CAT KIND. 



provide for. She then makes her incursions with 

 even more intrepidity than the lion himself; she 

 throws herself indiscriminately among men and 

 other animals ; destroys without distinction ; loads 

 herself with the spoil, and brings it home reek- 

 ing to her cubs, whom she accustoms betimes to 

 cruelty and slaughter. She usually brings forth 

 in the most retired and inaccessible places ; and 

 when she fears to have her retreat discovered, 

 often hides her tracks, by running back her 

 ground, or by brushing them out with her tail. 

 She sometimes, also, when her apprehensions are 

 great, transports them from one place to another, 

 and, if obstructed, defends them with determined 

 courage, and fights to the last. 



The lion is chiefly an inhabitant of the torrid 

 zone, and, as was said, is always most formidable 

 there ; nevertheless, he can subsist in more tem- 

 perate climates, and there was a time when even 

 the southern parts of Europe were infested by 

 him. At present he is only found in Africa and 

 the East Indies, in some of which countries he 

 grows to an enormous height. The lion of Bil- 

 dulgerid is said to be nearly five feet high, and 

 between nine and ten feet from the tip of the 

 nose to the insertion of the tail. We have in the 

 Tower at present one of above four feet high, 

 that was brought from Morocco, which is the 

 largest that for some time past has been seen in 

 Europe. The ordinary size is between three and 

 four feet, the female being, in all her dimensions, 

 about one-third less than the male. There are no 

 lions in America : the Puma, which has received 



