II. 



THE HEPTARCHY OF THE CATS. 



Nothing can be more unsatisfying than the poets' treat- 

 ment of the splendid family of the Cats. Excepting the 

 lion, to which, as I have shown, they do conspicuous justice, 

 the poets have apparently no appreciation whatever of the 

 grand Parable of the Carnivora. They say the tiger is very 

 fierce, and the leopard and the panther very beautiful ; but 

 there they end. Their powerful compeers, the jaguar, puma, 

 ounce, and cheetah, which complete the Heptarchy — the 

 Lion-state enjoying the " hegemony " of the confederacy — 

 aie not utilised, so that virtually the noble Beasts of Prey 

 afford the poets no more than two similes — one of exces- 

 sive cruelty, and one of personal elegance. Here and there, 

 of course, tradition, heraldic association, or Biblical mis- 

 translation, betrays the poet into some oblique injustice to 

 the proud vassals of the beast paramount — " the lonely lords 

 of empty wilds and woods " — but these aberrations do not 

 materially affect their treatment. They do not recognise 

 apparently the nobility of this family of courageous and 

 beautiful beasts in Nature's wild-life scheme, nor appreciate 

 the purpose they serve as her chief ministers of state. 



Individually the tiger, leopard, and panther are each of 

 them largely utilised, but, as will be seen, with very meagre 



