NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Lying in ambush Springing on the prey. 



this kind; and others had reason to conclude, 

 that the observation was correct, from seeing buf- 

 faloes, which had escaped from the clutches of 

 lions; of whose claws they bore evident marks 

 about the mouth and nose. They, however, as- 

 serted, that the lion himself risked his life in such 

 attempts, especially if any other buffalo were at 

 hand to rescue that which was attacked. It was 

 also said, that a traveller once had an opportu- 

 nity of seeing a female buffalo with her calf, de- 

 fended by a river at her back, keep at bay,, for a 

 long time, five lions, which had partly surround- 

 ed, but did not, at least as long as the traveller 

 looked on, venture to attack her." 



When he is not pressed by hunger, the lion, 

 lies in ambush in the manner of the cat and the 

 tiger, and patiently waits for his prey. When it 

 approaches, he springs or throws himself upon it, 

 with one prodigious bound, from the place of his 

 concealment; and if he chance to miss his leap, 

 he will not, as the Hottentots informed Dr. Sparr- 

 man, pursue his prey any farther; but as though 

 he were ashamed, he turns round towards the 

 place where he lay in ambush, and slowly mea- 

 sures, step by step, as it were, the exact length 

 between the two points, as if to ascertain how far 

 short of his mark, or how much beyond it, he 

 had taken his leap. 



Dr. Sparrman is of opinion, that it is not in 

 magnanimity, as many will have it, but in an in- 

 sidious and cowardly disposition, blended with a 



