THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS OF PREY 223 



trees — so rarely, indeed, that some v/riters have doubted whether these 

 larger cats have the power to do so. He is a very destructive animal, 

 and preys upon sheep, goats, antelopes, and calves. Donkeys he leaves 

 severely alone, because, to quote a recent writer on Eastern Equatorial 

 Africa, "he knows well that a donkey, like a football-player, is gtn- 

 .erally a good kick, and so prefers to give him a wide berth." 



He has a strange liking for dog-meat, and is always ready to dine 

 off a dog, provided he be not too large. Dr. Pruen, in "The Arab 

 and the African," tells an amusing story of the experiences of a 

 leopard with two English mastiffs. His servant chained up the dogs 

 on the veranda at dusk, and little time elapsed before a leopard, 

 who had smelt dog from below% jumped in between them. He was 

 evidently surprised at their size and still more so at the treatment he 

 received, for "one dog got him by the head, the other by the ta.l, and 

 the two quickly bowled him over. He lay perfectly still, astonished 

 at the unexpected turn which events had taken, whilst the dogs, evi- 

 dently puzzled at his quiet behavior, simply held him there and growled, 

 but offered him no further violence. Before the men, who had been 

 standing near, could return with their guns, the leopard had taken 

 advantage of the dogs' indecision to suddenly wriggle away and dis- 

 appear in the darkness, leaving them without even a scratch." 



He sometimes carries off old women and children, but rarely 

 attacks men, though w4ien wounded he fights with great fierceness, 

 and sometimes succeeds in killing his foe. In 1892, a high official 

 in India wounded a leopard, as he thought, mortally, when the beast 

 sprang upon him, threw him down, and badly mauled his left arm. 

 Fortunately, a native hunter came up and pinned the brute to the 

 ground with a spear, when the Englishman scrambled to his feet, and 

 killed the leopard with a shot through the head. 



Mr. Gumming has published a volume containing a record of his 

 hunting exploits in Africa, in the year 1848. The following interesting 

 accounts of adventures are from his work : 



"On the morning," says Mr. Gumming, "I rode into camp, after 

 unsuccessfully following the spoor of a herd of elephants for two days, 

 in a westerly course. Having partaken of some refreshment, I saddled 

 up two steeds and rode dowai the bank of Ngotwani, with the Bushman, 



