imber. He
has no claim to the title of lion, except from some resemblance in
colour; and no doubt it was this that led to his misnomer among the
early settlers of Spanish America.

The Ounce comes next. Of all the large cats this is the least known,
either to naturalists or hunters. We only know that such a species
exists; that it is a native of Western Asia (Persia, and perhaps
Arabia); that it is an animal nearly as large as the leopard or panther,
but of stouter build and clumsier shape; that it is covered with long
woolly hair of a pale-yellow colour, and spotted, not so distinctly as
the true leopards, from which it is easily distinguished, both by its
form and colour. The name Ounce is from Buffon; but this specific
appellation is also applied to the jaguar of America, the Jaguarundi, or
lesser jaguar of Paraguay, and even to the Ocelot.

The _Rimau-dahan_ is one of the most beautiful species of cats. It is
of a yellowish ground colour, not spotted like the leopard, but marked
with broad black bands and patches; in other words, clouded. It is not
so large as either of the species described. It is a tree-climber, and
lies in wait for its prey in the forks of the lower limbs, where it also
goes to sleep. From this habit it derives its name, _Dalian_; which, in
the Sumatran language, signifies the fork of a tree.

Not unlike the _Rimau-dahan_, both in size and markings, is the Nepaul
cat: a species, as its name imports, found in Nepaul, in the mountain
forests.

The Serval is a spotted cat--black upon a pale-yellowish ground--and
considerably larger than the domestic species. It is a native of South
Africa; and its skin is prized among the Kaffirs, for making their fur
cloaks or _karosses_.

The Ocelot is about equal in size to the last-named, and equally prized
for its beautiful skin, which is clouded with an admixture of spots and
stripes upon a ground of yellowish-grey. It belongs to Spanish
America--more especially Mexico: and it is said to have been this animal
that is represented on the hieroglyphical paintings of the ancient
Aztecs. More probably its nobler congener, the jaguar, which is also
found in Mexico, is the animal that held this distinction in the land of
Anahuac.

In Central and South America there are a great many species of striped
and spotted cats, known generally as tiger cats. The Ocelot is one of
these; but there are also the Pampas cats, the Chati, the Jaguarundi,
the Marga