STEAK AU l,tON. '"> 



monarch of the desert by his inferiors, they some- 

 times have the impertinence to feed in company with 

 him on the same carcase. I myself have known 

 this to be the case with the dog, the jackal,* and 

 the hyena. 



It happens occasionally, however, that the in- 

 truder pays dearly for his audacity. It is indeed 

 asserted by more than one experienced hunter that, 

 when the hyena proves troublesome, the lion has 

 been known to bite off all its feet,t and when thus 

 mutilated, leave the poor animal to its fate. Though 

 unable to vouch for the truth of the story, yet, as 

 in some degree corroborative of it, T niav mention 

 that I myself, on one occasion, f^ll in with a hyena 

 walking on his four stumps. 



The flesh of the lion has a somewhat bad name 

 with naturalists and others, who, though admitting 

 that the natives of the countries inhabited by the 

 beast occasionally partake of it, describe it as having 

 a strong disagreeable smell and flavour. And M". 

 Delegorgue, when speaking of a lion that he had 

 recently killed, goes so for as to say "that the 

 odour of it was so rank and disgusting that he had 

 not the courage to taste it, but abandoned it to 

 the vultures." Of course it is not for me to con- 

 tradict great authorities, but, as stated in t lie " Ifiver 



* It is difficult to account for the popular notion a> to the jackal 

 being the lion's provider. To my mind it would In- far ninn- rornvi 

 to reverse the adage, and say that the lion cater.-* lor the jack;!!, as it is 

 in great measure on the leavings of his roy.d friend that this pretty 

 little animal subsists. 



t The same refined kind of cruelty has l>n<n wit in .-x d amongst 

 a certain species of African ants. 



