expression in their fine eyes. One
lioness was ill, and lay on her bed, looking very pensive, while her
mate moved restlessly about her, evidently anxious to do something for
her, and much afflicted by her suffering. I liked this lion very much,
for, though the biggest, he was very gentle, and had a noble face.

The tigers were rushing about, as tigers usually are; some creeping
noiselessly to and fro, some leaping up and down, and some washing
their faces with their velvet paws. All looked and acted so like cats
that I wasn't at all surprised to hear one of them purr when the keeper
scratched her head. It was a very loud and large purr, but no fireside
pussy could have done it better, and every one laughed at the sound.

There were pretty spotted leopards, panthers, and smaller varieties of
the same species. I sat watching them a long time, longing to let some
of the wild things out for a good run, they seemed so unhappy barred in
those small dens.

Suddenly the lions began to roar, the tigers to snarl, and all to get
very much excited about something, sniffing at the openings, thrusting
their paws through the bars, and lashing their tails impatiently. I
couldn't imagine what the trouble was, till, far down the line, I saw a
man with a barrowful of lumps of raw meat. This was their dinner, and
as they were fed but once a day they were ravenous. Such roars and howls
and cries as arose while the man went slowly down the line, gave one a
good idea of the sounds to be heard in Indian forests and jungles. The
lions behaved best, for they only paced up and down, with an occasional
cry; but the tigers were quite frantic; for they tumbled one over the
other, shook the cages, and tried to reach the bystanders, just out of
reach behind the bar that kept us at a safe distance. One lady had a
fright, for the wind blew the end of her shawl within reach of a tiger's
great claw, and he clutched it, trying to drag her nearer. The shawl
came off, and the poor lady ran away screaming, as if a whole family of
wild beasts were after her.

When the lumps of meat were thrown in, it was curious to see how
differently the animals behaved. The tigers snarled and fought and tore
and got so savage I was very grateful that they were safely shut up. In
a few minutes, nothing but white bones remained, and then they howled
for more. One little leopard was better bred than the others, for he
went up on a shelf in the cage, and ate his dinner in a