AN IDEAL REPUTATION. 805 



along its western coast and on the confines of the Sahara. The 

 panther (Felis pardus) is also an African denizen, though likewise 

 found in Arabia, Persia, and Hindostan. During the day he lurks in 

 the thickets and among the tall grasses, but when the shades of night 

 descend he issues from his lair, and haunts the brooks and pools 

 whither the herbivora resort to quench their thirst. There, upon 

 some rock, he lies in ambuscade, commanding the track pursued by 

 innocent victims, and darting with unerring precision upon the first 

 which presents itself. 



Neither leopard nor panther often ventures to assail man. When 

 attacked by him, they seek at first to make their escape, and only 

 turn at bay when escape is impossible. In Java, and some other of 

 the great Indian islands, there exists a black panther, which has 

 gained, it is difficult to say Jioiv, the reputation of extraordinary 

 ferocity and daring. Sometimes, in the world of man, great reputa- 

 tions are built upon equally slight foundations. He owes his fame 

 to the imagination of the natives, and differs from his congeners in 

 no single respect but the blackish colour of his skin. A skilful 

 naturalist, who was for some years a resident in Java, relates that, 

 while botanizing in the fields and jungles early in the day, he 

 frequently roused the black panthers in their lairs. At first he was 

 somewhat startled by the apparition of an animal of such terrible 

 renown, but seeing him turn tail very quickly on his approach, he 

 soon grew re-assured, and troubled himself no more at these rencontres 

 than if he had met a dog or a cat. 



We now come to the most formidable of all the Carnaria : the 

 Tiger, properly so called, or Royal Tiger, whose portrait Buffon has 

 been pleased to paint with his boldest brush and most glowing 

 colours, without any other motive apparently than a love of antithesis, 

 or the artist's desire to give force and effect to a striking picture. 

 He had endowed the king of animals with all the regal qualities his 

 imagination could suggest, and by way of contrast he ascribed to the 



tiger the lowest and cruellest instincts. He painted him as the Moloch 



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