THE LIOX. 



179 



tion of the mane and a tuft at the end of the tail, the coat of the 

 lion is entirely smooth, and in adult life of a uniform Uwny color, 

 while in the cubs it is faintly marked like a tiger or our domestic cat. 

 Ow'w'fr to this uniform tawny color, the lion is liardly distinguishable 

 from surrounding objects even by daylight, and at night he walks 

 secure. Even skilled hunters, who have heard him lapping v/ater at 

 twenty yards distance, have been unaj^le to make out his form. The 

 female never acquires a mane, and the male docs not possess it in its 

 full glory till he is three years old. Some naturalists regard the Cape 

 lion and the Gambia lion as different species, but they do not rise 

 higher than the dignity of varieties. It is amusing to see how national 

 pride influences even the philosophic minds of natural historians. The 

 English regard the specimen of the lion which comes from the f3ritish 

 possessions as the type of the heraldic supporter which holds the shield 

 of England, and is famous in our nurseries as having fought with the 

 unicorn. The French writers, on the other hand, sing the praises of the 

 " Monarch of Mount Atlas," and accept with exemplary faith the stories 

 of Jules Gerard. Perhaps no African lion can justly claim to be the 

 old original lion of fable, for there is no doubt that the species was once 

 much more widely distributed than at present, and was not unfrequent 

 in the Southeast of Europe. But as man advanced the lion has receded; 

 when pastoral life succeeded nomad life, flocks arid herds were no longer 

 left unguarded to become the prey of any nocturnal prowler, and the 

 lion was driven to seek his sustenance eLsewhere or lose his life in the 

 attempt. At present even in Africa the lion is not commonly seen, and 

 in a few generations, as civilization extends over the now unknown 

 interior of that vast continent, it is probable that the lion will be as 

 extinct as the Dodo or the Mammoth, and known only by description. 

 Herodotus tells us that lions attacked the baggage-train of Xerxes in 

 Macedonia, and Aristotle distinctly says that lions are not found in 

 Europe beyond the Achelous, the present Aspropot^mo. The Bible 

 mentions the lion as ravaging the herds of Palestine, and it was once 

 as common in Egypt as it is now in Algiers or Morocco. 



Some lions have attained the length often feet from the muzzle to the 

 root of the tail, and measure four feet in height from the ground to the 

 shoulder. Their strength is prodigious, and with a single blow of the 

 paw they will break the back of a horse; they can leap a space of thirty 

 feet, and can carry off a bullock in their jaws. Nothing can be more 



