42 THE LIOX. 



valour she appreciates on hearing his roar- 

 ings. 



" The lovers bravely play their part, and arrive, 

 with the lioness, in presence of the preferred rival. 



" The preliminaries are soon settled, and the re- 

 sult of these battles is always certain. Attacked by 

 the three impudent youngsters, the old lion reviews 

 them without stirring; with the first grasp of 

 his jaws, he dispatches one of his assailants, with 

 the next he crushes the leg of a second, and the 

 third beast is only too happy if he escapes with an 

 eye, leaving the other eye at the end of the claw of 

 the victor. 



" The arena free, the noble animal proudly shakes 

 his mane, and then crouches near to the lioness, 

 who, as the first token of affection, licks with a 

 fondling look the wounds he has received on her 

 account. 



" When two adult lions meet," Gerard goes on to 

 say, "the affair does not terminate thus easily. An 

 Arab, of the tribe of Kesenna, related to me a com- 

 bat of the kind to which he himself was an eye-wit- 

 ness. 



" It was during the rutting season with deer, 

 Mohammed, my informant, a great lover of 

 the chase, was one fine moonlight night perched 

 among the branches of an oak standing in the midst 

 of an extensive glade of the wood, and near to a 

 foot-path, awaiting the arrival of a hind he had pre- 

 viously observed in company with several stags. 



" Towards midnight he saw a lioness, followed by 

 a full grown fawn-coloured lion, approaching his 



