4 THE LION. 



dead of the night, have assisted in depriving him 

 of his prey when maddened with hunger, have met 

 him in the ready swamp and in the dense jungle, have 

 " stalked " the antelope in his company, have seen 

 him pull down the stately giraffe, have roused him 

 in the midst of his " children," and encountered 

 him under many other circumstances and without 

 taking undue credit to myself, I therefore think 1 

 am in some degree, at least, qualified to judge of the 

 royal beast and his habits. 



The lion is found from within one hundred miles 

 or so of the Cape of Good Hope to the shores of 

 the Mediterranean, in short, through nearly the 

 length and breadth of Africa. As regards the more 

 southern portion of that continent, however, it is a 

 very generally received opinion with both colonists 

 and natives that there are two distinct species of 

 this animal, viz., the so called " black-maned " and 

 the " yellow-maned " lion; the former being de- 

 scribed as the longest in the body, and the latter as 

 the larger in regard to general proportions. The 

 dark colour of the mane of the "black-maned lion " 

 they furthermore say, is not attributable in any 

 way to age the cause usually assigned by natu- 

 ralists but it is of that hue from the first; and 

 this, their view of the matter, is in some degree 

 corroborated by a circumstance that came to rny 

 personal knowledge, and for the correctness of 

 which I can vouch. Two lions were shot on the 

 same spot, and almost at the same instant of time, 

 Both were full grown ; but one was young, whilst 

 the other was so old that lie had merely the stumps 



