28 THE LION. 



aborigines of the country, wbo, having been scattered 

 and plundered by Moselekatse, had neither herd nor 

 stall, but subsisted on locusts, roots, and the chase, 

 They adopted this mode of architecture to escape 

 the lions which abounded in the country. During 

 the day the families descended to the shade beneath 

 to dress their daily food. When the inhabitants in- 

 creased, they supported the augmented weight on 

 the branches by upright sticks ; but when lightened 

 of their load, they removed them for fire- 

 wood." 



The lion, as with others of the feline family, 

 seldom attacks his prey openly, and then only when 

 compelled by extreme hunger. For the most part 

 he steals upon it in the manner of a cat, or ambushes 

 himself near to the water, or a pathway frequented 

 by game. At such times he lies crouched on his 

 belly in a thicket, until the animal appoaches 

 sufficiently near, when with one prodigious bound 

 he pounces upon it. In most cases he is success- 

 ful, but should his intended victim escape, as at 

 times happens, from his having miscalculated the 

 distance, he either makes a second, or even a third 

 bound, which, however, usually proves fruitless, or 

 he returns disconcerted to his hiding-place, there 

 to wait for another opportunity. 



The bound of the lion, when about to seize his 

 prey, is terrific. Though I for my own part should 

 not have imagined it to exceed twenty-five to 

 thirty feet, yet others estimate it to be very ranch 

 more. " From the spot where a noble male lion 



