106 THE LION. 



a slave-ship having been captured, and some of its 

 unfortunate inmates transferred to the 'Ariadne ' for 

 conveyance to the Mauritius, ' Prince's ' manners be- 

 came quite altered. He soon tore one of the slaves 

 down, and, until they were disembarked, it was 

 necessary to keep him in durance vile, instead of al- 

 lowing him to scamper about the deck like a huge 

 playful cat. 



" ' Prince ' had a keeper to whom he was much 

 attached ; the man got drunk one day, and as the 

 Captain never forgave this crime, was ordered to be 

 flogged ; the grating was rigged on the main deck, 

 opposite ' Prince's ' den, a large barred-up place, 

 the pillars very strong and covered with iron. 

 When the keeper began to strip, ' Prince ' rose 

 gloomily from his couch and got as near to his friend 

 as possible ; on beholding the man's bare back he 

 walked hastily round the den, and when he saw the 

 boatswain inflict the first lash, his eyes sparkled 

 with fire, and his sides resounded with the strong 

 and quick lashings of his tail ; at last, when the 

 blood began to flow from the unfortunate man's back, 

 and the clotted ' cats ' jerked their gory knots close 

 to the lion's den, his fury became tremendous. lie 

 roared with a voice of thunder, shook the strong 

 bars of his prison as if they had been osiers, and 

 finding his efforts to break loose unavailing, he rolled 

 and shrieked in a manner the most terrific that it is 

 possible to conceive. The Captain, fearing he might 

 break loose, ordered the marines to load and pre- 

 sent at 'Prince;' this tin-cat redoubled his rage, 

 and at last the Captain, (whether from fear or 



