CHAPTER III 



NOTES ON THE LION 



The lion — Native names for — Character of — Death of Ponto — 

 Picture in Gordon Cumming's book — Death of Hendrik — 

 Number of natives killed by lions — Usual mode of seizure — 

 A trooper's adventure — Poisonous nature of lion's bite — Story 

 of the Tsavo man-eaters — Death of Mr. Ryall — Story of the 

 tragedy — Precautions by natives against lions — Remains of a 

 lion's victim found — Four women killed — Lion killed — Carcase 

 burned — Story of the Majili man-eater — Man-eating lions 

 usually old animals — Strength of lions — Large ox killed by 

 single lion — Buffaloes killed by lions — Ox slowly killed by 

 family of lions — Lions usually silent when attacking and killing 

 their prey — Camp approached by three lions — Various ways of 

 killing game — Favourite food of lions — Giraffes rarely killed 

 by lions — Evidence as to lions attacking elephants — Michael 

 Engelbreght's story — Mr. Arnot's letter describing the killing 

 of an elephant cow by six lions. 



Of all the multifarious forms of life with which the 

 great African Continent has been so bountifully 

 stocked, none, not even excepting the ** half-reason- 

 ing elephant" or the *' armed rhinoceros," has 

 been responsible for such a wealth of anecdote and 

 story, or has stirred the heart and imagination of 

 mankind to such a degree, as the lion — the great 

 and terrible meat-eating cat, the monarch of the 

 African wilderness, by night at least, whose life 

 means constant death to all his fellow-brutes, from 

 the ponderous buffalo to the light-footed gazelle, 

 and fear, and often destruction too, to the human 

 inhabitants of the countries through which he roams. 



44 



