350 
MAMMALIA. 
providing the common subsistence. It is said that he pushes 
his gallantry so far as to refuse to eat first, and that he does 
not approach the prey captured by himself until the Lioness is 
satisfied ; and, on the other hand, the latter defends him with 
energetic fury if he be attacked. 
The Lioness goes with young; about one hundred and fifty days, 
and brings forth from two to five cubs, which she tends and pro- 
tects with remarkable solicitude. Her courage in defending them 
has become proverbial. Evil be to those who attempt to disturb 
or to deprive her of her cubs ! for they will feel the weight of 
her wrath, unless they gain shelter or slay the furious mother. 
As the male has the unnatural habit of devouring his off- 
spring when they come into the world, the Lioness wanders in 
search of some inaccessible concealed spot in which to deposit 
her progeny. She is, moreover, careful to an extreme to make 
all her tracks in the vicinity most intricate and confused. 
She suckles her cubs for six months, scarcely ever leaving them 
except to quench her thirst, or procure nourishment. After 
weaning them, she takes them out to hunt, when their ravages 
are of incredible extent ; for they kill not only to feed, but 
also to learn to strangle and tear their prey. The neigh- 
bouring population know to their cost what the nature of this 
education is. This state of things lasts until the cubs are 
strong enough to find their own subsistence, when they are 
driven off by their parents. 
The size of a new-born cub is about that of a half- grown 
Cat ; at a year old, it is equal in stature to that of a [Newfound- 
land Hog. They do not walk before they are two months 
old. The colour of the coat in the young differs from that of 
the adult animal, in being yellow, and striped with small 
brown bars, which markings do not completely disappear until 
maturity of form is reached. The mane begins to grow on 
the male when he is about three years of age. The average 
duration of the Lion’s life appears to be from thirty-five to 
forty years. 
A fact to be noted in the habits of the Lion, particularly those 
of North Africa, is that by reason of its carnivorous regime, and 
the activity of its appetite, it is generally obliged to live a 
solitary existence, in a locality where it arrogates to itself the 
