THE ALGERIAN LION. 
227 
In spite, therefore, of all that has been said and 
written in disparagement of the lion’s bravery, I 
venture to say that people who are well acquainted 
with him in his native wilds, and who have con¬ 
fronted him in battle, whether by night or by day, 
will not fail to pronounce him amongst the bravest 
of beasts; and thousands of instances, in addition 
to those recorded in these pages, might be adduced, 
testifying to his undaunted and unconquerable 
spirit. His daring, indeed, at times, almost exceeds 
credence. 
So much for the courage of the South African 
lion; but in this quality, as also in “ power ” (which 
means, I presume, both size and strength), he, ac¬ 
cording to Gerard, is greatly surpassed by the lion 
inhabiting Algeria. 
“This terrible poacher, 53 —-such are Gerard’s 
words (or rather, perhaps, those of his critic), 
when speaking of the lion— 1cc who reposes all day in 
his lair of olive trees, and stretches his refreshed 
limbs only as the sun goes down, who throttles a 
horse as a man stifles a mouse, and who calmly 
breasts forty muskets levelled at his noble head, and 
never sees an object that he is afraid to attack, in 
no way resembles the lion of South Africa described 
by Gordon Gumming. He is by far the more cou¬ 
rageous, the more powerful, the more unscrupulous 
animal. His roar is compared to thunder; he 
breaks past cork and lentile trees by the mere 
weight of his enormous body; he picks up a man 
in his jaws as a pet-dog picks up a ball of cotton; 
he springs upon his enemies even with a dozen 
Q 2 
