o 
35 LLOYD'S g@TURAL HISTORY. 
very generally dislocated ; and it may be suggested, that, as a 
possible solution of the discrepancy, while in some instances 
the victims are killed in the manner described by Messrs. 
Nicolls and Eglington, in other cases the aggressor may 
employ different tactics and go to work in the way in- 
dicated by Mr. Selous. 
By the older hunters in Africa stories were told of Lions 
taking the carcases of animals of the size of Oxen in their 
mouths, and, thus burdened, springing over the palisades with 
which kraals in South Africa are surrounded. In spite, how- 
ever, of its enormous strength, those most capable of forming 
a judgment on the subject are of opinion that the Lion is 
utterly incapable of performing any such feat, and that the 
body of its victim, be it large or be it small, is invariably held 
in the mouth by the head or neck and dragged along the 
ground by the side of its slayer. According to Mr. Selous, on 
the rare occasions when Lions do break into the kraals, they but 
seldom leap over the fence, not even when it is low, preferring 
to make their way through the interstices at the bottom; and 
they will at times walk round and round an enclosure until 
they find an interval between two poles, which they enlarge by 
thrusting the latter apart, and thus manage to squeeze their 
bodies through. When once inside, if suddenly disturbed or 
fired at, they will often make a speedy exit by leaping the 
fence. 
It is ascertained that a Lion will live for at least thirty years, 
and there are some reasons for believing that the duration of 
life will sometimes reach as much as forty years. A Lion and 
Lioness pair for life; and while, in the wild state, the number of 
cubs in a litter is generally but two or three (the latter number 
being the most usual in South Africa), in captivity as many as 
six are not uncommonly produced. Even in the wild condi- 
tion many cubs die at a very early age; and it is therefore not 
