394 THE LION AND THE TIGER CHAP. 



cannot climb. His roar (which is so suggestive, towards its end, 

 of that animal who once dressed himself up in his skin) is 

 literally after his prey. The Lion, it is stated, does not roar 

 except upon a full stomach. The Lion is mainly nocturnal in its 

 habits, and is said to be not in the least dangerous if unprovoked 

 in the daytime ; but here again opinions differ. The tail of the 

 animal is provided at the extremity with a slight claw, but it 

 can hardly be sufficient for the animal to lash itself into a fury 

 with it. A Lion will live for thirty or forty years, and will breed 

 freely in captivity. The Gardens of the Zoological Society of 

 Dublin have been famed for their success in breeding Lions ; but 

 more surprising still, this has been successfully accomplished in 

 travelling menageries. The " desert " colour of the Lion is familiar 

 to all. It is stated that the likeness to the parched soil of 

 certain parts of Africa is greatly heightened by black patches in 

 the marie, for in certain regions of that continent the arid yellow 

 of the general environment is diversified by pieces of black lava. 

 It is apparently a popular delusion to speak of the Maneless Lion 

 of Guzerat. No doubt maneless Lions do come from there, but so 

 do young and maneless Lions from other places ; in short, it is 

 simply a question of age, and old Lions from the Asiatic continent 

 are as fully maned as those from Africa. 



The Tiger, F. tigris, is an animal of about the same size as 

 the Lion, distinguished, of course, by the stripes. The skeletons 

 are much like those of other Cats ; but the skull of the 

 Tiger may be distinguished from that of the Lion by the fact 

 that the nasal bones reach back beyond the frontal processes of 

 the maxillae. The Tiger is an exclusively Asiatic beast, ranging 

 northward into icy Siberia. The northern individuals have a 

 closer fur, and have been quite unnecessarily separated as a 

 distinct variety. Nine feet six inches is the size of the average 

 full-grown Tiger ; but the skins will stretch, a fact of which the 

 sportsman will sometimes take advantage. A " man-eater " is a 

 Tiger which has discovered " that it is far easier to kill a native 

 than to hunt for the scarce jungle game." As with the Lion, the 

 accounts of travellers differ enormously, particularly with regard 

 to the strength of the creature. Some have said that a Tiger can 

 easily lift a full-grown bullock and leap with it in the mouth 

 over a considerable obstacle, a statement which is ridiculed by 

 Sir Samuel Baker. Unlike the Lion, the Tiger can climb trees ; 



