FKI.IDJS. 



oombat, and 6 ml ing that there exist* a being superior to them, commit 

 their ravage* with more caution. A cooler climate again has the same 

 effect ; but in the burning deserts, where riven and fountains are 

 denied, they live in a perpetual fever a sort of madness fatal to every 

 animal they meet with." 



Dr. Leach raised the form to the rank of a genus under the name 

 otlto. 



If. Lesson, in his ' Manuel' (1827), gives four varieties, namely, the 

 lion of Barbary, the lion of Senegal, the lion of Persia or Arabia, and 

 the lion of the Cape. 



Ciivier (' Ittgne Animal,' 1829) places at the head of the great genus 

 t'tlit, ' Le Lion (Pdii Lro, Linn.)," and describes it as distinguished 

 by iu uniform yellow colour, the tuft of hair at the end of the tail, 

 and the mane which covers the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. 

 " It is," continues Cuvier, " the strongest and the moat courageous of 

 the animals of prey. Spread, at one time, over all the parts of the 

 ancient world, it would appear at the present day nearly confined to 

 Africa and some neighbouring parts of Asia." 



M. Temminck, in his ' Monograph,' includes three varieties under 

 Ftlit Leo, namely, the lions of Barbary, Senegal, imd Persia, and these 

 are retained in Ur. Fischer's ' Synopsis.' 



Mr. Bennett ('Tower Menagerie,' 1829) notices the Bengal Lion, 

 the Cape Lion, and the Barbary variety (figuring the two former), and 

 observes upon their distinctions. 



Sir William Jardine ('Naturalists' Library,' 'Mammalia,' vol. it, 

 Ftlintr, 1834), in addition to other plates, has given a figure of the 

 Asiatic variety from a specimen in the Surrey Zoological Gardens, 

 and, after noticing that the lions of Africa and India have been 

 described as varieties, states his strong suspicions that future observa- 

 tions will prove these animals to be in reality distinct species, and 

 notices them separately under the names of Leo Africanui and Leo 

 Atialifiu ; he also alludes to the Manelcu Lion. 



Mr. Swainson (' Classification of Quadrupeds,' 1835) places the 

 African Lion (Leo Africanta, Sw.) at the head of the Pelida. In his 

 arrangement at the end of the volume he notices the form under the 

 designation of " Leo A ntiquorum (Lions). Head and neck furnished 

 with a mane of long hair ; tail tufted." The next genus, Ftli* L. 

 (Cats), he characterises thus : " No mane ; tail long, not tufted." In his 

 ' Animals in Menageries,' 1838, the Lion does not appear to be noticed. 

 Of the African Lions Temminck notices two varieties that of Bar- 

 bary and that of Senegal M. Lesson adopts these two varieties, and 

 adds the Lion of the Cape, of which he gives two varieties. 



The Lion of Barbary. This lion is described as having a deep 

 yellowish-brown fur, and the mane of the male is stated to be very 

 much developed. 



The Lion of Senegal is characterised by a fur of a more yellow tint, 

 the mane in the male being less thick, and nearly wanting upon the 

 breast and insides of the leg*. 



The Lion of the Cape presents two varieties, one yellowish and 

 the other brown : the latter is regarded as the most ferocious and 

 formidable. The Dutch colonists speak of the " blue and the block " 

 kinds, and it seems indeed that there is a black-moned lion, one of 

 which, accompanied by his lioness, Mr. Burchell appears to liave 

 encountered in his travels in Africa, 



Mr. Burcbell well observes, that ' King of the Forest ' is a title not 

 very applicable to an animal which he at least never met but on the 

 plains ; nor did he ever meet with one in any of the forests where he 

 had been. The low cover that creeps along the sides of streams, the 

 patches that mark the springs, or the rank grass of the valley, seem 

 to be the shelter which the African Lion for the most part seeks. Of 

 the strength of this variety we have most extraordinary examples on 

 record. To carry off a man and there are dismal accounts of this 

 horrible fact, which there is no reason to doubt appears to be a feat 

 of no difficulty to this powerful brute. Indeed, when we find that a 

 Cape lion seized a heifer in his mouth, and, though the legs dragged 

 upon the ground, seemed to carry her off with the same ease as a cat 

 does a rat, leaping over a broad dike with her without the least diffi- 

 culty -that another, and a young one too, conveyed a horse about a 

 mile from the spot where he had killed it and that a third, which 

 had carried off a two-year old heifer, was followed on the spoor, or 

 track, for five hours by horsemen, when it appeared that throughout 

 the whole distance the carcass of the heifer was only once or twice 

 discovered to have touched the ground (Span-man) the asportation of 

 a man shrinks into insignificance as a demonstration of strength. 

 There seems to be an idea that the Lion prefers a human prey ; but 

 be this a* it may, the inhabitants of certain district* have, it appears, 

 been under the necessity of resorting to a curious expedient to get 

 out of their reach. Messrs. Schoon and M'Luckie, in 1829, penetrated 

 to the eastward of Kurrichaine, situated about 200 miles to the north- 

 east of Litakou. They discovered, east of Kurrichaine, or Chuan, as 

 it U more properly named, the river Moriqua, which rises in the south 

 between the 2Sth and 26th degrees of latitude, and 29th and 80th 

 flf* 1 * f I " n 8 itude ' taking a north-easterly course, and about 100 

 miles from the ford enters a high ridge of mountains. From hence, 

 according to the native*, it flows into the sea, through the country of 

 Mantatoe*. About 70 miles to the eastward, the range of moun- 

 ainj Ukw a direction north and south. At the distance of 14 miles 

 > the south, along the base of the mountains, U a place called Ongo- 



rutcie-Fountain, where there is a large tree containing seventeen conical 

 huts. These are used as dormitories, being beyond the reach of the 

 lions, which, since .the incursion of the Montatoes, when so many 

 thousands of persons were massacred, have become very numerous in 

 the neighbourhood, and deatnictivc to human life. The branches of 

 these trees are supported by forked sticks or poles, and there aro three 

 tiers or platforms, on which the huts are constructed. The lowest is 

 nine feet from the ground, and holds ten huts ; the second, about 

 eight feet high, has three huts ; and the upper story, if it may be so 

 called, contains four. The ascent to these is mado by notches cut in 

 the supporting polea, and the huts are built with twigs, thatched with 

 straw, and will contain two persons conveniently. The travellers had 

 previously visited several deserted villages, similarly built, between 

 the Moriqua and Leutlecan rivers, as well as in other places; but 

 these were erected on stakes about eight feet above the ground and 

 about forty feet square, larger in some places, and containing n)mt 

 seventy or eighty huts. The inhabitant* sit, it is stated, under the 

 shade of these platforms during the day, and retire to the elevated 

 huts at night.* 



The general prey of the African Lion consists of the larger herbi- 

 vorous quadrupeds, very few of which it is unable to master, and it 

 is a severe scourge to the farmer, who in consequently ever on the 

 look-out for lions, and generally a most imperturbable and unerring 

 shot. Though mortal accidents frequently happen in these huntings, 

 the cool sportsman seldom fails in using his ride with effect. Lions 

 when roused, it seems, walk off quietly at first, and if no cover is near, 

 and they are not pursued, they gradually mend their pace to a trot, 

 till they have reached a good distance, and then they bound away. 

 Their demeanour upon these occasions has been described to us by 

 eye-witnesses to be of a careless description, as if they did not want a 

 fray, but if pressed were ready to fight it out. If they are pursued 

 closely, they turn and couch, generally with their faces to the adversary ; 

 then the nerves of the sportsman are tried. If he is collected and 

 master of his craft, the well-directed rifle ends the scene at once ; but 

 if, in the flutter of the moment, the vital parts are missed, or the ball 

 passes by, leaving the lion unhurt, the infuriated beast frequently 

 charges on his enemies, dealing destruction around him. This 

 however is not always the case, and a steady unshrinking deportment 

 has, in more instances than one, saved the life of the hunter. Mr. 

 Burchell gives an interesting account in his African travels of big 

 confronting one of these animals. "The day was exceedingly pleasant, 

 and there was not a cloud to be seen. For o mile or two, we travelled 

 along the banks of the river, which, in this part, abounded in tall 

 mat-rushes. The dogs seemed much to enjoy prowling about, and 

 examining every bushy place, and at last met with some object among 

 the rushes which caused them to set up a most vehement and deter- 

 mined barking. We explored the spot with caution, as we suspected, 

 from the peculiar tone of their bark, that it was what we suspected 

 it to be, lions. Having encouraged the dogs to drive them out, a 

 task which they performed with great willingness, we had a full view 

 of an enormous black-mimed lion and lioness. The latter was seen 

 only for o minute, as she made her escape up the river, under the 

 concealment of the rushes ; but the lion came steadily forward, and 

 stood still to look at us. At this moment we felt our situation not 

 free from danger, as the animal seemed preparing to spring upon us, 

 and we were standing on the bank, at the distance of only a few yards 

 from him, most of us being on foot and unarmed, without any visible 

 possibility of escaping. I had given up my horse to the hunters, and 

 was on foot myself; but there was no time for fear, and it was useless 

 to attempt avoiding him. ... I stood well upon my guard, holding 

 my pistols in my hand, with my finger upon the trigger ; and those 

 who had muskets kept themselves prepared in the same manner. But 

 at this instant the dogs boldly flew in between us and the lion, and 

 surrounding him, kept him at boy by their violent and resolute 

 barking. The courage of those faithful animals was most admirable : 

 they advanced up to the side of the huge beast, and stood making the 

 greatest clamour in his face, without the least appearance of fear. 

 The lion, conscious of his strength, remained unmoved at their noisy 

 attempts, and kept his head turned towards us. At one moment, the 

 dogs perceived his eye thus engaged, had advanced close to his feet, 

 and seemed as if they would actually seize hold of him ; but they paid 

 dearly for their imprudence, for, without discomposing tin n. 

 and steady attitude in which he stood fixed, he merely moved liis 

 paw, and, at the next instant, I beheld two lying dead. In doing this 

 no made so little exertion, that it was scarcely perceptible by what 

 means they hod been killed. Of the time which we gained by the 

 interference of the dogs, not a moment was lost: wo fired upon 

 him ; one of the balls went through his side, just between the short 

 ribs, and the blood began to flow, but the animal still remained 

 standing in the same position. We had now no doubt that he would 

 spring upon us: every gun was instantly reloaded; but liappily we 

 were mistaken, and were not sorry to see him move quietly away, 

 though I had hoped in a few minutes to have been enabled to take 

 hold of his paw without danger." Even where the hunter has been 



* 8 ' South African Journal,' September, 1830 ; and Stwdman'e ' Wander- 

 ings and Adventure! In the Interior of Southern Africa, where the reader will 

 find a drawing of the inhabited trea above described, taken by Mr. Moffat of 

 Litakou, who also riaited thin apot. 



