12 THE ROYAL TIGER OF BENGAL. 



for there lie is in his home, whilst the lion, com- 

 paratively rare and confined to certain limited 

 portions of India, such as Gruzerat, Grwalior, and a 

 few other localities, is, as it were, the outlying and 

 degenerate representative of a branch of a fauna 

 that attains its highest development in Africa ; 

 withal, the largest tiger exceeds th© -largest lion 

 in size as much as in strength and activity. The 

 lion is indebted, to a certain extent, to his noble 

 head and mane for the dignity of his appearance, 

 and for an apparent exaggeration of his real size. 

 The absence of this ornament in the tiger makes him 

 contrast in this respect unfavourably, but a com- 

 parison of the largest specimens of each, despoiled 

 of their skins, would decide the question in favour 

 of the tiger. I have measured them as they 

 lay dead on the spot where they had fallen, more 

 than ten feet from the nose to the end of the 

 tail, and there is little doubt that they exceed even 

 this length ; now, as no lion has ever attained 

 such a size, the question must be decided in favour 

 of the tiger, so far as size and strength are con- 

 cerned. In ferocity he cannot be exceeded; whether 

 the evidences of a more noble and generous nature 

 sometimes as'cribed to the lion are really genuine, 

 may be doubted. If true, may they not be the 

 result of a more apathetic and less energetically 

 savage nature, which, in this respect, makes the lion 

 appear a more amiable savage than the tiger. 



There is only one species of tiger, though there 



