NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Description, &c. 



THE LEONINE SEJL. 



THE head and eyes of this animal are very 

 large. The nose turns up; the ears are conical 

 and erect; and the neck of the male is covered 

 with long waved hair,, somewhat like that of the 

 lion. The hair of the other parts of the body is 

 short and red : that of the female yellowish ; but 

 at a certain age they turn grey. A large male is 

 said to measure from sixteen to eighteen feet in 

 length, and to weigh about sixteen hundred 

 pounds ; but the females are considerably smaller. 



If a human being appear among these animals 

 they immediately run off,- and when disturbed 

 in sleep, they seem seized with horror, sigh deeply 

 in their attempts to escape, fall into the utmost 

 confusion, and shake so violently as scarcely to 

 be able to use their limbs : but if they are re- 

 duced to an extremity, and find it impossible to 

 effect an escape, they become desperate, and 

 turn on their assailant with prodigious fury. 

 When they tind there is no intention to hurt 

 them, their timidity entirely subsides. Steller, 

 when he was on Bering's island, lived in a hovel 

 surrounded by them, for six days. They were 

 soon reconciled to him ; and would observe, with 

 great calmness, what he was doing; lie down near 

 him ; and even permit him to seize and play with 

 their cubs. In this situation he had an opportu- 

 nity of seeing several of their conflicts ; and once. 



