364 THE CARNIVORES 



information of their northern limits, but Captain Pierson, who spent many years in 

 the country between Tehran and Baghdad, tells me that he never heard of lions in 

 the oak forest west of Karmanshah. It is the acorns of this same oak forest which 

 feed the wild pigs whose presence tempts the lion into the mountains of Pars. . . . 

 The little valley of Dashtiarjan, thirty-five miles west of Shiraz, is notorious for 

 the number of lions found in its vicinity. Part of the valley is occupied by a fresh- 

 water lake, on the edges of which are extensive beds of reeds ; the surrounding 

 hills, which rise some four thousand feet above the valley, itself six thousand five 

 hundred feet above the sea, are covered with oak forest, or with pretty thick brush- 

 wood of hawthorn, wild pear, and other bushes, and contain very extensive vine- 

 yards. Dashtiarjan is thus a perfect paradise for swine, and they increase and 

 multiply accordingly, so that the lions have plenty to eat, varying the monotony of 

 constant pork with an occasional ibex, or with a calf from the herds which graze in 

 the valley. Every year some four or five lions are killed in Dashtiarjan or the 

 neighborhood, and a few cubs brought into Shiraz for sale.'' 



With regard to the lion in India, Mr. Blanford states that "there are probably 

 a few still living in the wild tract known as the Gir, in Kattywar, and a few more 

 on the wildest parts of Rajputana, especially southern Jodhpur, in Oodeypur, and 

 around Mount Abu. About twenty years ago lions were common near Mount 

 Abu, several were shot near Gwalior, Goona, and Kota, and a few still existed near 

 Lalotpur, between Saugor and Jhansi. One is said to have been killed near Goona 

 in 1873. In 1864 one was killed near Sheorajpur, twenty-five miles west of 

 Allahabad ; and when the railway was being made from Allahabad to Jabalpur 

 in 1866, a fine lion, with a good mane, was shot by two of the engineers, near 

 the eightieth milestone^ from Allahabad. About 1830, lions were common about 

 Ahmedabad. Several years previously, in the early part of the century, lions were 

 found in Hurriana to the northward, and in Khandesh to the south, in many 

 places in Rajputana (one was shot in 1810, within forty miles of Kot Deji, in 

 Sind), and eastward as far as Rewah and Palamow. It is probable that this 

 animal was formerly generally distributed in Northwestern and Central India." 

 A few years will probably witness the extinction of the lion throughout the 

 peninsula. It is noteworthy that the lion, unlike the tiger, has never been known 

 in the Malayan region, or, indeed, anywhere to the eastward of the bay of Bengal. 



For a long period it was considered that the Indian lion differed from its 

 African relative by the total absence of the mane in the male, which was hence 

 regarded as indicating a distinct species. Moreover, owing to the differences in 

 the length and color of the manes of African lions from different districts, it was 

 likewise held that there were two or more species in Africa. It, however, has been 

 definitely settled that such variations are not constant, and that there is but a 

 single species. Although it may be that some adult specimens of the Indian lion 

 are maneless, yet well-maned examples have been killed, while those which were 

 stated to prove the existence of a maneless race are now known to have been im- 

 mature individuals. 



With regard to the variations of the African lion, Mr. Selous says that the 

 Dutch hunters maintain the existence of from three to four distinct species, which. 



