CAT KIND. 415 



can be more beautiful than this animal ; the glossy 

 smoothness of his hair, which lies much smoother, 

 and shines with greater brightness than even that 

 of the leopard ; the extreme blackness of the 

 streaks with which he is marked, and the bright 

 yellow colour of the ground which they diversify, 

 at once strike the beholder. To this beauty of 

 colouring is added an extremely elegant form, 

 much larger indeed than that of the leopard, but 

 more slender, more delicate, and bespeaking the 

 most extreme swiftness and agility. Unhappily, 

 however, this animal's disposition is as mischievous 

 as its form is admirable, as if Providence was will- 

 ing to show the small value of beauty, by bestow- 

 ing it on the most noxious of quadrupeds. We 

 have, at present, one of these animals in the Tower, 

 which to the view appears the most good-natured 

 and harmless creature in the world : its physiog- 

 nomy is far from fierce or angry ; it has not the 

 commanding stern countenance of the lion, but a 

 gentle placid air ; yet for all this it is fierce and 

 savage beyond measure; neither correction can 

 terrify it, nor indulgence can tame." 



The chief and most observable distinction in 

 the tiger, and in which it differs from all others 

 of the mottled kind, is in the shape of its colours, 

 which run in streaks or bands in the same direc- 

 tion as his ribs, from the back down to the belly. 

 The leopard, the panther, and the ounce, are all 

 partly covered like this animal, but with this dif- 

 ference, that their colours are broken in spots all 

 over the body ; whereas in the tiger they stretch 

 lengthwise, and there is scarcely a round spot to 



