166 MAMMALIA— LION. 



which run down buffaloes, antelopes, &c, and when tbey have succeeded, 

 drives them off and gorges to repletion ; as he relinquishes the carcass when 

 satiated, he is called generous ; as he does not attack and devour men, when 

 not hungry, he is considered magnanimous ; he retires slowly, facing his 

 enemies, being unable to run with speed, and is celebrated for his noble 

 spirit ; and, as he does not kill the wild dogs and other small animals, be- 

 cause it is not in his power to catch them, he is then called clement ; while 

 in virtue of his great strength, dreadful claws, horrid teeth, and awful roar, 

 he is considered as altogether royal. Yet this king of quadrupeds has not 

 half the moral excellence of a poodle dog, nor a thousandth part of the 

 dignity of character possessed by the elephant. He is, moreover, no match 

 for the great tiger of Asia, which, in ferocity, savage daring, audacious de- 

 structiveness, unconquerable and unappeasable hatred to mankind, is infi- 

 nitely more royal, and a more consistent emblem of a great number of 

 human kings, who have aided, in various ages and countries, to retard the 

 progress of improvement and the march of mind." 



"At the time when men first adopted the lion as the emblem of courage," 

 says that intelligent traveller, Mr Burchell, "it would seem that they regard- 

 ed great size and strength as indicating it ; but they were greatly mistaken 

 in the character they have given to this indolent, skulking animal, and 

 have overlooked a much better example of courage, and of other virtues 

 also, in the bold and faithful dog." Mr Barrow also brands him with the 

 character of cowardly and treacherous. 



"His forbearance and generosity," says Mr Bennett, "if the facts be care- 

 fully investigated, will be found to resolve themselves into no more than 

 this: that in his wild state he destroys only to satiate his hunger or 

 revenge, and never, like the 'gaunt wolves,' and the 'sullen tigers,' of whom 

 the poet has composed his train, in the wantonness of his power and the 

 malignity of his disposition ; and that, when tamed, his hunger being satis- 

 fied, and his feelings being free from irritation, he suffers smaller animals to 

 remain in his den uninjured, is familiar with, and sometimes fond of, the 

 keeper, by whom he is attended and fed, and will even, when under com- 

 plete control, submit to the caresses of strangers. 



"But even this limited degree of amiability, which, in an animal of less 

 formidable powers, would be considered as indicating no peculiar mildness 

 of temper, is modified by the calls of hunger, by the feelings of revenge, 

 which he 'frequently cherishes for a considerable length of time; and by 

 various other circumstances, which render it dangerous to approach him 

 inguardedly, even in his tamest and most domesticated state, without pre- 

 viously ascertaining his immediate state of mind. On such occasions, no 

 keeper possessed of common prudence, would be rash enough to venture 

 on confronting him. He knows too well, that it is no boy's play to 



seek the lion in his den, 



And fight him there, and make him tremble there : 



