3. The Lion of the Cape ranges over the whole of South Africa, and is said to be found under two lesser varieties, one yellowish in colour, and the other brown: the latter is considered to be the more formidable. The mane is darker than in either of the foregoing kinds.
The Asiatic varieties are smaller than the kinds found in Africa. The mane is variable, and the form less graceful than in the Cape or Barbary Lion.
4. The Persian or Arabian Lion.—This is a paler variety found in Western Asia.
5. The Lion of Guzerat, or so-called “maneless Lion,” is usually stated to be the best-marked variety of all, as its mane, though by no means absent, as the name of the variety would lead us to suppose, is very much less than in any other kind; the body also is bulkier and the legs shorter. Some writers, however, deny altogether the distinctness of the variety, and consider that the mistake of considering the Guzerat Lion as such, has arisen from the fact of young specimens having been described. The strongest statements we have met with on this head are by Captain Harris, whose words we will quote, as they show how little reliance is to be placed on the distinction drawn by travellers between closely-allied varieties or species. Harris says that the South African Lion does not differ “in any material points from those found in Guzerat, in Western India, measuring between ten and eleven feet in extreme length, but generally possessing a finer mane, a peculiarity which is attributable to the less jungly character of the country he infests, and to the more advanced age which he is supposed to attain. Amongst the Cape colonists it is a fashionable belief that there are two distinct species of the African Lion—the yellow and the black—and that the one is infinitely less ferocious than the other. But I need scarcely inform the well-instructed reader that both the colour and the size depend chiefly upon the animal’s age; the development of the physical powers, and of the mane also, being principally influenced by a like contingency. That which has been designated the ‘maneless Lion of Guzerat’ is nothing more than a young Lion whose mane has not shot forth; and I give this opinion with less hesitation, having slain the ‘king of beasts’ in every stage from whelphood to imbecility.”
There has been no attempt to divide the above-named varieties into distinct species. From Linnæus to Dr. Gray, all zoologists agree in this matter. Hence we see that animals do not vary under domestication only; but wild creatures also have their varieties or races, differing in the various localities in which they are found.
All these varieties together form a very well-marked species of the genus Felis, and are known as Felis leo, in zoological language. Some authors, however, as we have already noticed, prefer to consider the various kinds of Cat as so many distinct genera, and speak of the Lion as a single genus and species (Leo nobilis). The species, or genus—for it matters very little which we call it—is distinguished from other Cats by its uniform tawny colour, the tuft of hair at the end of the tail, and the flowing mane, which clothes the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. The head of the Lion is more square than that of the other species of Cats. The mane is entirely absent in the female, which is, in consequence, a comparatively ordinary-looking animal, as it is only by the grandeur of his hirsute appendage that the male is compensated for his plain colouring. The addition of the mane, however, gives him an immense advantage over all other species, adding to his apparent size, especially to that of the head, increasing almost infinitely the beauty of his form, and altogether making him one of the most magnificent objects in the animal kingdom. A further distinction between the Lion and other Cats is to be found in the strong tuft of hair at the end of the tail, which exists in both sexes. Quite at the extremity of the tail, and hidden by the tuft, is a curious little horny appendage or “thorn” with which it was supposed that the Lion, when lashing his tail, spurred his flanks, and so awoke all his courage and ferocity!
We have just mentioned the uniform tawny colour as characteristic of the Lion. This is so, in fact, in adult specimens, but the new-born young are invariably spotted, and the spots often persist for a considerable time. This is the case with Lions born in captivity, as well as with those in a state of nature, and has often been observed in the Lions born in the Zoological Gardens. In some instances the spots are visible during the animal’s life. There are grounds for believing that all the great Cats are descended from a spotted ancestor.
One more external character: the snout of the Lion is longer and more Dog-like than that of any other Cat; the forehead and nose are almost in the same straight line, instead of making a bold curve, as they do in the Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, and the smaller Cats. So that the Lion, which is conventionally represented with an almost human roundness of face, has really a more thoroughly quadrupedal “muzzle” than any of his kin.
In the Cape Lion the tail tuft is black, the mane brown or black, according to age, and the handsome appearance of the animal is thus much enhanced. There is also a black spot at each corner of the mouth.