10 THE LION. 



in a wild state, yet being reared in confinement, 

 and deprived of the milk of the mother of fresh 

 air, so to say of liberty, &c., they too often acquire 

 a sickly, emaciated, and melancholy look, which, 

 coupled with the want of an ample mane, causes 

 them to contrast very unfavourably with their fel- 

 lows in a state of nature. 



Harris, who had ample opportunities of making 

 the acquaintance of the lion in his native wilds 

 both in Africa and India, would seem, like myself, 

 to have been greatly struck by the different ap- 

 pearance the beast presents when in a state of 

 freedom from that when a wretched prisoner. His 

 words are : 



" Those who have seen the monarch of the forest 

 in crippling captivity, immured in a cage barely 

 double his own length, with his sinews relaxed by 

 confinement, have seen but the shadow of the 

 animal which ' clears the desert with his roving 

 eye.' " 



The lioness is a much less imposing-looking 

 animal than the lion, being not only one-third 

 smaller, but devoid of a mane. When roused, how- 

 ever, either by rage or hunger, she has an even 

 more ferocious aspect than her stately mate, whose 

 countenance is often partially hidden by his flowing 

 inane. 



It is said that, as a general rule, the lioness is 

 more fierce and active than the lion, and that such 

 as have never had young are more dangerous than 

 those that have had families. 



The lion is possessed of a piercing sight, and his 



