106 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



subscribe to the opinion held concerning him from 

 remotest times. The Lion is the king of all Beasts 

 of Prey, a ruler among quadrupeds. The classifying 

 naturalist calls him merely a Cat of a particularly 

 powerful build, yet the impression produced by the 

 magnificent animal induces even the most scientific 

 to give him a fitting place among his kindred. 



Lions are easily distinguished from all other Felidse. 

 Their special peculiarities are: a strong, powerful 

 body, clothed in short, sleek hair of a uniform tint ; 

 a broad face with small eyes; a mane, resembling the 

 tippet of an emperor, adorning the shoulders of the 

 male ; and a tuft at the tip of the tail. In compari- 

 son with the other Felidae, the body of the Lion 

 seems short, the flanks retracted, and the whole body 

 produces an impression of power, but not of clum- 

 siness. Hidden in the tuft of the tail is a horny 

 nail, noticed by Aristotle, but denied by many mod- 

 ern naturalists. The eyes have a round pupil, the 

 whisker-hairs are arranged in from six to eight rows. 

 Above all else it is the mane which distinguishes 

 the male Lion and bestows upon him his proud, 

 kingly look. 



The mane clothes the whole neck and the breast, 

 but varies so much, that, with or without just cause, 

 it has served as a basis to divide the Lion into a few 

 distinct kinds. I will give a short description of the 

 different species and leave the reader to judge for 

 himself whether these distinctions are justified. Let 

 us first consider the Barbary Lion, for it is he that 

 has, since time immemorial, retained the title of 

 " KiHg of Beasts " by his courage, strength, bravery, 

 nobility, generosity, gravity and calm demeanor. 

 The Lion The Barbary Lion {Felts leo barbarus) like 

 of all his kindred has a strong frame; and the 

 Barbary. front part of his body is much larger than 

 the liind part, because of the broad chest and re- 

 tracted flanks. The thick and nearly square head is 

 prolonged into a broad, blunt nmzzle; the ears are 

 rounded, the eyes are of medium size but full of fire, 

 the limbs are very strong, and the paws are the larg- 

 est among all FelidjE. The long tail ends in a short 

 thorn, which is covered with a fluffy tuft. The color 

 of this Lion is tawny, inclining to a reddish yellow 

 or dull brown hue, according as some hairs have 

 black tips or are quite black. The mane is very 

 thick. A male Lion may measure four feet in height 

 at the shoulder, and about eleven feet in length from 

 the nose to the tip of. the tail, the latter occupying 

 from five to six feet. Newborn Lions have a length 

 of about thirteen inches, but have no mane or tail- 

 tuft. They are clothed in woolly, grayish hair, which 

 3hows markings suggestive of those of the Ocelot to 

 an experienced observer. These brindlings are faint 

 during the first year, but are visible on the legs and 

 under portions for several years, especially in the 

 female Lions; and the exterior marks of adult age 

 ^ake their appearance during the third year. The 

 Lioness always resembles the young Lion to a greater 

 or less degree; her coat is either of the same length 

 on the breast as upon the remainder of the body, 

 or, at most, but a very little longer. The Barbary 

 Lion is confined to the Atlas country. 



Other The Senegal Lion {Fe/is leo senegalensis) 

 Varieties has a lighter mane, very little developed 

 ofthe Lion, on the breast. The South African Lion 

 (Felis leo capensis), and probably also the Abyssinian 

 Lion, are distinguished by their huge size ; and they 

 have a dark mane. The Persian Lion {Felis leo per- 

 ^tcus) possesses a mane consisting of mixed brown 

 and black hair; and this animal extends over Persia 



to India; he is still too little known for us to be able 

 to say whether he resembles more closely the Sene- 

 gal Lion or the Guzerat Lion, which is occasionally 

 maneless. 



The Senegal Lion and the South African Lion 

 are distributed all over central and southern Africa, 

 from the western to the eastern coast, and as far 

 north as the 20th degree of northern latitude. They 

 are regularly met with on the banks of the Blue and 

 White Nile and in the Abyssinian forests; and in the ' 

 , deserts of central and southern Africa they are of 

 common occurrence. 



The Guzerat Lion, known to the ancients, and im- 

 properly called the Maneless Lion {Felis leo guzerat- 

 ensis), was formerly supposed to be small and mane- 

 less, but both these conjectures have beeq proved to 

 be erroneous. He is of a dull tan color, the tail-tuft 

 and ears being darker. 



Decrease in The time when six hundred Lions could 

 Numbers be brought together in one arena is 



ofthe Lion, irremediably past. The King of Beasts 

 has since then retreated farther and farther before the 

 Lord of Creation. Man fights him with all his might 

 and will continue to steadily press him back and 

 ultimately exterminate him. The Lion of Barbary 

 formerly inhabited all Northeastern Africa, and was 

 nearly as common in Egypt as in Tunis, Fez or Mo- 

 rocco; the increase of population and the progress 

 of civilization drove him back farther and farther, 

 until nowadays he is rarely found in the valley of the 

 Lower Nile or on the southern coast of the Medi- 

 terranean. In Algeria and Morocco he is still no 

 rarity, and in Tunis and the oasis' of Fessan he is a 

 permanent feature. In Algeria the Lions are much 

 reduced in numbers ; the frequent wars between'the 

 French and the Arabs have driven them away, and 

 the French Lion-hunters, notably Jules Gerard, have 

 made sad havoc in their ranks. The conditions under 

 which the Lion of Senegal exists are more favorable. 

 The native of central Africa is not sufficiently well 

 armed to rise successfully against his worst tyrant 

 and tax-gatherer. Still even the Negro presses the 

 Lion into more remote regions. 

 The Lion's The Lion leads a solitary life, living with 



Manner his mate only during the breeding' season. 

 of Living, ^t other times every Lion in northern 

 Africa has his own hunting district, although he does 

 not quarrel with others of his kind over such mat- 

 ters. In South Africa it often happens that several 

 Lions unite for a hunt upon a large scale. Living- 

 stone tells us that troops of six to eight Lions will 

 prowl around together. In extraordinary cases the 

 troops may be still more numerous. Selous, one of 

 the latest writers on the subject, also says: "In 

 central South Africa one more frequently meets four 

 or five Lions together than single specimens, and 

 troops of ten or twelve are not extraordinary." 



The Lion does not inhabit virgin forests, but likes 

 an open landscape: jungles of grass, interspersed 

 with low, bushy forests, and prairies grown with 

 stunted shrubs and deserts, no matter whether they 

 are mountainous or level. In some secluded spot in 

 Soudan, usually in bushes, or in South Africa in the 

 high reeds growing on the banks of the temporarily 

 flowing rivers of that region, he selects a shallow 

 place as his den and uses it for a day or more, accord- 

 ing as the country is rich or poor, protected or open 

 to attacks. When dawn surprises him on his wan- 

 derings, he goes to sleep wherever he happens to be. 



On the whole his habits are those of the entire 

 feline species; ,still he differs in many essentials. He 



