^;^^ 



Photo by Fratelli Alinari] 



[Florence. 



AFRICAN LION. 



Tliis lion is almost in the attitude oi' those acalptuied by Sir Edwin Landseer for the Nelson Monument, but tbe feet are turned in, and not Ijing flat. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE GAT TRIBE. 



THOUGH only one species is entirely domesticated, and none of the Cats have flesh 

 edible by man, except perhaps the puma, no group of animals has attracted more interest 

 than this. Containing more than forty species, ranging in size from the ox-de\ouring 



tiger or lion to the small wild cats, they are so alike in 

 habit and structure that no one could possibly mistake the 

 type or go far wrong in guessing at the habits of any one 

 of them. They are all flesh-eaters and destro^-ers of living 

 animals. All have rounded heads, and an extraordinary 

 equipment of teeth and of claws, and of muscles to use them. 

 The blow of the forearm of a lion or tiger is inconceivably 

 jwwerful, in projjortion to its size. A stroke from a tiger's 

 paw has been known to strike off a native's arm from the 

 shoulder and leave it hanging by a piece of skin, and a 

 similar Ijlow from a lion to crush the skull of an ox. The 

 true cats are known by the p)Ower to draw back, or " retract," 

 their claws into sheaths of horn, rendering their footsteps 

 noiseless, and keeping these weapons always sharp. The 

 hunting-leopard has only a partial capacity for doing 

 this. 



The characteristics of the Cats and their allies are too well 

 known to need description. We will therefore only mention 

 the chief types of the group, and jiroceed to give, in the fullest 

 detail which space allows, authentic anecdotes of their life 

 and habits. The tribe includes Lions, Tigers, Leopards, 

 Pumas, Jaguars, a large number of so-called Tiger-cats (spotted 

 and strijied), Wild Cats, Domestic Cats, and Lynxes. The 

 Hunting-leopard, or Cheeta, stands in a sub-group by itself, 

 as does the Fossa, the only large carnivore of Madagascar. 

 33 5 



By pamiasion of Merr Carl Eagenbtck, Hamburg. 



AN UNWILLING PUPIL. 



Thia ia one of Ilerr IIagenbeck'3 famous per- 



foriniug tigers. 



