XIII METHODS OF KILLING PREY 271 



horse. If on foot, however, and without dogs, 

 though there is httle danger in attacking lions, in 

 the first instance, yet to follow up a wounded one is 

 very ticklish work, especially in long grass or thick 

 cover, for there is probably no animal of its size in 

 the world that can conceal itself behind so slight a 

 screen, or rush upon its pursuer with such light- 

 ning-like rapidity. I have never seen a lion bound ; 

 they always appeared to me to come along like a dog 

 at a clumsy-looking gallop, though they get over the 

 ground at a great pace. From what I have seen, I 

 do not think that lions have any fixed way of killing 

 game, but believe they employ different tactics against 

 different animals. I have seen a horse, a young 

 elephant, a sable and a roan antelope, killed by a bite 

 in the throat, which must have caused death either 

 by dividing the jugular vein or by strangulation. I 

 have seen, too, a horse and several zebras killed by 

 bites on the back of the neck behind the head. 

 Buffaloes are, I fancy, sometimes killed by dislocation 

 of the neck, which is done by the lion springing on 

 to their shoulders and then seizing their noses with 

 one paw, giving the neck a sudden wrench. I have 

 seen and shot numbers of buffaloes that, after having 

 been terribly bitten and scratched by lions about the 

 neck and on the tops of the shoulder-blades, have 

 finally made their e!i;cape. I have never met with an 

 instance of a lion carrying an animal that it has 

 killed ; and, as far as I know, their invariable practice 

 is to drag the carcase along the ground, holding it 

 the while by the back of the neck. This they do 

 with even the smallest antelopes, such as the impala, 

 and I do not think that a South African lion would 

 be capable of lifting such a heavy beast as a bullock 

 from the ground, as the North African species is said 



