,368 



HUNTING. 



hunt. 



Hunting, other. The lion never hunts in company, and is said 

 "T - to chace its prey at full speed by the eye, from its 

 sense of smelling being obtuse. It makes a spring 

 when within reach of the object ; but, if foiled by dis- 

 tance, skulks away, as if ashamed of the disappoint- 

 ment. The tiger, a cruel and terrible destroyer, is ge- 

 nerally single in its immediate attack ; and instead of 

 trusting to speed, like the lion, it lies in wait in some 

 thicket, whence, with an astonishing leap, it pounces 

 on its victim in an instant. Immediate death follows 

 a blow from its tremendous paw, and the prey is 

 then dragged off to be devoured at leisure. Nothing 

 can restrain the ferocity of the tiger ; not even fire, 

 the dread of all wild animals. It is the terror of the 

 forest ; it attacks man as readily as beasts, and even 

 pursues boats while navigating rivers. As the fatal 

 blow is always inflicted by the paw of this animal, in 

 like manner others evince the same uniformity in the 

 mode of hunting and killing their prey. The .'wolf 

 bites it in the throat ; the jackal invariably seizes a 

 cow by the udder ; and the crocodile, fixing its teeth 

 in the nostrils, draws its prey into the water to be 

 drowned. 



Animals Man, in every country, has availed himself of the 



employed to instincts evinced by certain animals in hunting their 

 prey, to aid him in the chace. Dogs of many differ- 

 ent kinds are trained to it, and in every possible fa- 

 shion ; either running down the game by speed, con- 

 quering rt by absolute strength, or dislodging it from its 

 haunts, or merely pointing out its position. In the East, 

 a species of panther, there named cheeta, but more 

 commonly the hunting tiger, is taught to pursue the 

 antelope ; but if caught young, and brought up among 

 mankind, so much of its activity and fierceness are lost, 

 that it proves unserviceable. Therefore the cheeta is 

 always taken old in pits, and soon becomes familiar with 

 its keeper. The cheeta is carried hoodwinked on a 

 cart to the vicinity of the game ; and being then un- 

 hooded, steals from bush to bush, until approaching 

 within 70 yards of it. Rushing forwards with surpri- 

 sing swiftness, by a dexterous use of its paw it throws 

 the animal down, and seizes it firmly by the throat, 

 until it feels that respiration has ceased. Sometimes 

 the cheeta cannot be induced to run ; but if it is for- 

 ward to the chace, it seldom continues longer than for 

 300 or 400 yards, within which space the antelope is 

 cither caught or escapes. If disappointed in its original 

 spring should it get near enough, or be foiled in the 

 course, it lies down, testifying much disappointment; 

 and in its resentment will sometimes, though rarely, 

 turn on its keeper. On the day of hunting, the cheeta 

 is kept without food, at other times it is allowed 4 Ib. of 

 flesh daily. The lion is said to be taught by the Afri- 

 cans to hunt for them, as is also reported to have been 

 practised by the ancient Romans. In this country, we 

 teach the ferret to hunt after rabbits ; and, considering 

 that many animals are susceptible of this education, it is 

 not unlikely that more would be trained to hunt, were 

 not their use superseded by the universal employment 

 of the dog. There is hardly a situation in which the 

 dog is not serviceable. There is scarcely an animal 

 which it will not venture to attack, when encouraged 

 by the voice and presence of its master ; and it equally 

 promotes the capture of the terrestrial and the featherr 

 ed tribes. 



The most general mode of pursuing game is by a 

 small and select company of huntsmen, and then, per- 

 haps, the greatest success attends their exertions ; but 

 in some countries, vast multitudes assemble, surrounding 

 5 



Companies 

 of hunts- 

 men. 



a great extent of territory, and driving numbers of Hunting, 

 wild animals into a narrow space, where their destruc- *~~"-~~' 

 tion is accomplished at will. Some of the sovereigns 

 of China have carried an army of people into Tartary, 

 and occupied themselves several months uninterrupt- 

 edly in the chace, while the monarch himself, unable to 

 use fire arms, dexterously shot the animals with arrows. 

 The modern princes of Hindostan were wont to ad- 

 vance with 400 or 500 elephants, besides horses, and 

 all the necessary equipment of several hundred dogs, 

 nets, and weapons, to the country where the game was 

 sought. Even in Scotland, we read of hunting matches 

 conducted on a great scale, where 12,000 men were 

 present, and when " thirty score of wild beasts" were 

 killed. But the real hunting for profit and utility, in 

 which many thousands engage for subsistence, is con- 

 ducted by small parties, or by individuals only. It 

 appears that in Britain it was very common for ladies 

 anciently to participate in the pleasures of the chace, 



The lion is a large and powerful animal, less ferocious, Hiimji,*. 

 and not equally dreaded as the tiger, perhaps from an the liouT 

 imaginary attribute of generosity, and from the belief 

 that.it never wantonly kills its prey. Nevertheless, the 

 lion is also a terrible enemy, and its roar inspires all other 

 animals with fear. Shaw, the eastern traveller, affirms, 

 that the wild boar is principally its prey ; but some- 

 times after so courageous a defence, that victory has in- 

 clined to neither, or both have been found lying dead 

 together, and torn in pieces. We have said that the lion 

 never hunts in company, and on this head M. Golberry 

 relates, that a lion and a lioness having discovered a wild 

 boar on the skirts of a forest, the latter sprung forward 

 to the attack. Having furiously seized the boar by the 

 throat, she lashed its sides with her tail, while the lion 

 sat a tranquil spectator of the combat, which lasted five 

 minutes, seemingly indifferent to the struggles of both. 

 At length the boar, yielding to the force of its oppo- 

 nent, fell with horrible cries; and, only when dead, 

 the lion leisurely advanced to participate in the repast 

 of his mate. It is supposed that the lion will not at- 

 tack women, but the number of victims evince the fal- 

 lacy of this hypothesis. However, it is confidently af- 

 firmed, that no person is in danger who has courage 

 to look the lion stedfastly in the face. An African co- 

 lonist of the Cape of Good Hope having unexpectedly 

 met a lion, levelled his gun, but the ball fell short as 

 the piece hung fire ; and, apprehensive of the conse- 

 quences, he immediately fled. The lion closely pursued 

 him, when the colonist, leaping on a small heap -of 

 stones, resolved to defend his life with the butt end of 

 his gun, being precluded from loading it again, as he 

 had unfortunately dropped his powder flask in his 

 flight. At this moment the lion made a sudden stand 

 also ; and then lay down, at the distance of a few paces, 

 quite unconcerned. Meantime the colonist durst not 

 move ; but the lion, after remaining before him com- 

 pletely half an hour, slowly retired. The fleetness of 

 this animal enables it to keep up with a horse gallop- 

 ping, and its strength is such that it can drag away a 

 heifer with perfect facility. In general, it is said to 

 lie in ambush, whence it springs upon its prey ; but 

 should the object be missed, no second attempt is made ; 

 the lion returns silently to the spot, to practise more 

 address on the next occasion. Probably animals are 

 more usually preferred, but there are instances c.f'a single 

 lion attacking a whole caravan. The lion is hunted by 

 horsemen on the plains, and large dogs, but not of any 

 particular species, are used to dislodge him from his 

 haunts. AUhe first sight of the huntsmen, he always en- 



