14 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
her of her treasures, over which she watches with almost 
sleepless anxiety, exhibiting the truly beautiful but 
appalling picture of maternal tenderness combined with 
savage ferocity, each in their utmost intensity of force 
and colouring. 
The Cubs, which are three in number, two male and 
one female, were whelped on the 20th of October, 1827, 
the day of the battle of Navarino; and it is remarked by 
Mr. Cops, as a curious coincidence, that they are the 
only Lions which have been whelped in the Tower since 
the year 1794, rendered memorable by the great naval 
victory gained by Lord Howe over the French fleet. 
They are universally considered to be the finest ever 
bred in England, and are now in a most thriving con- 
dition. ‘They have not, however, yet reached the period 
when the shedding of the milk-teeth takes place, a pro- 
cess which is perhaps more perilous to the brute creation 
than that of dentition to the offspring of the human race, 
and appears indeed to be attended with greater risks in 
proportion to the carnivorous propensities of the respec- 
tive species. To the Lion it has always proved, at least 
in his state of captivity, a period of the greatest danger, 
very few individuals of the numerous whelps which have 
been produced either here or on the continent surviving 
its effects. Still there is good reason to hope, from the 
peculiarly healthy appearance of the present litter, that, 
by means of skilful management, the danger may be 
averted, and that a pair at least of these noble animals, 
“born and bred in England,” may in a few years rival 
their parents in size, in beauty, and in majesty. 
The mother and her whelps are admirably represented 
in the spirited group of portraits which heads the present 
article. The latter have all the playfulness of kittens, 
