THE BENGAL LION. 5 
near the habitations of uncultivated savages, and it will 
then be seen that he recognises his master, and crouches 
to the power of a superior being. Here he no longer 
shows himself openly in the proud consciousness of his 
native dignity, but skulks in the deepest recesses of the 
forest, cautiously watches his opportunities, and lies in 
treacherous ambush for the approach of his unwary prey. 
It is this innate feeling of his incapacity openly to resist 
the power of man, that renders him so docile in captivity, 
and gives him that air of mild tranquillity, which, toge- 
ther with the dignified majesty of his deportment, has 
unquestionably contributed not a little towards the gene- 
ral impression of his amiable qualities. 
His forbearance and yvenerosity, if the facts be carefully 
investigated, will be found to resolve themselves into no 
more than this: that in his wild state he destroys only 
to satiate his hunger or revenge, and never, like the 
“ gaunt wolves,” and “ sullen tigers,” of whom the poet 
has composed his train, in the wantonness of his power 
and the malignity of his disposition; and that, when 
tamed, his hunger being satisfied and his feelings being 
free from irritation, he suffers smaller animals to remain 
in his den uninjured, is familiar with, and sometimes 
fond of, the keeper by whom he is attended and fed, and 
will even, when under complete control, submit to the 
caresses of strangers. 
But even this limited degree of amiability, which, in 
an animal of less formidable powers, would be considered 
as indicating no peculiar mildness of temper, is modified 
by the calls of hunger, by the feelings of revenge, which 
he frequently cherishes for a considerable length of time, 
and by various other circumstances which render it dan- 
