16 WILD ANIMALS. 



days of Greek art— is tlie oast of the famous lion of Ch^ronea. 

 Of this lion we learn that a mile from the ruined city of Chaeronea, 

 on the right-hand side of the Kapurna road, is the sepulchre 

 of the Boeotians who fell in the battle of Chaeronea, fighting 

 against Philip of Macedon, B.C. 338. Pausanias, the Greek geo- 

 grapher, speaks of the tomb in his quaint but "touching language 

 as having " no inscription but a figure of a lion placed on it as 

 emblem of the spirit of these men." " There is no inscription," 

 he adds, " because the gods willed that their fortune should be 

 unequal to their valour." This marble lion, the masterpiece of 

 art, disappeared for a long time, but fortunately the fragments 

 were at last found and are now being put together. 



Looking at these noble animals, we see their characteristic points 

 are the grand and massive face and front, the profusion of long, 

 thick, wiry hair that forms the shaggy mane, falling from the chin 

 and throat, over the head, neck, and shoulders, and below the body ; 

 also that they stand comparatively high on their fore.legs, but fall 

 away slightly at the withers. The fore-feet, it will be observed, 

 have five toes, and the hind ones only four. Their slow, heavy, 

 but silent tread exhibits power and grace, so attractively blended 

 that few can resist gazing on them with a sense of fascination as 

 they move to and fro in their well-barred cages ; and who can fail 

 to observe the calm indifference with which they regard the people 

 who parade before them, for they pay no heed at all, but seem to 

 ignore even their presence, as something unworthy their attention. 



The lion's colour is a rich brown or tawny yellow, though it 

 may vary greatly from a reddish-brown to a lightish grey. The 

 tail is bare, ezcept at the tip, which is decorated by a conspicuous 

 tuft of black hair, a very distinguishing mark, for no other 

 member of the cat tribe possesses it. The mane is generally darker 

 than the rest of the body, sometimes being almost black; but its 

 tint varies according to the age, and possibly according to the 

 country, -of its owner's habitation; it does not begin to grow 

 until the third year, and is not properly developed until the com- 

 pletion of the fifth. This changing of colour and appearance at 

 certain periods seems to have given rise to the opinion that many 

 species exist ; but hunters who have had the best chance of beinff 



