WONDERFUL POWERS. -1 



telling us that in the event of the beast charging 

 the best plan is to sacrifice the horse, he goes on to 

 say, " If the hunter afterwards wishes to approach 

 the furious carnivora, 'the proper time for the pur- 

 pose is when it is upon the body of its victim, be- 

 cause during the efforts the lion makes to slay it 

 the muscles of the jaws act in a most powerful man- 

 ner, while the neighbouring organs remain passive, 

 as if their co-operation were useless. Thus the 

 beast's eyes are closed, and he, indulging in 

 vengeance, sees no more than if he was stone- 

 blind." 



Notwithstanding the <n*eat strength and prowess 



tj O O 1 



of the lion, it still not unfrequently happens that 

 after having seized his intended victim (especially if 

 it be the giraffe, or other of the larger denizens of 

 the wilds) it escapes from his murderous grasp, 

 though in most instances cruelly lacerated. 



Delegorgue, for instance, when speaking of tho 

 prowess of the lion, says: "All! can certify to 

 from ocular demonstration is, that I have seen on 

 the back of an old bull-buffalo (/>"* Cujjir) killed by 

 myself, four fearful furrows, four centimetres in 

 depth, reaching from the shoulder to the insertion of 

 the tail, caused by the claws of the beast in question." 



Sir Samuel Baker also mentions an instance 

 showing the wonderful powers possessed by the 

 lion. After telling us that Florian, a former hunting 1 

 associate of his, had been struck dead by a fearful 

 \)low on the head from the paw of one of these beasts 

 which he had previously wounded, lie goes on to say : 

 " Great difficulty was experienced in extracting 



