THE LION, 65 



found of his revenging these unprovoked sallies of ig- 

 norance and cruelty. Labat however informs us, that 

 a gentleman was weak enough to keep a lion in his 

 chamber, and a domestic purposely to attend it, who 

 occasionally tortured and caressed it. This ill judged 

 association continued for some time, till one morning 

 the gentleman was awakened by an unusual noise in 

 his room, and withdrawing the curtains of his bed to 

 see what had occasioned it, beheld a sight that chilled 

 his blood with horror ; the sanguinary animal was 

 growling over the dead body of his keeper, and tossing 

 the dissevered head about the room in sport : terrified 

 and alarmed by so dreadful a spectacle, he instantly 

 sprang out of the room, called in assistance to secure 

 the beast, and prevented it from doing farther ill. 



Notwithstanding this instance of treachery or re- 

 venge, the lion on the whole is a generous-minded beast, 

 and has given frequent proofs both of the courage and 

 magnanimity of his disposition : he has often been seen 

 to spare the lives of those animals that have been 

 thrown to him for food, to live with them in habits of 

 sociability and friendship, and willingly to share with 

 them the subsistence that was given for his own sus- 

 tenance and support. Another superiority which the 

 lion possesses over every other animal of the carni- 

 vorous kind, is, that it kills from necessity more than 

 choice, and never destroys more than it is able to con- 

 sume. 



The outward form of the lion seems to speak the in- 

 ternal generosity of his nature. His figure is striking, 

 lis look bold and confident, his gait proud, and his 

 ,-oice terrible : his stature is not overgrown, like that 

 >f the elephant or rhinoceros ; nor his shape clumsy, 

 ike that of the hippopotamus, or ox: it is compact, 



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