182 MAMMALIA— TIGER. 



tioQ Avhich has been drawn, cannot by possibility exist; and the recorded 

 observations of naturalists and travellers, both at home and abroad, will be 

 found amply sufficient to prove that the difference in their characters and 

 habits, on which so much stress has been laid, is in reality as slight and 

 unessential as that which exists in their corporeal structure. 



" Unquestionably, the tiger has not the majesty of the lion ; for he is desti- 

 tute of the mane, in which that majesty chiefly resides. Neither has he 

 the same calm and dignified air of imperturbable gravity which is at once so 

 striking and so prepossessing in the aspect of the lion. But, on the other 

 hand, it will readily be granted, that in the superior lightness of his frame, 

 which allows his natural agility its free and unrestricted scope, and in the 

 graceful ease and spirited activity of his motions, to say nothing of the 

 beauty, the regularity, afld the vividness of his coloring, he far excels his 

 competitor, whose giant bulk and comparative heaviness of person, added to 

 the dull uniformity of his color, detract in no small degree from the impres- 

 sion produced by his noble and majestic bearing. 



" In comparing the moral qualities of these two formidable animals, we 

 shall also find that the shades of difference, for at most they are but shades, 

 which distinguish them, are, like their external characteristics, pretty 

 equally balanced in favor of each. In all the leading features of their 

 character, the habits of both are essentially the same. The tiger, equally 

 with the lion, and in common indeed with the whole of the group to which 

 lie belongs, reposes indolently in the security of his den, until the calls of 

 appetite stimulate him to look abroad for food. He then chooses a conve- 

 nient ambush, in which to lie concealed from observation, generally amid 

 the underwood of the forest, but sometimes even on the branches of a tree, 

 which he climbs with all the agility of a cat. In this secret covert he 

 awaits with patient watchfulness the approach of his prey, upon which he 

 darts forth with an irresistible bound, and bears it off in triumph to his den. 

 Unlike the lion, however, if his first attack proves unsuccessful, and he 

 misses his aim, he does not usually slink sullenly back into his retreat, but 

 pursues his victim with a speed and activity which is seldom baffled even by 

 the fleetest animals. 



" It is evident, then, that in the general outline of his habits, and even in 

 most of the separate traits by which his character is marked, he differs but 

 little from the lion. His courage, if brute force stimulated by sensual ap- 

 petite can deserve that honorable name, is at least equal ; and as for magna- 

 nimity and generosity, the idea of attributing such noble qualities to either, 

 is in itself so absurd, and is so fully refuted by every particular of their 

 authentic history, that it would be perfectly ridiculous to attempt a com- 

 parison where no materials for comparison exist." 



That the tiger is not irreclaimably ferocious, and that he is capable not 

 merely of a capricious and transient liking, but of an enduring attachment, 

 sthe following story affords an extraordinary and convincing proof. " A 



