Ohfer^iations 6cc. 245• 



oftner falling out, that Women as well as Men, have \tQtx\no*ofFhe, 

 devoured for Want of other Creatures. Fire is what they 

 are moil afraid of; and yet notwithftanding all the Precaution 

 of the Arabs in this Refpett, notwithftanding the Barking of 

 their Dogs^together with their ownCrys and Exclamations, all the 

 Night long, it frequently happens, that thefe ravenous Beafts, 

 out-braving all thefe Terrors, will leap into the Midft of a 

 Doiiwar, (where the Cattle are enclofed in the Night) and bring 

 out along with them a Sheep or a Goat. If thefe Ravages r-^^ way of 

 are repeated, then the ^r<i^j",obferving where they enter, dig 

 there a Pit, and, covering it over (lightly with Reeds, orfmall 

 Branches of Trees, in this Manner frequently decoy and catch 

 them. The Lyon s Flefli is in great Efteem, being fome what like 

 Veal in Taft or Flavour. The Diftin6tion of Animals feems to 

 have been little known or attended to by the antient Roma?is, 

 when, according to an Obfervation of Z.i/)//?ii ' , tbey called 

 the Lyon a Bear, and the Panther a Rat of Africa. 



The Faadb [^*' J agreeth with the Leopard in being fpotted, ^-^^ faadh, 

 but diftereth in other Refpeols. For the Skin is not only of a 

 deeperColour but alfo much coarfer ; neither is theCreature Itfelf 

 of fo fierce a Nature. However the Arabs imagine It to be a 

 fpurious Offspring betwixt a Lyon and a Leopardefs. It feeds^ 

 as I have been informed, upon Carrion, fometimes upon Roots 

 and Herbs , like the Deeb and the Dubbah , and muft be in 

 great Neceifity when It attacks a Sheep or a Goat. It can then 

 be fcarce taken for the ©«? or Lupus Cervarius of the Antients, 

 which is defcribed to be a much fiercer Creature : the Cbamus^"'• Chamus. 

 of Tlin/ feeming better to agree with it. 



There are two other Animals of this Country, that areT^. uf.r 

 marked like the Leopard , only their Spots are generally of ^^"'''"' 

 a darker Colour, and the Fur fomewhat longer and fofter. 

 The firft is of the Cat-Kind, about one third lefs than a full 

 grown Leopard, and may be taken for a Species of the Lynx, 

 or rather, ίοΐ the leiCei Taniber oiOppian. 



I Peregrina cum ad Romanes advehebantiir, ftupcbant : & nomen Ijs dabant non fuum 

 fed obvium aliquod & e vicino fuo rure. ** Ita Pantheras vocarunt Mures, ut opinor, 

 Africanos ** Tale in Leonibus eft. Cum primum vifi, non Leones externO eos nomine in- 



iignierunt, fed noto & domeftico Urfos. * Virgilium quidem, dum Aceftcm tegit -Pelle 



Libjfl'idos urfi , certum mihi intellexiffe Lconinam &c. Vid. J. Lipf. Elcd. 1. 2. cap. 4. 

 2 Pompeij magni primum Ludi oftenderunt Cbaum, quem Galli Rbaphium vocabanc, effigie 

 lupi, Pardorum maculis. PUn. 1.8. cap. ij>. 



CLq q The 



