Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 7, ETM-GOA

F E L r
joined to agility. The force of his mufcles is exprefied
by his prodigious leaps and bounds, often 20 feet at
once ; by the brifk motion of his tail, a Angle fwtep
of which is fufficient to throw a man to the ground ;
by the eafe with which he moves the flcin of his face,
and particularly of his forehead ; and, laftly, by the
faculty of erefting and agitating the hair of his mane
when irritated.
Lions are very ardent in their amours : when the
female is in feafon, (he is often followed by eight or
ten males, who roar incefiantly, and enter into, furious
engagements, till one of them completely overcomes
the reft, takes peaceable poffeffion of the female, and
carries her off to fome fecret recefs. The lionnefs
brings forth her young in the fpring, and produces but
once every year.
All the paffions of the lion, the foft paffion of love
not excepted, are excefiive ; the love of offspring is
extreme: the lionnefs is naturally weaker, lefs bold,
and more gentle than the lion ; but fhe becomes per¬
fectly rapacious and terrible when fhe has young Then
fhe exhibits more courage than the male; ftie regards
no danger ; fhe attacks indifferently men and all other
animals, kills them, and carries them to her young
ones, whom fhe thus early inftrufts to fuck their blood
and tear their flefh. She generally brings forth in the
moft fecret and inacceffible places; and, when afraid
of a difcovery, fhe endeavours to conceal the traces of
her feet, by returning frequently on her fteps, or ra¬
ther by effacing them with her tail ; and, when the
danger is great, fhe carries off her young, and con¬
ceals them fomewhere elfe. But, when an aClual at¬
tempt is made to deprive her of her young, fhe be¬
comes perfeClly furious, and defends them till fhe be
torn to pieces.
The lion feldom goes abroad in the middle of the
day ; but fallies forth in the evening and night in queft
of prey. He is afraid of fire, and feldom or never
approaches the artificial fires made by the fhepherds for
the protection of their flocks ; he does not trace other
animals by the fcent, but is obliged to truft to his eyes.
Many hiftorians have even mifreprefented him as inca¬
pable of finding out his prey ; but that he is obliged
to the jackal, an animal of exquifite fcent, in order
to provide for him, and that this animal either accom¬
panies or goes before him for this purpofe. The jac¬
kal is a native of Arabia, Libya, &c. and, like the
lion, lives upon prey : perhaps fometimes he follows
the lion, but it is with a view to pick up what he
leaves behind, not to provide for him; for, being a
fmall and feeble animal, he ought rather to fly from
than to ferve the lion.
The lion, when hungry, will attack any animal that
prefents itfelf: but he is fo very formidable, that all
endeavour to avoid his rencounter; this circumftance
often obliges him to conceal himfelf, and lie in wait
till fome animal chances to pafs. He lies fquat on his
belly in a thicket; from which he fprings with fuch
force and velocity, that he often feizes them at the
firft bound. He endures hunger longer than thirft.;
he feldom paffes water without drinking, which he does
by lapping like a dog. In burning defarts, where ri¬
vers and fountains are denied, they live in a perpetual
iever, a fort of madnefs fatal to every animal they
>83 ] F E L
meet with. The author of the Oeconomy of Nature
gives a wonderful proof of the inftinCt of thefe animals
in thofe unwatered traCts. There the pelican makes
her neft; and in order to cool her young ones, and ac-
cuftom. them to an: element they muft afterwards be
converfant. in, brings from afar, in their great gular
pouch, fufficient water to fill the neit: the lion, and
other wild beafts, approach and quenchtheir thirft; yet
never injure the unfledged birds, as if confcious that
their deftruction would immediately put a flop to thofa
grateful fupplies.
The roaring of the lion, which is ftrong and loud,,
is his ordinary voice ; but when he is irritated, his cry
is ihorter, repeated more fuddtnly, and is ftill more
terrible than the roaring: befides, he beats his fides
with his tail, ftamps with his feet, erefts and agi¬
tates the hair of his head and mane, moves the flrin
of his face, ftiows his angry teeth, and lolls out his
tongue.
The roaring of the lion, according to Mr Spar-
man, “ confifts in a hoarfe inarticulate found, which
at the fame time feems to have a hollownefs in it,
fomething like that proceeding from a fpeaking trum¬
pet. The found is between that of a German u and
an 0, being drawn to a great length, and appearing as
if it came from out of the earth* at the fame time
that, after liftening with the greateft attention, I could
not exactly hear from what quarter it came. The
found of the lion’s voice does not bear the leaft refem-
blance to thunder, as M. de Buffon, tom. ix. p. 22.
from the Voyage ofBoullaye le Gouz, affirms it does..
In faft, it appeared to me to be neither peculiarly
piercing nor tremendous ; yet, from its flow prolong¬
ed note, joined with nodiurnal darknefs, and the ter¬
rible idea one is apt to form to one’s felf of this ani¬
mal, it made one (hudder, even in fuch places as I had
an opportunity of hearing it in with more fatisfaftion,
and without having the leaft occafion for fear. We
could plainly perceive by our cattle when the lions,
whether they roared or not, were reconnoitring us at
a fmall diftance. For in that cafe the hounds did not
dare to bark in the leaft, but crept quite clofe to the
Hottentots ; and our oxen and horfes fighed deeply,
frequently hanging back, and pulling flowly with all
their might at the ftrong ftraps with which they were
tied up to the waggon. They likewife laid themfelves
down upon the ground and flood up alternately, ap¬
pearing as if they did not know what to do with them¬
felves : or rather juft as if they were in the agonies of
death. It is, indeed, a wonderful circumftance (con¬
tinues our author), that the brute creation (hould have
been taught merely by nature to be in dread of the
lion ; for oUr horfes and oxen were all from places
where I am certain they could have no knowledge of
this dreadful adverfary of theirs ; fo that in this we
muft admire the bounty of Providence, which, while
it has fent fuch a tyrant as the lion amongft the ani¬
mal creation, has likewife taught them to difcern and
diftinguifh it with trembling and horror.”
The gait of the lionris ftately, grave, anddlow, tho<’
always in an oblique diredtion. His movements are
not equal or meafured, but confift of leaps and bounds;
whic 1 prevents him from flopping fuddenly, and makes
him often overleap his mark. When, he leaps upon
his