204 THE LION. 



steps, bat, saw a lion, which had caught scent of 

 me, looking about for his prey. I, of course, 

 made for the old ford, when, after throwing in, as 

 custom iry, some stones to frighten the crocodiles 

 away, I hastened to the other side, glad enough 

 to get the watery monsters between the lion and 

 myself. The lions in this part of the country," the 

 Missionary adds, " having gorged on human flesh, 

 do not spend time in looking at the 'human eye,' 

 as some are said to do, but seek the easiest and 

 most expeditious way of making a meal of a man." 



Moffattj 1 may here mention, was at this time 

 in a ivgion that had recently been ravaged by 

 the Matabili, one of the fiercest and most un- 

 relenting of African tribes, and whom he else- 

 where paints in the very blackest of colours. His 

 words are : 



" They were not satisfied with simply capturing 

 cattle; nothing less than the entire subjection or 

 destruction of the vanquished would quench their 

 insatiable thirst for power. Thus, when they 

 conquered a town the terrified inhabitants were 

 driven in a mass to the outskirts, when the parents 

 and all the married women were slaughtered on the 

 spot. Such as dared to be brave in the defence 

 of their homes, their wives, and their children, 

 were reserved for a still more terrible death ; dry 

 grass, saturated with fat, was tied round their 

 naked bodies, and then set on fire. The youths 

 and girls were loaded as beasts of burden with 

 the spoils of the town, to be marched to the 

 homes of the victors. If the town was in an 



