6 Quadrupeds. 



result of any mental process. The shake annihilated 

 fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at 

 the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in 

 all animals killed by the carnivora ; and if so, is a mer- 

 ciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening 

 the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of 

 the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, 

 I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to 

 shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His 

 gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels ; the Lion 

 immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit his 

 thigh. Another man, whose life 1 had saved before, 

 after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear 

 the Lion while he was biting Mebalwe. Pie left Me- 

 balwe, and caught this man by the shoulder ; but at 

 that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and 

 he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few 

 moments, and must have been his parox} 7 sm of dying 

 rage." The interesting nature of this narrative of a 

 most hair-breadth escape must be our excuse for its 

 length. 



Lions have been sometimes known to attain a great 

 age ; thus Pompey, a large male Lion that died, in 

 1760, in the Tower of London, was upwards of seventy 

 years old. The usual period, however, seldom exceeds 

 twenty years. The Lion is generally represented as 

 the companion of Britannia, as a national symbol of 

 strength, courage, and generosity. In ancient gems, 

 paintings, and statuary, his skin is the attribute of 

 Hercules. In Scriptural compositions, he is painted at 

 the side of the evangelist St. Mark ; and holds the fifth 

 place among the signs of the zodiac, answering to the 

 months of July and August. 



In the various sculptured Lions discovered by Mr. 

 Layard at Nineveh in 1848, the claw in the Lion's tail 

 is distinctly marked, and is represented as being of 

 large size. It is, however, really a very small, dark, 

 horny prickle at the tip of the fleshy part of the tail, 

 and entirely hidden by the hair. 



