Please refrain from writing in this journal unless you are Mr. Lasceaux or Moreau himself.
A brief description and my first impressions of the beast and its caretaker - March the 12th, 1889
The day this creature arrived, March the 10th, was with a remarkably small shipment of beasts. It came with a goat, while the other seemed rather docile this one was kept in a very sturdy cage. Given the nature of the hyena species, this comes as no surprise. I recall hearing that striped hyenas were not as aggressive as their spotted brethren, but I dare not take the risk of lowering my guard too much when dealing with this animal. The specimen is a male, indeteriminate age, and I am told that it is larger than the rest of its pack.
So far its behavior is similar to that of Herophilos when I first brought it to the island. It sulks in the back of its cage and hardly makes a sound, tries to bite when I attempt to pry it out for further analysis... I am honestly wondering if it is even worth the effort of working on this animal lest I become an amputee. I've resolved to sedate it at any time I intend to commit surgery on it. Because this creature is so foul, so deadly, I've taken to calling it "Thanatos."
The man taking care of this creature, one Anton Lasceaux, is a very strange individual - a Frenchman. Although he seems brilliant enough and shows an interest in my work, he isn't one to make much conversation. I suspect it's because he doesn't know how to speak much English, but he seemed rather fluent when we shared a written correspondence prior to his arrival onto the island. I'm curious as to how he will handle Thanatos in between surgeries and during the animal's recovery.
I have very mixed feelings on this animal. Wringing the wild spirit out of it looks to be much harder to do than the current stock of domesticated beasts I have on this isle.
Alphonse Moreau
