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great honour upon a chief, giving him the privilege of wearing its pawupon his shield.* Its skin is afterwards formed into a dress, very similarto that worn by the Kaffer chiefs in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope , though more richly ornamented.
Several species of the leopard tribe are found in the country. Thecommon one is called nimeer in Tigre , nibr in Amharic —the second isthe black leopard (gussela, T. and A.) ; the skin of which fetches a highprice in the country, and is worn only by governors of provinces—the third,(muntillut T. wobo A.) appears to be an unknown species, and is said tobe very fierce, occasionally carrying away children, and even men, when itaccidentally finds them asleep: its face is described as resembling the humancountenance. Of the lynx kind may be mentioned one nearly allied tothe common lynx, (nibre arrar T.)—the lion cat, or caracal, (chon ambasa,T.),—the tiger cat, or grey lynx, (nibre gulgul, T. ;)—and the wild cat,(akul dimmo T. yedeer dimmut A.,) of which a drawing is given by Mr.Bruce ; to these may be added the zibet, (taring dimmo,i* T. ankeso, A.)which produces a quantity of civet that constitutes a considerable article ofcommerce.
Of the dog kind may be enumerated, the hyaena, (zihee, T. gib, A.;)—asmall species of wolf, (wacharia, T. kabbaro, A.;)—a common sort of fox,(consul, T. wolga, A. ;)—the sea-fox, (wuggera, T. tokela, A.) ; and thejackal, (akul mitcho, T. michael chitlo. A.) which last is an animal exceed-ingly destructive to poultry.
A great variety of the antelope kind is to be met with. The largest ofthese are the “ kudoo,” (agayen, T.) found also in the interior of the Cape ;—the harte-beest, (weed, T. bohur, A.) the spring-bok, (sassa, T.) andanother very small species, little bigger than a hare, found commonly alsoat the Cape and Mosambique, called in Tigre “ madoqua.” Besides theseare the wild goat, (taille budde, T. ebada fe-el, A.) and another species ofantelope, (wild, T.) probably allied to the chamois, which is found on thehighest parts of the cold and mountainous districts of Samen.
Several species of monkey abound throughout the wilder districts, the
* Some similar custom to this probably first gave rise to the idea of quartering heraldicarms.
t This animal is erroneously said in Buffon to be called Kankan, in Ethiopia .