Wolves and Lions 131 



animals it covets, overcoming them by quite ex- 

 ceptional force of resistance and tenacity. Once the 

 animal is down it is devoured in the twinkling of an 

 eye, and the pack rests until hunger once more urges 

 it to the fight. 



Those are the animals which must be captured 

 young and trained for lion-hunting. With six 

 wolves one could track, drive, and bring to bay, 

 every lion in a district, whatever might be their lairs, 

 cunning, and daring. 



It is useless, I fear, to think of acclimatising our 

 European dogs in these countries ; heat and skin 

 diseases would quickly kill them, and especially the 

 tsetse, which swarms there. When you speak of 

 lions you mean big game, and where big game is 

 you may be certain there are tsetse - flies. In 

 temperate countries and on the mountain plateaus 

 of Africa dogs may be used, for partridge and 

 small - antelope shooting, but those are almost 

 always destitute of other animals. The rat terrier 

 lives fairly well in warm climates, but he would not 

 support life in the bush : only persons living in 

 towns or in comfortable houses can possess him. 



It must be well understood that for lion-hunting 

 it is unnecessary to have large savage dogs ; a 

 common mongrel, whatever its breed and size, is 

 quite sufficient provided it is not frightened, and that 

 it barks round the lion, at the same time carefully 

 avoiding it. It is sufficient to discover the retreat 

 where the wild beast is crouching, and, once the dog 

 has seen it, it occupies it sufficiently with its barking 



