CAPTURE OF ANIMALS. 61 



animal is yellow, marked with open figures of a rounded-an- 

 gular form. In each of these figures are one or more black 

 spots. The figures are arranged longitudinally and nearly 

 parallel along the body. The belly is almost white. There 

 is considerable variation in color among Jaguars, some being 

 very dark or almost black, with indistinct markings. The 

 richly tinted skins are highly valued, and are exported to 

 Europe in large numbers, where they are used by the mili- 

 tary officers for saddle coverings. 



For capturing the Jaguar in steel-traps the directions given 

 for trapping the cougar should be followed. 



THE LION. 



The principal habitat of the Lion is in Africa. Some also 

 exist in Asia, but nowhere else. There are three African 

 varieties the Black, the Red or Tawny, and the Gray. In 

 Asia the dark-colored Bengal, the light-colored Persian or 

 Arabian, and the Maneless Lions exist. A full-grown Lion, 

 in its native wilds, is usually four feet in height at the shoul- 

 ders, and about eleven feet long from the nose to the tip of 

 the tail. He is of great strength and ferocity, and is commonly 

 called the " king of beasts." Lions belong to the cat family, 

 and prey upon all animals they can master. They approach 

 their prey stealthily, like a cat hunting a mouse, and spring 

 upon it unawares. Human beings are not exempt from their 

 attack, but form their most coveted prey when once an appe- 

 tite for human flesh has been established. In Africa they 

 hang round the villages, and carry off every man, woman, or 

 child they can secure, and make great havoc among all kinds 

 of domestic animals. Ge*rard, the French Lion-hunter of 

 North Africa, estimates that the average length of life of the 

 Lion is thirty-five to forty years ; and that he kills, or con- 

 sumes, year by year, horses, mules, horned cattle, camels, 

 and sheep, to the value of twelve hundred dollars. Taking 

 the average of his life, which is thirty-five years, each Lion 

 costs the Arabs of that country forty-two thousand dollars. 

 The Lion is mostly nocturnal in its habits, hunting its prey 

 and satisfying its appetite during the night, and sleeping and 



