HABITS OF THE LION. 15 



The place once clear, the noble victor shakes out his mane 

 to the wind, with a long roar, and then comes and stretches 

 himself at the feet of his love, who for the first mark of her 

 favor, licks the wounds he has received on her account with a 

 fawning grace that awakens the tenderest emotions in his 

 susceptible heart. 



"When two old lions meet upon the same adventure the 

 affair is not so gaily terminated. Mohammed, an Arab of the 

 tribe of Kesenna, told me of a combat of this nature where he 

 was a spectator, though much against his will. It was in the 

 stags' rutting reason, and Mohammed, a great hunter of every 

 kind of wild animals, perched himself at sunset in the boughs 

 of an oak tree, to watch for a doe that he had seen wander- 

 ing in the vicinity, accompanied by several stags. The tree 

 which he had climbed was situated in the middle of a large 

 clearing, and near a path that led into the neighboring forest. 

 Towards midnight he saw a lioness enter the clearing, followed 

 by a red lion with a full-grown mane. The lioness strolled 

 from the path, and came and laid herself down at the foot of 

 the oak, while the lion remained in the path, and seemed to 

 be listening to some noise as yet inaudible to the hunter. 



Mohammed then heard a distant roaring in the forest, and 

 immediately the lioness answered it. Then the lion com- 

 menced to roar with a voice so loud that the frightened 

 hunter let fall his gun and held on to the branches with both 

 hands, lest he might tumble from the tree. 



As the voice of the animal that had been heard in the 

 distance gradually approached, the lioness welcomed him 

 with renewed roarings, and the lion restless went and came 



