17?6. January. likewife had four lobes, and the left three, The ftpmach had nothing but ants in it, or, to ipeak more properly, the white termites before-mentioned; yet, that- it may not be fuppofed from this circumftance, that the animal here fpoken of belongs to the genus of the myrmecopbaga of L i n n . e u s , it may be proper to mention here, that the character of this genus is the total want p f teeth; and that, exclufively of our Swedifh bears, the Hottentots themfetlves are likewife very fond of this food. - This day we hunted another animal, which was called the onkjes jackal, and feemed with refpeft to ihape and iize,. in fome meafure to reiemble the grey jackal, but was of a deep brown colour, It now made its efcape from us by a fubterraneous paflage. It has obtained the name pf pnkjeg, in confequencc of its digging up, and feeding upon, the bulbs and roots of flowers, The onkjes jackal, moreover, is fuppofed to be more common than the grey, and is, perhaps, a kind o f badger. Neither this creature nor the former were, as far as I could find, known to any body but the farmers in this neighbourhood. The common jackal, or the jackal properly fo called, nearly refembles our European fox in its form, manners, and difpofition; and here, at leaft, is not known to afiemble in packs, for the purpofe of hunting. Neither iswhat authors have advanced concerning the hideous cry and voracity of the jackal applicable to this quadruped, thefe qualities being probably peculiar to the hyaena and wild dog, with which animals it has been by fome means confounded. A couple o f ikins which I brought home with me, three feet in -length, with a tail fomewhat above a-foot long, entirely eprrefpond, cofrefpond, with refpedh to hair and colour, with M. D a u - b e r t o n ’ s defcription of the chacal, ( B u f f o n , Tom. XIII. p. 268) excepting the fpotson the forelegs; and likewife refemble M. S c h r e b e r ’s coloured plate of the cams mefo- mel, or capifche fchakalt, Tab. XCV. p. 370. This is likewife Mr. P e n n a n t ’s jackal, Vol. I. p. 242. The predominant colour in this animal is a reddiih yellow, the legs, in particular are of a pale gold colour; under the belly, and on the infide o f the legs; the colour inclines to white; the nofe and ears are of a reddiih caft; the head grey; the back part of the neck, together with the whole back, are covered with a large dark grey fpot of the ihape of a lancet, with the point towards the tail; which fpot, as M. D a u b e n t o n has well remarked, is compofed o f black and white circiilar itreaks of hair intermixed; the tail is partly grey, and partly o f an umber colour, but at the tip black. I remember that once I faw the fur o f a foetus o f a jackal, which was of a very fine yellow colour, and inftead of a blackiih grey had a dark brown fpot upon its. back. The rat el, fo called in Africa both by the colónifts and Hottentots, I have given a drawing o f in the Swediih Tranf- a£tions for the year 17 7 7 , p. Í4 7 . Tab. IV. and at the fame time defcribed it by the name of the viverra ratel. (I have likewife annexed a figure of it at Plate V. o f this Volume.) By the colour, it ihould feem to be the very faihé ipecies o f animal which M. d e l a C a i l l e faw about! Picquét-befg, and’ has mentioned at page 182, by the name of thcblereau puanti though this author did riot’himfelf Obferve ahy difagreeabld odour in the animal, and I;- for my part, have' néver heard A a 2 the 17 76. January.-
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