14 AN AFFECTIONATE LEOPARD. ch. i. 



present time no animal of prey larger than a jackal is seen 

 in this part of the country, but the wild boar is as abun- 

 dant there as it is everywhere throughout Marocco. No 

 doubt the religious scruples that forbid the use of the 

 flesh have gone far to prevent the natives from reducing 

 the numbers of these mischievous brutes. One anecdote 

 in favour of an animal whose moral character stands in 

 low repute may here be permitted. 



Sir J. D. Hay had brought up a young leopard in bis 

 house until the animal had reached his full size and 

 strength, and it seemed a scarcely safe companion for the 

 younger members of his family. He therefore resolved to 

 present it to the Zoological Gardens in London, where it 

 was duly installed. Some two years later, when on a visit 

 to England, its former master bethought him of the 

 leopard, and, going to the gardens, recognised the animal 

 and spoke to him in Arabic. The once familiar sounds 

 immediately awoke the animal's memory, and it at once 

 displayed the appearance of unbounded, but joyous, 

 excitement. On explaining the circumstances the cage 

 was opened, and the animal showed the utmost delight at 

 the approach of its early friend and master. 



On the night of Easter Sunday, while enjoying the 

 cool air and the view from the roof of the British Eesi- 

 dency, we beheld that grand display of the Aurora Borealis, 

 which was visible at the same time throughout Western 

 Europe. As in the equally brilliant auroras of the pre- 

 ceding autumn, which the popular imagination in many 

 different parts of Europe had attributed to the burning of 

 Paris, the characteristic feature of this display was the 

 pale flickering crimson tinge that rose from the northern 

 and western horizon towards the zenith. Brilliant auroral 

 phenomena are rarely seen in so low a latitude as Tangier ; 

 but thirty-two years earlier Hooker had beheld them from 

 a still more southern station, during the visit of the 

 Antarctic Expedition to Madeira in 1839, as described by 

 Sir James Eoss in the narrative of that voyage. 



