30 THE LION. 



Gorgon, and had only time to take away the skin 

 and head, and that his Caffirs, who were heavily 

 laden, expressed a desire to secure the flesh of the 

 animal by placing it for the night in the fork of a 

 tree, at an elevation of fourteen feet from the ground, 

 he goes on to say, " I assisted them in the operation, 

 and we returned to camp. The next day, at dawn, 

 my men proceeded to the larder, which they found 

 entirely empty, not a piece of meat remained, all 

 had been carried off; and on the ground were seen 

 prints of lions' feet, proving the numerous vaults 

 they had made to possess themselves of our pro- 

 visions." 



It is all but the universal belief of the natives, 

 and others, in Southern Africa, that the eyes of the 

 lion, -when ho bounds on his victim, and until he 

 has succeeded in killing it, are hermetically closed, 

 and that at such times a man may walk uncon- 

 cernedly up to the beast, and shoot, or otherwise 

 slay him, with impunity ! As will hereafter be 

 shewn, indeed, it is under these circumstances that 

 the natives of some districts on the Eastern Coast, 

 presuming on the animal's reputed blindness, fear- 

 lessly attack him. 



The reasons assigned for the lion's thus closing his 

 eyes are various. That most commonly received 

 is that it is to protect those orbs from injury during 

 the death-struggles of the victim, a reason which to 

 me is not altogether satisfactory. That given by 

 M. Delegorgue is possibly more to the purpose. 

 After describing the manner in which the Cape 

 colonists hunt the lion (of which hereafter), and 



