4 
THE LION. 
dead of the night, have assisted in depriving him 
of his prey when maddened with hunger, have met 
him in the ready swamp and in the dense jungle, have 
e£ stalked” the antelope in his company, have seen 
him pull down the stately giraffe, have roused him 
in the midst of his 66 children,” and encountered 
him under many other circumstances—and without 
taking undue credit to myself, I therefore think I 
am in some degree, at least, qualified to judge of the 
royal beast and his habits. 
The lion is found from within one hundred miles 
or so of the Cape of Good Hope to the shores of 
the Mediterranean, in short, through nearly the 
length and breadth of Africa. As regards the more 
southern portion of that continent, however, it is a 
very generally received opinion with both colonists 
and natives that there are two distinct species of 
this animal, viz., the so called “ black-maned ” and 
the “yellow-maned” lion; the former being de¬ 
scribed as the longest in the body, and the latter as 
the larger in regard to general proportions. The 
dark colour of the mane of the cc black-maned lion ” 
they furthermore say, is not attributable in any 
way to age—the cause usually assigned by natu¬ 
ralists—but it is of that hue from the first; and 
this, their view of the matter, is in some degree 
corroborated by a circumstance that came to my 
personal knowledge, and for the correctness of 
which I can vouch. Two lions were shot on the 
same spot, and almost at the same instant of time, 
Both were full grown ; but one was young, whilst 
the other was so old that he had merely the stumps 
DSI 
