14 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Predilection for the flesh of Hottentots. 



of every thing, and devoured the prey he had 

 left, untouched before." 



It is a fact, established by the testimony of va- 

 rious writers, that the lion of the Cape prefers 

 the flesh of a Hottentot to any other creature,, 

 and has frequently been known to single one out 

 from a party of Dutch. 



One of the Namaaqua Hottentots, who reside 

 about eighty leagues north of the Cape, attempt- 

 ing to drive his master's cattle into a pond situa- 

 ted between two ridges of rock, discovered a lion 

 couching in the middle of the pool. Terrified at 

 this unexpected sight, he instantly took to his 

 heels, and had sufficient presence of mind to run 

 through the herd ; under the idea, that if the lion 

 should pursue, he would stop to attack the first 

 beast that fell in his way : he was, however, mis- 

 taken. The lion darted through the herd, mak- 

 ing directly after the Hottentot; who, perceiving 

 that the animal had singled him out, scrambled 

 breathless and half dead with terror, up one of 

 the tree-aloes, in the trunk of which, a few steps 

 had been cut, the more easily to come at some 

 nests contained in the branches. 



It should be observed, that these nests belonged 

 to a species of small birds, of the genus Loxia, 

 which live in a state of society, and construct in 

 one clump, and under one cover, a whole repub- 

 lic of nests, perhaps ten feet in diameter, and 

 containing a population of several hundreds of 

 individuals. 



