The Lion 127 



will steal upon the sleeping beast with a caution and skill 

 equal to its own. He has no weapon but a toy bow and tiny, 

 often headless, arrow, poisoned with the entrails of the N'ga 

 or Kalihari caterpillar, mixed probably with some form of 

 Euphorbia. This savage wounds the sleeper without 

 being himself seen, and an injury, however slight, is fatal. 

 Delgorgue describes a lion-hunt by Caff res as follows : 



" One of them, carrying a large shield of concave form, 

 made of thick buffalo hide, approaches the animal boldly, 

 and hurls at him an assagai or javelin. The lion bounds 

 on the aggressor, but the man in the meanwhile has thrown 

 himself flat on the ground, covered by his buckler. While 

 the beast is trying the effect of his claws and teeth on the 

 convex side of the shield, where they make no impression 

 . . . the armed men surround him and pierce his body 

 with numerous assagais, all of which he fancies he receives 

 from the individual beneath the shield. Then these assail- 

 ants retire, and the lion grows faint and soon falls beside 

 the Caffre with the buckler, who takes care not to move 

 until the terrible brute has ceased to exhibit any signs of 

 life." 



It is well known that, as a whole, the native populations 

 of Africa display more enterprise and courage in the pur- 

 suit of dangerous wild beasts, than do those of Asia. But 

 extraordinary and well-nigh incredible as are some of the 

 stories about the temerity of certain tribes in lion-hunting 

 as told by Freeman and Sir A. Alexander, the account 

 given by Sir Samuel Baker (" Nile Tributaries of Abys- 

 sinia ") of the Aggageers, or Arab sword-hunters of the 

 Upper Nile, fully equals them. It is true that he did not 



