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THE STORY OF THE LION. 
extent in some respects from those of another. Thus it seems pretty well 
ascertained that the lions from the Cape and Algeria have larger and finer 
manes than those from other districts. Gordon Cumming states that the 
manes and coats of lions inhabiting open, treeless districts, like the great 
Kalahari desert of South Africa, are fuller and handsomer than in those 
inhabiting forest districts. * 
The relative sizes of the Indian and African lion are: Indian from 8 to 9 
feet, African from 10 to 11 feet; females are about one foot shorter than the 
males. Weight, from 400 to 1 600 pounds. 
The present range of the lion includes the whole continent of Africa, from 
Cape Colony to Abyssinia and Algeria, although in many of the more civilized 
districts the animal is now greatly reduced in numbers, or even completely 
exterminated. In Asia it is found through Mesopotamia and South Persia 
to the northwestern districts of India, being nearly extinct in the latter country. 
Formerly the lion had a much larger range, extending westward into Syria 
and Arabia, and ranging over a considerable portion of Southeastern Europe, 
such as Roumania and Greece. Bones and teeth found in the caverns of 
Western Europe prove that lions once roamed over Germany, France, Italy, 
Spain and the British Isles. The ancient lions of Western Europe were 
exterminated, probably, by the cold of the glacial period; but the destruction 
of those infesting Eastern Europe and parts of Western Asia during the 
historic epoch was probably effected, at least to a considerable extent, by 
human agency. 
In South Africa lions are now scarce in the districts to the southward of 
the Orange River, but are locally abundant in the regions farther north, such 
as Mashonaland. The lion is now quite unknown in Asia to the northward 
of India. The Arabs say it is found in Arabia; but of this we have at least 
no 1 evidence. Occasionally it crosses the Euphrates, and a few years ago' a 
lion’s carcass was brought into Damascus. Between the Lower Tigris and 
Euphrates they still abound. Mr. Layard saw them frequently, and during' 
his excavations in the neighborhood of Babylon, found fresh traces of their 
footsteps almost daily among the ruins. It extends also' far higher up, to 
the jungle of the Khabour, or Chebar, on the upper Tigris, above Mosul 
and Nineveh (the ancient Chebar), where Layard mentions an Arab being 
attacked by one, and escaping with the loss of his mare. 
Lions, which are very numerous in the reedy swamps bordering the Tigris 
and Euphrates, are found also in the plains of Susiana, the modern Khuzistan, 
and extend into the mountain country south of Shiraz. There is no accurate 
