36o CARNIVORES. 



Mesopotamia and South Persia to tlie uortli - western districts of India, being, 

 however, now on the verge of extinction in the latter countrj*. Formerly, even 

 within historic times, the lion had a much more extensive geographical range, 

 extending westwards into Syria and Arabia, and i-anging over a considerable 

 portion of South-Eastem Europe, such as Roumania and Greece. This, however, 

 by no means limits the original extent of its range, for bones and teeth found in 

 the caverns and superficial deposits of Western Europe prove that lions, whicli 

 appear specifically undistinguishable from the existing fonn, once roamed over 

 German}'', France, Italy, Spain, and the British Isles. The ancient prehistoric 

 lions of Western Europe were in all probability extenninated by the cold of the 

 glacial period ; but the destruction of those infesting Eastern Europe and paiis of 

 Western Asia duiing the historic epoch was probablj' effected, at least to a con- 

 siderable extent, by human agency. 



In South Africa Uous are now scarce in the districts to the southward of the 

 Orange River, but are locally abundant in the regions farther north, such as 

 Mashonaland. Although it is quite probable that its range may once have 

 embraceil the countries of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, the lion is now quite 

 unknown in Asia to the northward of India. Writing some years ago of the 

 habitats of the Hon in Western Asia, Canon Tristram observes that " the Ai-abs 

 say it is found in Arabia ; but of this we have at least no evidence. Occasionally 

 it crosses the Euphrates, and a few j'eare ago a lion's carcase was brought into 

 Damascus. Between the Lower Tigris and Euphrates they still abound. Mr. 

 Layard .saw them frequently, and during his excavations in the neighbourhood of 

 Babylon, found fresh traces of their footsteps almo.st AsAy among the i-uins. It 

 extends also far liigher up, to the jungle of the Khabour, or Chebar, on the upper 

 Tigris, above Mosul and Nineveh (the ancient Chebar), where Layard mentions an 

 Arab being attacked by one, and escaping with the loss of his mare." 



The late Sir O. B. St. John, as quoted by Mi-. Blanford, observes that " lions, 

 which are very numerous in the reedj' swamps bordering the Tigris and Euphrates, 

 are found also in the plains of Susiana, the modem Khuzistan, and extend into 

 the mountain country south of Shiraz as far east as longitude 53°. I have no 

 accurate information of their northern limits, but Captain Piei-son, who spent many 

 years iu the countrj- between Tehran and Baghdad, tells me that he never heard of 

 lions in the oak forest west of Karmanshah. It is the acorns of this same oak 

 forest which feed the wild pigs whose presence tempts the lion into the mountains 

 of Fai-s. . . . The little Valley of Dashtiarjan, thirty-five miles west of Shiraz, is 

 notorious for the number of lions found in its vicinity. Part of the valky is 

 occupied by a fresh-water lake, on the edges of which are extensive beds of reeds : 

 the surrounding hills, which rise some four thousand feet above the valley, itself 

 six thousand five hundred feet above the sea, are covered with oak forest, or with 

 pretty thick brushwood of hawthorn, wild pear, and other bushes, and contain very 

 extensive vineyards. Dashtiarjan is thus a perfect paradise for swine, and they 

 increase and multiply accordingly, so that the lions haVe plenty to eat, varying the 

 monotony of constant pork with an occasional ibex, or with a calf from the herds 

 Avhich graze in the valley. Ev^ery j^ear some four or five lions are killed in 

 Dashtiarjan or the neighbourhood, and a few cubs brought into Shiraz for .sale." 



