62 THE TRAPPER'S ART. 



digesting its food during the day. Tlie Lioness is smaller than 

 the male, and brings forth from one to three young at a time, 

 about the beginning of the year. Lions are not numerous in 

 Asia, and are steadily growing less so in Africa. They are 

 now seldom found near the coasts of that Continent. Wher- 

 ever the white man appears he wages relentless warfare against 

 the "king of beasts." Its favorite haunts are the plains rather 

 than the forests, and it is content with the shelter of a few 

 bushes or low jungle. They sometimes hunt in troops — 

 several attacking a herd of zebras, or other animals, in con- 

 cert. Their strength is very great, and one has been known 

 to carry a horse a distance of a mile from where he had killed 

 it. Their most common prey are the deer and antelope which 

 abound on the plains of Africa and in India. The zebra, the 

 quagga, and the buffiilo are their frequent victims. 



The directions already given for taking the cougar with the 

 steel-trap are adapted to the Lion. It may also be taken by 

 setting a trap near its haunts and baiting it with a dead sheep 

 or other animal. Great care must be taken to thoroughly 

 secrete the trap, as the Lion is a very suspicious and intelli- 

 gent beast. It is said that when a Lion is killed, all others 

 retire from and avoid that immediate vicinity. The Lion is 

 not a fastidious feeder. While, on the one hand, he likes to 

 strike down a living animal and suck the hot blood from its 

 body, on the other, he will devour any dead animal he may 

 find, whether fresh or otherwise. " So thoroughly is this the 

 case," says Wood, " that Lion-hunters are in the habit of de- 

 coying their mighty game by means of dead antelopes or oxen, 

 which they lay near some water-spring, knowing w^ell that the 

 Lions are sure to seize so excellent an opportunity of satis- 

 fying at the same time the kindred appetites of thirst and 

 hunger." 



THE TIGER. 



If the lion is the scourge of Africa, the Tiger holds that 

 place in India and Southern Asia. The Royal Tiger of India 

 rivals the lion in size, strength, ferocity, and activity, and 

 excels him in beauty of form and color, and grace of move- 

 ment. The Tiger is of great size, measuring in the largest 



