LION. 67 



The fur is of a reddish colour on the back and sides, and 

 whitish on the throat and belly. The whole skin, however, 

 is diversified with black spots of different figures, and 

 on the ears are several transverse black stripes. This crea- 

 ture exhibits all the characteristic propensities of its kind. 



THE HON. 



This noble animal justly stands at the head of the feline 

 race ; being at once the most dignified, the strongest, and 

 the most generous, of the kind. The lion has a large 

 head, short round ears, a shaggy mane, strong limbs, and 

 a long tail tufted at the extremity. Its general colour is 

 tawny, which on the belly inclines to white. From the 

 nose to the insertion of the tail, a full-grown lion will 

 measure eight feet. The lioness is somewhat smaller, 

 and destitute of a mane. 



Like other animals, the lion is affected by the influence 

 of climate in a very sensible degree. Under the scorching 

 sun of Africa, where its courage is in a manner sublimed 

 by the heat, it is the most terrible and undaunted of all 

 quadrupeds. On the other hand, the lions of mount Atlas, 

 whose top is covered with perpetual snows, have neither 

 the strength nor the courage of those in Bildulgerid and 

 Zaara. Fortunately the species is not very numerous : and 

 it must certainly have been much diminished since the 

 times of the ancient Romans ; when, according to Dr. Shaw, 

 fifty times more lions were drawn from Lybia for their 

 public spectacles than are now to be found in that whole 

 country. The same remark will apply to Turkey, Persia, 

 and the East Indies, where lions daily grow less frequent. 

 As countries become better peopled, and particularly 

 wherever the use of fire-arms had been introduced, it is 

 reasonable to suppose, that the propagation of savage 

 animals has been proportionally checked, bv their inroads 

 being circumscribed. 



It is in the deserts of Zaara, and the internal parts of 

 Africa, that the lions are most numerous ; for here they 

 range without control. In these wide-extended regions, 



