STORIES OF LIONS. 1 85 



bullet entered about an inch above the left eye and came out behind the 

 neck, but was inefficient to produce death." 



The lion, on his part, refuses sometimes to be hunted. One traveler 

 relates that he and his companions one day saw, at two or three hundred 

 yards distance, two large lions, which fled away as soon as they per- 

 ceived the hunters. The latter pursued them on horseback, shouting 

 loudly ; but the lions doubled their pace, and plunged into a wood, 

 where they disappeared. 



A wealthy farmer was walking over his land, armed with his gun. 

 Suddenly he saw a lion. Making certain of killing it, he aimed. The 

 gun, however, hung fire ; the man, alarmed, turned to the right-about 

 and scampered off with all his might, pursued by the lion. A little 

 mound of stones presented itself, and on this he jumped, wheeling round 

 to face the brute, and threatening it with the butt-end of his gun. In 

 turn the animal halted, and withdrew some paces, looking very com- 

 posed, but the farmer did not venture to descend. At last„after nearly 

 half an hour had passed, it slunk slowly away as if it had been stealing ; 

 and as soon as it got a short distance off, took to rapid flight. 



One more lion story and we have done : 



'• A Boer, a very humorous fellow, told me that he was returning to 

 his wagons one evening when he wag far in the interior ; at the time he 

 had with him only the single charge of powder with which his gun was 

 loaded, as he had been out buck-shooting all day. 



" Straight in his path he disturbed a lion, which jumped up and 

 turned to look at him. Very naturally his first impulse was to fire, but 

 remembering that he had but that one charge in his gun, he changed his 

 tactics. 



" The Dutchmen usually wear large broad-brimmed felt hats, around 

 which several ostrich feathers are fastened. The Boer jumped from his 

 horse and pulled off" his hat, which he held with his teeth by the brim, so 

 that the upper part only of his face could be seen above the conglomera- 

 tion of feathers. He then dropped upon his hands and knees, and com- 

 menced crawling toward the lion. Such a strange animal had never 

 before been seen by the astonished Leeuw, which turned and fled without 

 a moment's hesitation." 



Few animals have been the subject of such fables as the lion from 

 time immemorial. The ancient Egyptians knew both the African and 

 Asiatic lion, and knew how to tame them; but it is to the Greeks and 

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