18 NATURAL HISTORY. 



3 The Lion oft/te Cape ranges over the whole of South Africa, and is said to be found under 

 two lesser varieties, one yellowish in colour, and the other brown : the latter is considered to be the 

 more formidable. The mane is darker than in either of the foregoing kinds. 



The Asiatic varieties are smaller than the kinds found in Africa. The mane is variable, and the 

 form less graceful than in the Cape or Barbary Lion. 



4. T/ie Persian or Arabian Lion. This is a paler variety found in Western Asia. 



5. The Lion of Guzerat, or so-called " maneless Lion," is usually stated to be the best-marked 

 variety of all, as its mane, though by no means absent, as the name of the variety would lead us to 

 suppose, is very much less than in any other kind ; the body also is bulkier and the legs shorter. Some 

 writers, however, deny altogether the distinctness of the variety, and consider that the mistake of 

 considering the Guzerat Lion as such, has arisen from the fact of young specimens having been described. 

 The strongest statements we have met with on this head are by Captain Harris, whose words we will 

 quote as they show how little reliance is to be placed on the distinction drawn by travellers between 

 closely-allied varieties or species. Harris says that the South African Lion does not differ " in any 

 material points from those found in Guzerat, in Western India, measuring between ten and eleven feet 

 in extreme length, but generally possessing a finer mane, a peculiarity which is attributable to the less 

 jungly character of the country he infests, and to the more advanced age which he is supposed to attain. 

 Amongst the Cape colonists it is a fashionable belief that there are two distinct species of the African 



Li on the yellow and the black and that the one is infinitely less ferocious than the other. But I 



need scarcely inform the well-instructed reader that k both the colour and the size depend chiefly upon 

 the animal's age ; the development of the physical powers, and of the mane also, being principally 

 influenced by a like contingency. That which has been designated the ' maneless Lion of Guzerat ' 

 is nothing more than a young Lion whose mane has not shot forth ; and I give this opinion with less 

 hesitation, having slain the ' king of beasts ' in every stage from whelphood to imbecility." 



There has been no attempt to divide the above-named varieties into distinct species. From 

 Linnaeus to Dr. Gray, all zoologists agree in this matter. Hence we see that animals do not vary 

 under domestication only; but wild creatures also have their varieties or races, differing in the 

 various localities in which they are found. 



All these varieties together form a very well-marked species of the genus Felis, and are known 

 as Felis leo, in zoological language. Some authors, however, as we have already noticed, prefer to 

 consider the various kinds of Cat as so many distinct genera, and speak of the Lion as a single genus 

 and species (Leo nobilis). The species, or genus for it matters very little which we call it is 

 distinguished from other Cats by its uniform tawny colour, the tuft of hair at the end of the tail, and 

 the flowing mane, which clothes the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. The head of the Lion is 

 more square than that of the other species of Cats. The mane is entirely absent in the female, which 

 is, in consequence, a comparatively ordinary-looking animal, as it is only by the grandeur of his hirsute 

 appendage that the male is compensated for his plain colouring. The addition of the mane, however, 

 gives him an immense advantage over all other species, adding to his apparent size, especially to that 

 of the head, increasing almost infinitely the beauty of his form, and altogether making him one of the 

 most magnificent objects in the animal kingdom. A further distinction between the Lion and other 

 Cats is to be found in the strong tuft of hair at the end of the tail, which exists in both sexes. Quite 

 at the extremity of the tail, and hidden by the tuft, is a curious little horny appendage or " thorn." 

 with which it was supposed that the Lion, when lashing his tail, spurred his flanks, and so awoke all 

 his courage and ferocity ! 



We have just mentioned the uniform tawny colour as characteristic of the Lion. This is so, in 

 fact, in adult specimens, but the new-born young are invariably spotted, and the spots often persist for a 

 considerable time. This is the case with Lions born in captivity, as well as with those in a state 

 of nature, and has often been observed in the Lions born in the Zoological Gardens. In some 

 instances the spots are visible during the animal's life. There are grounds for believing that all the 

 great Cats are descended from a spotted ancestor. 



One more external character : the snout of the Lion is longer and more Dog-like than that of 

 any other Cat ; the forehead and nose are almost in the same straight line, instead of making a bold 

 curve, as they do in the Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, and the smaller Cats. So that the Lion, which is 



