32 THE LION. 



the claws of the animal, which had penetrated the 

 skull of the unfortunate man." 



It is a common belief that the lion only feeds on 

 animals he himself has slain ,' but such is not the 

 case, for many instances have come to my personal 

 knowledge that, when half-famished, he will not only 

 greedily devour the leavings of other beasts of prey, 

 but even condescend to carrion. 



Animals slain by lions, it is to be observed, are 

 not unfrequently found all but untouched. In locali- 

 ties where game abounds this is easy of explanation, 

 but not so where it is scarce. By some it is con- 

 jectured that this abstinence on the part of the beast 

 arises from his having, while destroying his victim, 

 torn open the paunch, or stomach, the contents of 

 which have come in contact with the flesh, thereby 

 imparting to the latter a disagreeable odour, and 

 rendering it anything but palateable. If this be 

 really the fact, the lion is a much more delicate 

 feeder than the natives, whom I have frequently seen 

 cooking their viands in the half liquid and disagree- 

 able matter in question. 



The quantity of flesh that a lion in a wild state 

 devours at a meal is something enormous. On more 

 than one occasion, I have known him to dispatch 

 the greater part of a zebra in the course of the night. 

 The lion eating up the lioness, as related, is another 

 proof of the extraordinary capabilities of his capacious 

 and elastic stomach.* 



* The regular daily allowance for a full-grown lion at the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens, Regent's Park, London, is eleven pounds of meat, 

 with which the animal would seem to be perfectly satisfied. But of 



