164 



THE CAT TRIBE. 



and is very unwilling to be disturbed. Yet 

 hunger or the necessity for examining its 

 hunting-ground sometimes drives the lion out 

 by day, and travellers tell of very unpleasant 

 encounters with troops of lions pursuing in 

 broad daylight one of those countless herds 

 of antelopes which roam over Central Africa. 

 But these are exceptions to the rule, and a 

 large number of the anecdotes which are said 

 to testify to a supposed magnanimity char- 

 acteristic of the lion, have originated solely 

 in the sort of stupefaction which comes over 

 all nocturnal animals when they are compelled 

 for any reason to forsake their retreats by day. 

 The same lion, which at night dashes upon 

 a victim with the rapidity of lightning and 

 instantly puts it to death, will pass it by un- 

 touched, and even flee from it, if it falls in 

 with it by day. 



The fable has some truth at bottom if it 

 ascribes to the monarch (to use the language 

 of courts) a certain degree of simplicity. The 

 lion is, in fact, the least wily and the least 

 gifted of the whole feline genus. It makes 

 up for the want of cunning by strength. 



Its strength is, indeed, terrible and as- 

 tonishing. With a single stroke of its power- 

 ful paw the lion breaks the back of a horse, 

 with a single bite it crunches to fragments the 

 neck vertebrae of a cow. If the lion, in the 

 vast regions inhabited by wild, wary, and 

 experienced animals, lies in wait for its un- 

 suspecting victim in well-concealed ambushes, 

 it relies solely on brute strength when it 

 levies its tithe on the herds of domestic 

 animals which are kept in inclosures in the 

 neighbourhood of its lair. 



The Arabs compare the roaring of the lion 

 to the roll of thunder. It is observed that 

 the lion gives forth those terrible sounds 

 only when it wishes to warn its comrades, or 

 to strike terror among other animals, all of 

 which, without exception, fall into a state of 

 the greatest excitement and fear as soon as 

 they hear this roaring, and dart away des- 

 perately in all directions, and in that way 



make it easier for the ravager to select a 

 victim. 



With respect to this terrible roar Dr. Livingstone 

 is not so awe-struck. " To talk of the majestic roar 

 of the lion," he says, " is mere majestic twaddle. 

 On my mentioning the fact some years ago the 

 assertion was doubted, so I have been careful ever 

 since to inquire the opinions of Europeans, who 

 have heard both, if they could detect any difference 

 between the roar of a lion and that of an ostrich ; 

 the invariable answer was that they could not 

 when the animal was at any distance." Miss. 

 Travels in S. Africa. 



We will not go into detail with regard to 

 the thousand narratives of more or less 

 dangerous lion -hunts, of attacks upon and 

 attacks by lions. The lion attacks man or 

 retreats before him according to the degree 

 of his hunger, or according to the time of day 

 or night. Old experienced lions which know 

 how little danger they are exposed to in 

 breaking in upon the villages of the badly 

 armed negroes, will, it appears, hanker after 

 human flesh. Bright fires are the best pro- 

 tection for the camps. Who can wonder that 

 an animal conscious of so much strength as 

 the lion should defend itself with uncommon 

 energy? The story of Livingstone, who was 

 thrown down and severely wounded by a lion 

 which he had pierced with two bullets, is well 

 known. The dying lion crushed Living- 

 stone's arm with its teeth, and, in addition to 

 that, made a plunge at two men who were 

 hastening to their master's assistance. One 

 of them received a terrible bite in the thigh, 

 while the other had his shoulder lacerated. 

 Speaking candidly, shall we conclude from 

 such occurrences that the lion is very ready 

 to attack man? 



The ravages which lions commit among 

 the flocks of the natives and the colonists in 

 Africa are very considerable. We know what 

 devastation they used to cause in Algeria, 

 where all the cattle-rearers laid their account 

 with having to share more or less of their 

 stock with these beasts of prey. At the 



