j THE JLION. a 
a second, upwards of twenty-three. Not unfrequently these 
parties combine to pull down large animals, as in the well- 
known instance narrated by Vardon and Oswell, where three 
males united their forces to attack a Buffalo. At the time 
when Lions where abundant in India, their prey was chiefly 
composed of Deer, Antelopes, Pigs, Horses, Donkeys, and 
Camels ; and on the Euphrates they live chiefly on the swine 
in the oak-forests adjoining their haunts. In South and East 
Africa, on the other hand, their favourite game is Zebra and 
Buffalo ; and wherever large herds of the former animals are 
found, there Lions may confidently be expected. Numbers of 
the larger Antelopes, suchas Hartebeests and Elands, are, how- 
ever, killed ; while the Giraffe more rarely falls a victim. Old 
Lions will, moreover, take to killing Goats and other domestic 
animals ; and it is probable that many of these would turn into 
confirmed Man-eaters, were it not that when a Lion exhibits 
this propensity, the bold natives of Southern Africa promptly 
turn out and destroy him—no matter at what cost of life. 
The old idea of the Lion being a clean and dainty feeder has 
been completely dissipated by modern observers, some of 
whom state that these Cats will scarcely ever pass by the 
carcase of a slain animal, even though it be in an advanced 
state of decomposition, without stopping to make a meal of its 
flesh. And it is related that where Elephants have been shot 
and left to fester in the sun, Lions will stay by the decompos- 
ing carcases, till the bones are picked clean, despite the fact 
that there may be herds of their favourite Zebras in the im- 
mediate neighbourhood. Moreover, the Lion is not free from 
an occasional charge of cannibalism. 
Although the Lion generally prefers to creep silently up to 
its victim by night, it will occasionally attack in broad day- 
light, Mr. Jackson relating two instances where men have been 
‘thus attacked without provocation. Equally rare are attacks 
D 2 
