

144 



THE GAMBIAN LION. 



it would be impossible to be prepared in consequence of not observing the shaking 

 and flashing above referred to." 



It has already been mentioned, that several naturalists accept the Lion of Western 

 Africa as a species distinct from the Lion of Southern Africa, and have therefore given 

 to the animal a different specific name, which is derived from the country in which it 

 is found. Whatever may be said of the distinction between the Asiatic and African 

 Lion, there seem to be scarcely sufficient grounds for considering the very slight dif- 

 ferences which are found in Lions of Africa to be a sufficient warrant for constituting 

 separate species. They may be permanent varieties, and even in that case are not 

 nearly so different from each other as the mastiff from the spaniel. 



From all accounts, however, it seems that the habits of all Lions are very similar, 

 and that a Lion acts like a Lion, whether he resides in Africa or Asia. 



GAMBIAN LION.-teo Qambiaaus. 



We all are familiar with the self-gratulatory half-threatening mixture between a purr 

 and a growl, which is emitted by the domestic cat when she has laid her paws on a 

 mouse or a bird, and is divided in mind between the complacent consciousness of 

 having won a prize by her own efforts, and the ever present fear that it should escape 

 or be taken away. If we substitute a Lion for a cat, and suppose ourselves to be in 

 the position of the victim, we may partly realize the feeling which must have filled the 

 mind of a recent traveller and hunter in Southern Africa. 



He had built for himself a "skarm," or slight rifle-pit, composed of stones, logs, and 

 other convenient substances, and had watched during the night in hopes of finding 

 game worthy the sacrifice of time and sleep. Nothing, however, had come within 

 range of the concealed hunter excepting a white rhinoceros, which was shot, and fell 

 dead on the spot. Wearied out with the prolonged vigil, the hunter dropped asleep, 

 and lay for some time wrapped in unconsciousness. 



But the active desert life requires that its votary should be ever prepared for any 



