THE PRESENT RANGE OF THE LION IN INDIA. 285 



very fine old Lion, which was shot only last year by the late 

 Lieut. P. Hancock, measured 9 ft. 5 in. It was a grand old 

 beast with a fine mane, which was just beginning to turn black. 



" From its colour, which varies from ashy to tawny, the Lion 

 is sometimes called the Unthia Bagh, or camel tiger, but the 

 name by which it is generally known in the Gir is Savai, which 

 is said to be of Arabic origin, meaning ' he who causes the flocks 

 to bleat.' The Lioness is called Shian, and a pair of Lions 

 hunting together are called Belar. 



" The cubs, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are gener- 

 ally born in the monsoon months,* and the Lioness generally 

 deposits her litter [from two to six] in one of the holes or earths 

 formed by the action of water, which are found scattered about 

 the Gir, and known locally by the name of bohiras. Some of 

 these bohiras are very large, and said to be of great length, and 

 to hold water at the bottom ; consequently they are cool, and for 

 this reason are often resorted to by Lions during the hot weather. 

 I know of one instance in which three Lions, and of another in 

 which two Lions, were marked down in one of these bohiras." 



Dr. W. T. Blanford, in his ' Fauna of British India' (Mam- 

 malia, 1891), which may be regarded not only as the latest but also 

 as the most authoritative work dealing with the subject, remarks 

 (p. 57), under the head Fells leo : — " In India the Lion is verging 

 on extinction. There are probably a very few still living in the 

 wild tract known as the Gir in Kattywar (sic), and a few more in 

 the wildest parts of Rajputana, especially southern Jodhpur, in 

 Oodeypur, and around Mount Abu. About twenty years ago (1868) 

 Lions were common near Mount Abu, several were shot near 

 Gwalior,t Goona, and Kotah, and a few still existed near Lalitpur, 

 between Saugor and Jhansi. One is said to have been killed near 

 Goona in 1873. In 1864 one was killed near Sheoraj pur, twenty -five 

 miles west of Allahabad ; and when the railway was being made 

 from Allahabad to Jubbulpur, in 1866, a fine Lion with a good mane 

 was shot by two of the engineers near the eightieth milestone from 

 Allahabad. About 1830, Lions were common near Ahmedabad. 

 Several years previously, in the early part of the century, Lions 



* Sterndale states that the period of gestation is fifteen or sixteen weeks. 

 Op. cit. p. 161.— Ed. 



f Jerdon states that two Lions were killed most unexpectedly near 

 Gwalior in 1874 (' Mammals of India,' p. 92). 



