contone every thing it can get at, ceconomy of nature is abundantly evinced. The flowery fields at the Cape, would certainly foon become hideous and “ f i ^ % i.h camaies and tkeletons, the relicks o f the great quantity of game o f all forts which S e r e in fncceffion, were not the t.gtr-wolf fobfervient to natore in the regnlauon o f her her theatre from them; nay, I had almoft fnd, fhe.wolf alone: f o r lions and tigers, for eat hones, and are no, very fond oto=»c ■ fiprvireable in another way. i ney mane S a n t and attentive to the fundions for winch na ure has defigned them; and befides anfwenng feveral other intentions of providence, they ferve, in conjunftion with S S J to keep in a juft equilibrium the mcreafe of the animal kingdom; fo that it may not exceed the fup- pUes, afforded it by the vegetable part of tke creaUon, an by this means prevent the neceffary-renewal of he_ latte by feeds, See. and thus, by defolatmg u and aying , wafte, in the end impoveriih and deftroy t em V5®’ ^ die moft wretched vidtims to want and hunger fo , notwithftanding the immenfe quantities of game exifting in S f c o u n t r y ! there are very feldom found any bones m C A P E OF G O O D H O P E . the haunts they have left, and never after the tiger, lion, J£75 jackal, wild cat, and wild dog. Thefe latter animals, that they may not encumber and litter the ground which nature has ordained them to clear, never go out o f their dens and caverns when they find themfelves fick and difabled; but there, oppreffed with hunger and difeafe, await the tranfitory moment, when they muff pay obedience to nature’s laft law. On this fubjedt it is worth while to obferve, that the tiger- wolf is faid, befides being a very great gormandizer, like- wife to be capable of bearing hunger a confiderable time; and if we alfo recoiled! its cowardly manner of attacking living animals, it will be evident, that this creature’s voracity muft neceffarily ferve to confume fuch as- are worn out with age, or are fickly or maimed,,as well as the^other remains and refufe of the animal kingdom, and in like manner what may be redundant in it; but does not threaten any great deftrudtion of the fupplies neceffary for the recruiting of this part of the creation. - Two other voracious animals o f this kind are found in Africa, which are diftinguiihed by the names of mountain- wolf and Jlrand-wolf\ but the people of the country were not able to give me any other marks to diftinguiih them by, than that the mountain-wolf is of a greyiih call, but the Jirand-wolf blackifh with a grey head. In the meanwhile, what I have faid above concerning the tiger-wolf, as being the moft common of the kind, may perhaps be in a great meafure applicable to the two other fpecies. The one of thefe probably is the canis• hyana, Syjt. Nat. L in n , as I brought with me from the Cape a ikin, which
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