Appendix 305 



lion with a mane varies from light-brown to dark chestnut ; 

 its mane is either reddish-yellow or mixed with dark hairs, 

 or even sometimes completely dark-brown, the last-named 

 being rarer and much valued by collectors. 



In a district with a radius of a few miles I have seen, 

 at night-time and at the same drinking-place, lions appear- 

 ing to belong to the same family some of which had manes 

 and others none. 



In sandy places, where everything is yellow or reddish, 

 as in certain regions of the Somalis, antelopes and lions are 

 similar in colour. Nature thus enables them to hide them- 

 selves completely. This colour also mingles with that of 

 the grass and dry leaves in flat countries. Dark-brown 

 blends well with wooded and sheltered regions. The end 

 of the tail, a point on the inner part of the legs, and 

 the back of the ears, are always black. 



Many are the stories in circulation about the lion, 

 which naturalists, some of the most competent even, have 

 helped to spread, stories which are continually reproduced 

 and taught to young people, despite the writings of the 

 last twenty years of those who have studied the animal in 

 its haunts. People still speak of the yellow or brown lion 

 of the Cape, Senegal, Barbary, etc. ; they still tell us that it 

 is the king of beasts because of its magnanimity, strength, 

 terrible effect of its tail, and its aptitude for carrying large 

 animals to great distances ; they still declare that it is 

 unable to run quickly, that its eyes are phosphorescent, that 

 when taken prisoner it is so cowardly it will allow itself to 

 be bound, etc. So, when any one meets a hunter who has 

 had some experience of the lion, the first thing he does is to 

 ask him questions bearing on the above statements. I 

 quite appreciate the difficulties which naturalists encounter 

 in their work of teaching us about the anatomy, the natural 

 characteristics, and the life of animals ; but, as M. Milne- 

 Edwards, an eminent member of the Institute and Curator 

 of the Paris Museum, has said, " what interests us are 



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