He has very much the appearance of a common cat, both from the length of his tail, and the shape of his head, which however is broader, and his neck thicker than that of a domestic animal. He is an inhabitant of Ras el Feel, and, small as he is, lives among those tyrants of the forest, the elephant and rhinoceros. I do not mean that he has any hunting connections with them, as the jackal with the lion, I rather think he avails himself of what is left by the hunters of the carcases of those huge beasts. But the chief of all his food is the Guinea-hen, of which the thickets and bushes of this country are full. For these he lurks chiefly at the pools of water when they drink, and in this act of violence I surprised him. He is said to be exceedingly fierce, and to attack a man if any way pressed. At this time he mounts easily upon the highest trees; at other times he is content with hiding himself in bushes, but in the season of the fly he takes to holes and caverns in the ground. I never saw its young ones, nor did I ever hear any noise it makes, for the shot killed him outright, but did not in the least disfigure him; so that the reader may depend upon this representation of him as I have given it, with all possible truth and precision. OF BIRDS. The number of birds in Abyssinia exceeds that of other animals beyond proportion. The high and low countries are equally stored with them, the first kind are the carnivorous birds. Many species of the eagle and hawk, many more still of the vulture kind, as it were overstock all parts of this country. That species of glede called Haddaya, so frequent in Egypt, comes very punctually into Ethiopia, at the return of the sun, after the tropical rains. The quantity of shell-fish which then covers the edges of the desert, and leaves the salt springs where they have been nourished, surprised by the heat, and deserted by the moisture, are the first food these birds find in their way. They then are supplied in the neighbouring Kolla, by the carcases of those large beasts, the elephant, rhinoceros, and giraffa, the whole tribe of the deer kind, and the wild asses that are slain by the hunters, part of which only are used in food.