Page:Charles Catton, Animals (1788).pdf/5



univerally eteemed king of the foret, deerves a pre-eminence of tation: we therefore introduce him firt to notice. The Lion is claed by the Naturalits in the Cat Tribe; ’tis an animal, of all others the most majetic and tately; with a large head, the upper part of which, with the chin, the whole of the neck and houlders, are clothed with a long haggy hair, reembling a mane; the hair of the body and limbs is hort and mooth, but long on the bottom part of the belly; a long tail, which appears of equal thicknes by reaon of the increaing length of hair towards the end, where it terminates in a large black tuft: the colour is tawny, or dirty brown; the belly part inclines to white. The limbs of this animal are of vat trength, and need only be een to convince of their force. The country where they mot abound is Africa, the mot wild and deert parts: they alo are found in parts of Aia, but the former appears mot congenial to the Lion’s contitution, thoe of that country being much larger (having been known 5 feet high, and 10 feet long), and more fierce than of any other place; the fiery rays of a torrid climate imparting a feverih heat, which animates them with an invincible courage. The mell of the Lion is not o perfect as in many other animals, but his method of roaring upplies this defect; for, according to all report, when he roars, he puts his mouth to the ground, thus the ound is univerally diffued, and not coming tronger from one place than another, the terrified animals, in their hate to ecape, frequently run to the very pot they mean mot to avoid; which, by a kind of bounding, he quickly ecures, triking it with great force with his paw: he ometimes invades the flocks, and, with eae, will carry off a tolerable ized ox; he frequently lies couchant, as expreed by Shakepeare, “with cat-like watch,” and prings upon his prey by urprie; which if he chances to mis, in a kind of hamefacedmanner, he meaures back the ditance, tep by tep, as if to ee in which he erred;—too much or too little. This animal will utain hunger for many days, but requires a more frequent upply of drink, which it laps like a cat, and at every opportunity.—Mr. Buffon oberves the courage of the Lion diminihes in proportion as his abode approaches to an inhabited country; his conciounes of man’s uperiority and enmity, awakens him to fear and caution; and the tately Lion, the depoiler of thouands, is frequently levelled with the dut by their addres:—Three or four men uually go to the attack on horeback; thee if the Lion dicovers at a ditance, he takes to his heels as fast as he can; if at a mall ditance only, he then walks off, but in a low and urly manner, without hurry, as if above hewing fear; as the hunters approach, he lackens his pace, eying his puruers akant; finally making a full top, he turns round to face them, gives himelf a hake, and roars with a hort harp tone—this is now the time for the attack; he who is mot advantageouly ituated fires his gun, and gallops off; the Lion immediately puruing, another then fires, and by thus relieving each other, and repeating their hot, they rarely fail to reduce the tyrant of the foret. He is ometimes taken in pitfalls, but more generally when a cub, during the abence of the dam:—they may be rendered tame and docile, though, at times, ubject to reume their native fiercenes: their generality and mercy is not les conpicuous than their courage; Pliny reports that “they pare the protrate, and, when hungry, eize firt on men rather than women, and never on infants, unles preed by great hunger.”

We hall cloe this account by referring to two remarkable intances of the memory and generoity of this noble animal which are recorded in the Guardian, No. 139, and No. 146.