HABIIS OF THE LION. 315 



/nay not prove uninteresting to the reader. There is something 

 so noble and imposing in the presence of the lion, when seen 

 walkin? with dignified self-possession, free and undaunted, on hig 

 native soil, that no description can convey an adequate idea of his 

 striking appearance. The lion is exquisitely formed by nature for 

 the predatory habits which he is destined to pursue. Combining 

 in comparatively small compass the qualities of power and agility, 

 he is enabled, by means of the tremendous machinery with which 

 nature has gifted him, easily to overcome and destroy almost every 

 beast of the forest, however superior to him in weight and stature 



Though considerably under four feet in height, he has little 

 difficulty in dashing to the ground and overcoming the lofty and 

 apparently powerful giraffe, whose head towers above the trees 

 of the forest, and whose skin is nearly an inch in thickness. The 

 lion is the constant attendant of the vast herds of buffaloes which 

 frequent the interminable forests of the interior ; and a full-grown 

 one, so long as his teeth are unbroken, generally proves a match 

 for an old bull buffalo, which in size and strength greatly sur- 

 passes the most powerful breed of English cattle : the lion also 

 preys on all the larger varieties of the antelopes, and on both 

 rarieties of the gnoo. The zebra, which is met with ir. large 

 herds throughout the interior, is also a favorite object of his 

 pursuit. 



Lions* do not refuse, as has been asserted, to feast upon the 

 venison that they have not killed themselves. I have repeatedly 

 discovered lions of all ages which had taken possession of, and 

 were feasting upon, the carcases of various game quadrupeds 5 

 which had fallen before my rifle. The lion is very generally 

 diffused throughout the secluded parts of Southern Africa. He 

 is, however, nowhere met with in great abundance, it being very 

 rare to find more than three, or even two, families of lions fre- 

 quenting the same district and drinking at the same fountain. 

 When a greater number were met with, I remarked that it was 

 owing to long-protracted droughts, which, by drying nearly alJ 

 the fountains, had compelled the game of various districts to 

 crowd the remaining springs, and the lions, according to theii 



