120 DIVISION I. VERTEliRAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



carried oft^ the poor woman in liis nioutli. Her master and her luisband, 

 startled by her fearful shrick.s, sjirany to their j;uiis, but without avail. 

 Favored bv the darknes.s, the moirster had eon^eved, in a few minute.?, his 

 imf'ortunale victim far into the thicket, beyond the po.-^sibility of rescue. A 

 Hottentot, at Jackabs Fi.iuntain, on the skirts of the Great Karroo, had a 

 iian-ow, tiiougii ludicrous escape, on a similar occasion. He was slcc])ing 

 a few }-ards from his master, in the usual mode vi' his nation, wrapped up 

 in his sheepskin carofsse, with his face to the groinid. A lion came softly 

 up, and seizing him by the thick folds of his greasy mantle, began to trot 

 away with him, counting securely, no doubt, on a sa\ory and satisfactory 

 meal. But the Hottentot, on awaking, being quite unhurt, though suffi- 

 ciently astonished, contrived somehow to wriggle himself out of iiis wrapper, 

 and scranJjled off, while the disap[iointed lion walked simply away with the 

 empty integument. The last two anecdotes illustrate a jicculiarity ascribed 

 to the lion, namely, a supposed propensity to prey on black men in jirefcr- 

 encc to white when he has the choice ; or, as the Cape boors cxjjlain it, has 

 discretion in refraining from the flesh of " (Jlirislcu tucusc//,'' when 

 ''Ilo/lr,ifii/ coll- " arc to be come at. The fact of this preference, so strong- 

 ly alleged, need not be (lisj)uted, but it may be accoiuitcd for on somewhat 

 iliilerent grounds from those usually assigned. The lion, like most other 

 beasts of prey, is directed to his game by the scent as well as by the eye. 

 1'he pccidiar odor of the Hottentot, especially in his wild and barbarous 

 state, is exceedingly strong and pungent, and presents to the lion, who is 

 prow ling after nightfall in search of his supper, a fragrance fully as attractive 

 as the scent of a savory beefsteak can be to a weary and hungry tra\'eller. 



I'lIK LiDXF.ss AM) TIIK Hod. — A lioness in the Tower of London once 

 formed such an attachment for a lilllc, dog, which was ke[)t with her in the 

 den, that she would not eat till the dog was first satisfied. After the lioness 

 had become a mother, it was thouglit advisaljle to take the animal awa\-, fi)r 

 fear that her jealous fondness fir her whel[is might lead her to injure it. 

 r>ut while the kecjier wa.s cleaning the <len, the dog, by sojne means, got 

 into it, and approached the lioness with Ids wonted fondness. She was 

 j)layiug wiih her cubs, and, seeing the dog, she sprang upon him, seizing 

 him by the throat, and seemed in the act of tearing him to pieces; but, sud- 

 denly recollecting her former affection fjr him, she carried him to the door 

 of the den, and suffered him to be taken out unhurt. 



The I^iox and iii.s Pet. ■ — ..V little dog was once thrown into the den 

 of a lion in the Tower-menagerie, for the purpose of seeing the manner in 

 which this animal springs upon his prey. The poor little animal skulked, 

 in terror, to the remotest corner of the cage; but the lion, more merciful 

 than man, refused to harm him, and regarded him with the greatest com- 



