176 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



on either side of liim. Three troops of elephants hav 

 ing been discovered a few minutes previous to this, 

 upon which I was marching for the attack, I, with the 

 most heartfelt reluctance, reserved my fire. On run- 

 ning down the hill side to endeavor to recall my dogs, 

 I observed, for the first time, the retreating lioness with 

 four cubs. About twenty minutes afterward two noble 

 elephants repaid my forbearance. 



Among Indian Ninirods, a certain class of royal ti- 

 gers is dignified with the appellation of " man-eaters." 

 These are tigers which, having once tasted human flesh, 

 show a .predilection for the same, and such characters 

 are very naturally famed and dreaded among the na- 

 tives. Elderly gentlemen of similar tastes and habits 

 are occasionally met with among the lions in the inte- 

 rior of South Africa, and the danger of such neighbors 

 may be easily imagined. I account for lions first ac- 

 quiring this taste in the following manner: the Bechua- 

 na tribes of the far interior do not bury their dead, but 

 unceremoniously carry them forth, and leave them ly- 

 ing exposed in the forest or on the plain, a prey to the 

 lion and hya3na, or the jackal and vulture ; and I can 

 readily imagine that a lion, having thus once tasted 

 human flesh^vould have little hesitation, when oppor- 

 tunity presented itself, of springing upon and carrying 

 off the unwary traveler or " Bechuana" inhabiting his 

 country. Be this as it may, man-eaters occur ; and 

 on my fourth hunting expedition, a horrible tragedy 

 was acted one dark night in my little lonely camp by 

 one of these formidable characters, which deprived me, 

 in the far wilderness, of my most valuable servant. In 

 winding up these few observations on the lion, which I 

 trust will not have been tiresome to the reader, I may 

 remark that lion-hunting, under any circumstances, ia 



