270 THROUGH ANGOLA 



will frighten the game or stock by giving them its 

 scent and roaring loudly ; and in this way try to 

 drive the animals on to the other members of the 

 troop, who are silently lying in wait for them. 

 The lioness is more dangerous than the lion, 

 especially if she has cubs ; a friend of mine was 

 attacked not long ago by a lioness whose cubs 

 were quite 100 yards away in some reeds, and 

 my path has been disputed in similar circumstances, 

 but the males, though present in each instance, 

 made no demonstration. 



Lions, however, vary in courage ; I have met 

 fearless animals, and one so timid that he refused 

 to charge, though wounded and followed in thick 

 bush all day. All lions are more dangerous at 

 night, especially when hungry, and when benighted 

 in a lion country the safest course is to roost in a 

 tree. A lion kills every second or third day, but 

 may go without food for several, and would then 

 eat anything he finds, including porcupines, though 

 the latter often cause him great suffering and even 

 death by leaving their quills in his pads or jaw. 

 I once killed a lioness crippled by quills which 

 had burrowed into both her fore paws. 



The lion may be met at dawn, feeding on his 

 " kill," or in the late evening when returning to 

 it ; and only by accident during the day. On 

 the night he kills, the lion drinks the animal's 

 blood, disembowels it, separates the offals, and 

 eats from the hind quarters. If watched for, 

 a platform is safer, though harder to shoot from 

 than a pit or thorn fence, as the lion does not 

 appear to be able to scent or see a hunter placed 



