LION. 37 i 



attack upon human beings, and that, in point of fact, he will rather shun a conflict 

 when possible. " There is nearly always," writes Mr. Drummond, " some explana- 

 tion of its behaviour when it acts otherwise : either the hunter has approached so 

 near before being discovered that the animal is afraid to turn tail, and, urged by 

 its very fears, makes a charge ; or it may be half-famished, and having got hold of 

 some prey, either of your killing or its own, will not quit it without a contest ; or, 

 if a lioness with cubs, will fight in defence of their supposed danger." Sir Samuel 

 Baker's testimony is of a very similar character, when he mentions that the expert 

 swordsmen of Central Africa have no dread of the lion when undisturbed by 

 sportsmen, although they hold him in the highest respect when he becomes the 

 object of chase. Again, in another passage, the same writer mentions that among 

 the Hamran Arabs of the Sudan the lions, although numerous, are never regarded 

 as dangerous. 



That lions, especially when hungry, will, however, on occasion attack human 

 beings, on foot or when mounted, there is abundant evidence. Livingstone 

 relates the well-known instance of a hunter engaged in stalking a rhinoceros, when, 

 on looking back, he was horrified to find that he himself was being stalked by a 

 lion. Mr. Drummond also records an instance where a lion, driven by hunger, 

 attacked him personally; and he believes that there are some lions which will 

 always make unprovoked attacks. This view he supports by an account of an 

 attack made upon three natives in Eastern Africa. The three natives in question 

 were passing along the edge of a certain lagoon, " when, without further warning 

 than a slight rustle, a lion sprang upon the foremost, crushing him to the ground. 

 His terrified comrades, throwing away the chance of shooting the brute while it 

 was still upon its first victim and its eyes probably closed, rushed to the nearest 

 trees for safety, but, once there, feeling ashamed of their cowardly desertion of an 

 old companion, they descended, and walking forward together were just on the 

 point of firing, when, with a roar that almost deprived them of the power to run, 

 the lion charged, caught the hindmost, and after shaking him for a second or two 

 gave chase to the other, who, however, had profited by the time to remove himself, 

 by a bare foot or so, out of reach of the spring the enraged animal gave as it saw 

 that one had so far escaped. It then returned to its last victim, not yet dead, took 

 him up in its mouth, dropped him, tossed him from paw to paw as a cat does a 

 mouse, and at last, as if w r earied by so much unaccustomed gentleness, it allowed 

 its savage nature to gain the mastery, and with one crunch of its powerful jaw put 

 him out of his pain." The sole survivor of this tragedy, after having been besieged 

 for hours in a tree, during which he had a hairbreadth escape when descending to 

 reach his gun, finally had the satisfaction of putting a bullet through the ribs of 

 the lion. 



With regard to the dangers of lion-hunting in Africa, which is mostly con- 

 ducted on foot, those who have had the most experience, and are therefore the 

 best entitled to speak with authority, are in accord as to their reality. Gordon 

 Gumming says that lion-hunting, under any circumstances, must of necessity be a 

 dangerous pursuit ; but that it may be followed to a certain extent with comparative 

 immunity from harm by those who have the necessary nerve and coolness, coupled 

 with sufficient knowledge of the habits of the animals. Mr. Selous, writing in 1881, 



