THE LION. 25 



Mode of taming lions in the East. 



giving him several severe bruises. It seems 

 doubtful, however, whether this apparently mer- 

 ciful disposition is the effect of generosity, or 

 whether it arises merely from caprice and want 

 of appetite. 



We are informed by Tavernier, that the inha- 

 bitants of some parts of the East have a method 

 of taming lions, that is not practised in any other 

 part of the world. Four or five of those animals 

 are assembled, and tied by their hind legs to 

 stakes, twelve yards asunder. A strong cord is 

 likewise put round each of their necks; and these 

 cords are held by men, who stand behind the 

 stakes. In front of the animals, but just out of 

 their reach, when they are at the extent'. of the 

 rope that ties their legs, another cord is stretch- 

 ed ; and against it stand several people, who con- 

 tinually teaze them by pelting them with stones 

 and wood. Irritated at this treatment, the lions 

 furiously spring forward, when the men who hold 

 the ropes that are. fastened round their necks, 

 pull them back. By this practice, of which Ta- 

 vernier himself was an eye-witness, they are by 

 degrees accustomed to become familiar. 



in the dominions of the great mogul, it was 

 formerly esteemed a royal privilege to hunt the 

 lion, which none durst exercise without the spe- 

 cial permission of the emperor. When Sir Tho- 

 mas Roe was ambassador at that court from 

 James I, a lion and a wolf broke into the court- 

 yard of his house, and it was not till he had sent 



NO. I. D 



