14 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. i. 



and soon Mrs. Lion and four whelps came up to join him. 

 The little ones tore and worried at the dead zebra, but 

 could not get through the tough skin. Then the lioness 

 and her whelps politely lay d'own about five yards off, and 

 waited till the head of the family had eaten a leg ; after 

 which he in turn retired, and Mrs. Lion took her supper, 

 while the whelps, quarrelling and snarling and fighting 

 with each other, picked up a morsel here and there, the 

 mother taking no notice of them except when they got in 

 her way, at which times she soundly boxed their ears. 

 Between them they left little but bones for the hungry 

 vultures which were hovering near. 



Lions as a rule prefer thus to kill their own prey, but 

 they will sometimes not despise a dead carcase. When 

 they grow old they often like to hang about the villages 

 picking up what they can find, and killing goats and sheep, 

 and if they get a chance, women and children. Hence the 

 saying, " His teeth are worn ; he will soon kill men/' 



The whelps or chits, to use an old term long since 

 diverted, are, like kittens, born blind, but I am informed 

 by the keeper at the Clifton Gardens that their eyes are 

 opened after two days instead of nine as with kittens. 

 They are delightful, clumsy, kitten-like creatures, and are 

 spotted, the spots not entirely disappearing for two years 

 or more. I had an opportunity some little time ago of 

 fondling one of these little princes, and letting him mumble 

 my finger in his almost toothless mouth. He was really 

 the most engaging little fellow. There are generally two 

 or three, but sometimes as many as five in a litter. On 

 one occasion a little lion-whelp had tottered forward to 

 the front of the den, and I patted his head through the 

 bars. I shall never forget the look which the lioness 

 gave me as she rose with the utmost dignity, came forward 

 slowly, took the whelp by the scruff of the neck, and car- 



