THE LION is called the king of beasts, not only from his grave and majestic appearance, but from his prodigious strength. Zoologists describe him as an animal of the cat kind, distinguished from the other species of the genus by the uniformity of his colour, the mane which decorates the male, and a tuft of hair at the tip of the tail, which conceals a small prickle or claw. Lions were formerly found in all the hot and warmer temperate parts of the whole world; but they are now confined to Africa, and some parts of Asia. The African Lion stands four or five feet high, and his body is from seven to nine feet long. The mane is thick, and somewhat curly; and the colour varies in different parts of Africa, but it is generally of a clear dark brown, deepening in some cases almost into black. The Asiatic Lions are smaller than those of Africa, and their colour paler. The Bengal Lion is of a light brown, with a long flowing mane; the Persian Lion is of a sort of cream-colour, with a short thick mane; and the Lion of Guzerat is of a reddish brown, without any mane. These varieties have been considered as distinct species by some naturalists. All the varieties agree in their habits; they lie hid in jungles in the long grass, and when aroused either walk quietly and majestically away, or turn and look steadily at their pursuers. Their roar is terrific: and in a wild state, the animal generally roars with his mouth close to the ground, which produces a low rumbling noise, like that of an earthquake. The effect is described by those who have heard it, as making the stoutest heart quail; and the feebler animals, when they hear it, fly in dismay, often in their terror falling in the way of their enemy, instead of avoiding him. Serpents, and some of the larger animals, will, however, fight with Lions, and occasionally kill them; and Lions, when pursued by man, are sometimes hunted with dogs, but are oftener shot, or speared. Those which are exhibited in menageries have generally been caught in pits. The pit is dug where traces have been discovered of a Lion’s path; and it is then covered with sticks and turf. He is deceived by the appearance of solidity presented by the turf, and attempts to walk over it; but the moment he sets his foot upon the covering of the trap, it breaks beneath his weight, and he falls into the pit. He is then kept without food for several days, shaking the ground with hisroaring, and fatiguing himself by vainly attempting to escape; till, at last, he becomes exhausted, and so tame as to permit his captors to put ropes round him, and drag him out. He is then put into a cage, and removed in a kind of waggon, wherever his captors may wish to take him.