

THE LION. 



'Tis vain ! The thirsty sands are drinking 



His streaming blood his strength is sinking 



The victor's fangs are in his veins 



His flanks are streaked with sanguine stains 



His panting breast in foam and gore 



Is bathed he reels his race is o'er ! 



It is a common opinion among the South African 

 tribes, that the lion will prefer a human prey to any 

 other, will single out the driver from his cattle, and 

 prefer the rider to his horse. This has gradually gain- 

 ed converts among the better informed, and in many 

 of the colonies it is generally received as a fact. Some- 

 times he will seize any prey, but animals are certainly 

 his favourite luxury, and none more than a horse, the 

 pursuit of which, among other cattle, has given rise 

 to the idea that the rider most attracted his attention. 

 In corroboration of this, Thompson relates an inci- 

 dent which bofel a boor who resided in the neigh- 

 bourhood of his own farm in the colonies. 



" Lucas Van Vunsen, a Vee boor, was riding 

 across the open plains, near the Little Fish River, 

 one morning about daybreak ; and observing a lion 

 at a distance, he endeavoured to avoid him by mak- 

 ing a wide circuit. There were thousands of spring- 

 boks scattered over the extensive flats; but the lion, 

 from the open nature of the country, had been un- 

 successful in hunting. Lucas soon perceived that 

 he was not disposed to let him pass without farther 

 parlance, and that he was rapidly approaching to the 

 encounter; and, being without his rifle, and others 



