# IX: Numa El Adrea explained — The Return of Tarzan

> Chapter companion for The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## What happens

Tarzan joins Captain Gerard and Lieutenant Gernois on a military expedition south into Algeria, where he suspects Gernois and a band of Arab assassins are plotting against him. During a hunting excursion, Tarzan is abandoned by Gernois and left alone in the mountains. He falls asleep in a valley and awakens to face Numa el Adrea, a black lion. After a fierce confrontation, Tarzan kills the lion with his rifle and instinctively lets out the victory cry of a bull ape, which echoes through the wilderness and alarms both the wild animals and the nearby Arab tribesmen.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Physical Prowess

Tarzan's survival instincts and physical abilities are highlighted as he kills the black lion with a rifle and then instinctively issues the ape's victory cry.

### Civilization vs. Wilderness

Tarzan straddles the line between civilized man and wild ape, using a gun yet reverting to primal behavior after the kill.

### Deception and Betrayal

Gernois's suspected betrayal and the lurking Arab assassins underscore the theme of deception and hidden threats.

## Character check-ins

### Tarzan

Accompanies the French military column, suspects Gernois of treachery, and later kills a black lion in a solo hunt.

### Lieutenant Gernois

Travels with the column; Tarzan suspects him of conspiring with Arab assassins and of deliberately abandoning him in the mountains.

### Captain Gerard

Commands the French detachment; invites Tarzan to join the lion hunt and leads the march south.

### Nikolas Rokoff

Implied to be behind the plot of hired assassins following Tarzan, though not physically present in the chapter.

### Abdul

Mentioned as Tarzan's assistant in learning Arabic; not directly present in the chapter's events.

## Key lines

> Superb, majestic, his graceful tail extended and quivering, and his two eyes of fire riveted full upon his prey, stood Numa el adrea, the black lion.

The black lion stood before him, magnificent and terrifying, with a quivering tail and fiery eyes fixed on his target.

_Describes the awe-inspiring appearance of the lion before the attack._

> It was no longer Monsieur Jean Tarzan; it was Tarzan of the Apes that put a savage foot upon the body of his savage kill, and, raising his face to the full moon, lifted his mighty voice in the weird and terrible challenge of his kind—a bull ape had made his kill.

In that moment, he shed his civilized identity and became the primal ape-man, standing over his fallen foe and roaring a victory cry to the moon.

_Highlights Tarzan's reversion to his wild nature after the kill._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se/chapters/ix-numa-el-adrea
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se/chapters