e shaggy mane that covers the neck and shoulders
of an old male lion gives him the appearance of being of greater
dimensions than he really is. Skin him and he would not be larger than
an old male tiger also divested of his hide.

Like the lion, the tiger varies but little in form or colour. Nature
does not sport with these powerful beasts. It is only upon the meaner
animals she plays off her eccentricities. The tiger may be seen with
the ground-colour of a lighter or deeper yellow, and the stripes or bars
more or less black; but the same general appearance is preserved, and
the species can always be recognised at a glance.

The range or habitat of the tiger is more limited than that of the lion.
The latter exists throughout the whole of Africa, as well as the
southern half of Asia; whereas the tiger is found only in the
south-eastern countries of Asia, and some of the larger islands of the
Indian Archipelago. Westwardly his range does not extend to this side
of the Indus river, and how far north in Asia is uncertain. Some
naturalists assert that there are tigers in Asia as far north as the Obi
River. This would prove the tiger to be not altogether a tropical
animal, as he is generally regarded. It is certain that tigers once did
inhabit the countries around the Caspian Sea. There lay Hyrcania; and
several Roman writers speak of the Hyrcanian tigers. They could not
have meant any of the spotted cats,--ounce, panther, or leopard,--for
the Romans knew the difference between these and the striped or true
tiger. If, then, the tiger was an inhabitant of those trans-Himalayan
regions in the days of Augustus, it is possible it still exists there,
as we have proofs of its existence in Mongolia and northern China at the
present day.

Were we to believe some travellers, we should have the tiger, not only
in Africa, but in America. The jaguar is the tiger (_tigre_) of the
Spanish Americans; and the panther, leopard, and cheetah, have all done
duty as "tigers" in the writings of old travellers in Africa.

The true home of this fierce creature is the hot jungle-covered country
that exists in extended tracts in Hindostan, Siam, Malaya, and parts of
China. There the tiger roams undisputed lord of the thicket and forest;
and although the lion is also found in these countries, he is
comparatively a rare animal, and, from being but seldom met with, is
less talked about or feared.

We who live far away from the haunts of