THE PASSING OF THE WILD 303 



he is a magnificent creature ; but in the eyes 

 of the farmer he is just as much vermin as the 

 fox in England. While, therefore, persons 

 who do not live in Africa, and who can see 

 the lion when they want to in its cage at the 

 Zoo, would probably hail the extinction of the 

 lion with dismay, the farmers and stockowners 

 on the spot would feel nothing but satisfaction 

 if the last lion in Africa were shot, trapped, or 

 poisoned. The natives, it is true, suffer much 

 less from the lion than those of India do from 

 the tiger, if only because in many parts the 

 lion inhabits open country, in which sudden 

 ambush is more difficult than in the jungle. 

 It is even said that some of the Bushmen live, 

 like jackals, on scraps from the lion's table, 

 and these would be the only mourners at the 

 death of the last. A century ago lions must 

 have swarmed over South Africa, abounding 

 in parts of the country where none have been 

 seen these twenty years. The Boers, when 

 trekking out of Cape Colony in the eighteen- 

 thirties, slew no fewer than 380, and large 

 numbers were also slain by the Moselekatse 

 and other fighting tribes. Lions can never 

 again become a menace to human life in the 

 more settled parts of South Africa, though, 

 even on the beaten track, an accident is oc- 

 casionally reported. Yet the dominion of the 

 lion was very different in the days of the 



