THE LION— THE LEOPARD 185 



which, every time he drew near to the flagging 

 leading files, inspired them with their astonishing 

 and unaccountable energy. I have never been 

 able satisfactorily to ascertain what became of 

 the lion, and it has always seemed to me that 

 neglect to place on record his ultimate fate was a 

 most serious and lamentable omission. 



Although lions are slowly tending to grow more 

 and more difficult of access — falling back gradu- 

 ally, as it were, before the slow advance of the tide 

 of civihsation — I suppose many years must never- 

 theless necessarily elapse before they wiU be 

 driven to take refuge in the soUtary forest fast- 

 nesses to the north of the Zambezi already in- 

 habited by so many of their race. South Africa 

 has gradually pushed them back to the farther 

 banks of the Orange River, but beyond that — 

 their southern hmit, so to speak — ^there are few 

 centres outside the larger and more populous 

 cities where a marauding visitation of Uons might 

 not take place. The great distances they are 

 accustomed to travel, the readiness with which, 

 without any pressure, they take to the water, and 

 their great wariness and intelligence — all these 

 quahties and several others are of a character 

 calculated greatly to militate against any prospect 

 of their early extinction. 



The " Grey Cat " of scientists, or the Leop- 

 ard, as he is known to persons inteUigently 

 interested in African zoology, is by no means 

 confined to Africa. In North and South 

 America, with sUght differences of appearance, he 

 is known as the Puma or Jaguar ; in Ceylon and 



