At the Cape of Good Hope, it is by no means uncommon to hunt the lion, and in an open and spacious plain, in which he finds it impossible to escape his pursuers by flight, he checks his progress, and fronts his adversaries, awaiting their at tack. Several of the dogs which first dare to assault him generally fall under his stroke, but in a few moments he is overwhelmed by numbers, and literally torn to pieces. The negroes of the Cape are reported to eat his flesh ; and his skin, which was formerly deemed a man tle for a hero, is now more frequently employed for the bed of a Hottentot.
It is imagined that lions are inexpres sibly less numerous in Africa now than formerly, and it is stated by Shaw, that all Libya could at this time scarcely sup ply that number, which was sometimes exported to Rome even in a single year. In proportion as population has extend ed, and national intercourse has advanc ed, their range has necessarily become more limited, and their acquaintance with man seems to have considerably checked that daring, which was supposed by ma ny incapable of being daunted. The lion's valour diminishes in proportion as he re sides near the habitations of men, whose ingenuity and resources he seems well aware must always secure them a supe riority in the conflict with other animals, and whose appearance therefore, he shuns as that of his most formidable adversary. In the neighbourhood of the small towns of Africa, even women and children have not unfrequently driven lions from their lurking places. When taken young, they can be taught to sustain confinement with out difficulty, and will not only manifest tranquillity and contentment, but occa sionally engage in sports and gambols with smaller animals, among which they have been led to associate. They are sus ceptible of attachment and gratitude, will caress their keepers, display a magnani mous forbearance with respect to the of fensive freedom and petulant insults of weaker creatures, and after having once, as it were, pledged themselves for the security of ally, which, by an act of wan tonness, may have been thrown as victims into their den, will endure extreme hun ger before they can permit themselves to destroy them. The natural excitabili ty of these animals, however, is so great, that all the discipline of education is fre quently insufficient effectually to repress their passions within secure limits, and in some unlucky coincidence of circum stances, those familiarities with them, which had been permitted without the slightest resistance or reluctance, have proved fatal to the persons who engaged in them. Though the lion frequently at tacks his prey in open chase, he general ly adopts the system of ambuscade, and will lurk on his belly in some thicket, frequently near the water, awaiting the approach of any animal which its evil destiny may impel near it, on which he will spring with a sudden bound, rarely failing of success, and sometimes reach ing to the distance of twenty-feet. When this leap is unsuccessful, the object is per mitted to escape without pursuit, and he retraces his steps slowly to the thicket, as it were abashed by his failure, and anti cipating the consequences of greater a droitness in his ensuing effort.
Lions have in various countries been employed as emblems of state, and insig nia of sovereignty. In Persia, two large lions with fetters of gold are stationed, on days of peculiar ceremony and splendour, on each side of the hall of audience ; and in Rome, Anthony was drawn through the streets by lions harnessed to his cha riot. To furnish entertainment for the in
habitants of that splendid and luxurious city, lions were conveyed in vast num bers from the interior of Africa, to exh', bit at the public festivals, at which they fought with each other, with other ani mals, and even at length with men. This diversion was first exhibited by Quintus Scwvola, but was afterwards carried to far greater extent. Sylla displayed in the Arena a huldred lions, during his pre torship. Julius Cxsar, to conciliate the people, entertained them with no fewer than four hundred : and Pompey import ed, at vast expellee, and with the most elaborate research, the immense number of three hundred and fifteen males, and two hundred and seventy-five females. For the lion and lioness, and their whelps, see Mammalia, Plate XIII.
F. tigris, the tiger. This is called by Linaxus the most beautiful of quadru peds, a character which would not be thought correctly applicable, were the judgment on this subject to be deter mined from the skins in a museum, or from a view of the animal itself, in that confined state in which it must ever ap pear in this country. But in its native region, and unchecked health and ener gies, it exhibits a bloom and radiance un equalled by any of the brute creation. Its ground colour is au intense orange colour, and defined stripes of pure black, in some parts double, and in others sin gle, mark its body transversely, extend ing through the clear white of the sides. It is little inferor in size to the lion, and in some instances has been seen even larger than any lion mention ed by travellers, extending, from the nose to the end of the tail, to fifteen feet in length. Of all the carnivorous tribes, this species is considered as the most sanguinary and destructive. It appears to delight in the infliction of pain and the effusion of blood. After satisfying its hunger, it still continues to worry and destroy. If unmolested in the enjoyment of its prey, it will absolutely bathe its head in the blood and entrails of its vic tim, and while exhibiting this spectacle of horror, appear to enjoy that ecstacy, which arises necessarily from the gratifi cation of the most impetuous and irre sistible instincts. Though frequently confined, its ferocity is incapable of being subdued, and those sports, or freedoms, on the part of its keeper, which the lion admits with impunity, if not with satis faction, would be fatal to the man who should dare practise them with the tiger. Tigers are found only in Asia, and attain their perfection of size and beauty, and their extreme degree of rapacity and fierceness in India, where they commit often the most dreadfnl havock, and lurking among thickets, and near villa ges, assault unwary travellers as well as the inferior animals ; and in districts thinly peopled are the most dreadful terror and plague of /he inhabitants. They seldom, if ever, engage in the vio lent and persevering chase of any animal, but practise, almost uniformly, the mode of ambush, rushing on their victim with almost unerring accuracy, and making those extensive bounds, which can re sult only from superlative elasticity and vigour.