102 



LETTER. XXIX. 



* What if the lion in his rage I meet ! 



Oft in the dust I view his printed feet ; 



By hunger roused lie scours the groaning plain,, 



Grannt wolves and sullen tygers in his train, 



Before them death with shrieks directs their way, 



Fills the wild yell, and leads them to their prey." 



COT.MNS-. 



-&.FTER describing the beautiful form and ferocious 

 disposition of the tygeiy I shall now, my dear Siiv 

 proceed to a description of the lion, which is the no- 

 blest and most courageous of all the feline race. 



THE UON 



may justly be styled the lord of the forest : thei*e, in^ 

 deed, he ranges uncontroled; for his roar is so tre- 

 mendous, that, When reverberated by the woods or 

 mountains, it resembles thunder, and all the animal 

 creation flies before it. This roar is the lion's natural 

 nots ; for when enraged he has a different growl,, 

 which is short, broken, and reiterated. He then 

 lashes his sides with his tail, erects his mane till it 

 stands up like bristles, and his eyes seem to emit 

 sparks of fire. 



The form of the lion is a perfect model of strength 

 combined with agility, and at the same time strik- 

 "ingly bold and majestic. His large and shaggy mane 

 encircling his awful front, his ample eye-brows and 

 fiery eyes, which, upon the least irritation, glow with- 

 a fierce and striking lustre, with the formidable ap- 

 pearance of his teeth, altogether form a picture of 

 terrific grandeur, unparalleled in any other species ot 

 the animal creation. 



The face of the lion is very broad, and quite sur- 

 rounded with the mane; which gives it a singularly 

 majestic appearance; for the top of the head, the 

 temples, the cheeks, the under-jaw,. the neck, the 

 breast, the shoulders, the belly and the hinder- part 

 of the legs, are all furnished with long hair, but that 

 oil the rest of the body is very short:, his tongue is 



