THE LION. 89 



plains, and certainly never in any of the forests 

 where I have been.'* In India, where the charac- 

 ter of the lower country is more that of a thick 

 jungle than of an open plain, he has more ample 

 shade ; but in the arid plains of Africa, where the 

 cover mostly fringes the banks of the rivers, or 

 marks the spot of some spring of the desert, he is 

 more frequently seen ; he is satisfied with a less 

 extensive and impervious protection, and is often 

 disturbed from a patch of brush or rushes. Burchel 

 met with a pair in such a situation as this, which 

 was perhaps one of his most dangerous encounters 

 throughout his long and varied travels, and in which 

 his presence of mind brought him off unhurt. It is 

 thus related in his interesting African Travels : 

 " The day was exceedingly pleasant, and not a cloud 

 was to be seen. For a mile or two, we travelled 

 along the banks of the river, which, in this part, 

 abounded in tall mat-rushes. The dogs seemed 

 much to enjoy prowling about, and examining every 

 bushy place, and at last met with some object among 

 the rushes which caused them to set up a most vehe- 

 ment and determined barking. We explored the 

 spot with caution, as we suspected, from the pecu- 

 liar tone of their bark, that it was, what it proved 

 to be, lions. Having encouraged the dogs to drive 

 them out, a task which they performed with great 

 willingness, we had a full view of an enormous 

 black-maned lion and lioness. The latter was seen 

 only for a minute, as she made her escape up the 



