XIII FOUL FEEDERS 275 



man, to taking the trouble of catching an animal for 

 itself. Often when elephants have been shot, lions 

 will prey upon the stinking carcases as they lie fester- 

 ing in the rays of a tropical sun and at last become 

 a seething mass of maggots, returning night after 

 night to the feast, until no more meat is left. This 

 occurs in parts ol the country abounding in game, 

 where it would give a party of lions but little trouble 

 or exertion to catch a zebra, buffalo, or antelope, and 

 procure themselves a meal of fresh meat. In the 

 same way, no matter how plentiful game may be, 

 lions will almost invariably feast upon any dead animal 

 left by the hunter, from a buffalo to a steinbuck, that 

 they happen to come across. In eating the carcase 

 of a large animal, lions always either tear open the 

 belly near the navel and first eat the entrails, liver, 

 etc., or else commence near the anus and eat the 

 meat of the hind-quarters. They often pull out the 

 entrails, and rolling them into a heap near the carcase, 

 cover them over with earth and sand, no doubt for 

 the purpose of preserving them from the vultures, 

 which they know' will visit the carcase during the day- 

 time. At night they return and unearth and eat the 

 dinner they have taken such pains to preserve. I 

 suspect that this is only done in places where lions 

 are liable to be interfered with by man, and do not 

 dare to lie during the day close to their kill, as is 

 their usual custom ; but I have met with instances of 

 it on three different occasions. When lions are met 

 with in the daytime they almost invariably retreat 

 before the presence of man, even when disturbed at 

 the carcase ot an animal which they have just killed, 

 and when they are presumably hungry. If pursued 

 or wounded, however, they may be expected to 

 charge, and, ceteris paribus^ I have found in my small 



