20 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



a pair of lions followed and attacked some oxen 

 while drinking in the Orange River, near Upington, 

 on the northern bank ; the lion was killed ; the 

 lioness, after being wounded, made her escape. 



There is but one species of lion to be found in 

 Africa and Asia. These animals may and do vary 

 considerably in coloration, character, and even in 

 size, but the lion of South Africa, or indeed of any 

 part of the Dark Continent, is specifically identical 

 with the lion of Mesopotamia and Persia and the 

 lion of the Gir, in Kathiawar, the last stronghold of 

 this beast in India. Formerly it was thought other- 

 wise by some people. The old-fashioned hunting 

 Boers, for instance, used to classify these animals "as 

 black- maned and yellow-maned lions, and stoutly 

 maintained that the species were distinct. The 

 Boers, however, never were good as scientific 

 naturalists, however expert they were and still are 

 with the rifle ; and the fact that a lioness will 

 produce from the same litter of cubs a yellow-maned 

 and a black-maned lion is well ascertained. Lions, 

 in fact, vary constantly, in size and coloration, all 

 over Africa, the body hue ranging from silvery grey 

 to yellow and a dull tawny. The coat of the wild 

 lion is much shorter and closer than that of the beast 

 kept in captivity, and the splendid mane of the 

 menagerie lion is usually found greatly lacking in 

 the veldt-bred specimen. Still, now and again, lions 

 possessing really good manes are killed in the wild 

 state. Probably the finest lions, for size, mane, and 

 coat ever found in Africa were those that used to 



