8 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
rifle, he was suddenly surprised by a large male Lion, 
which bounded out upon him from the thick jungle at 
the distance of only a few yards. He instantly fired, 
and, the shot taking complete effect, the animal fell dead 
almost at his feet. No sooner was this formidable foe 
thus disposed of than a second, equally terrible, made 
her appearance in the person of the Lioness, whom the 
General also shot at and wounded so dangerously that 
she retreated into the thicket. As her following so imme- 
diately in the footsteps of her mate afforded strong 
grounds for suspecting that their den could not be far 
distant, he determined upon pursuing the adventure to 
the end, and traced her to her retreat, where he com- 
pleted the work of her destruction, by again discharging 
the contents of one of the barrels of his rifle, which he 
had reloaded for the purpose. In the den were found a 
beautiful pair of cubs, male and female, supposed to be 
then not more than three days old. These the General 
brought away with him, and succeeded by the assistance 
of a goat, who was prevailed upon to act in the capacity 
of foster-mother to the royal pair, in rearing them until 
they attained sufficient age and strength to enable them 
to bear the voyage to England. On their arrival in this 
country, in September, 1823, he presented them to his 
Majesty, who commanded them to be placed in the 
Tower. The male of this pair is the subject of the pre- 
sent, the female that of the succeeding article. 
The extreme youth of these Lions at the time of their 
capture, and the constant control to which they had been 
accustomed from that early period of their existence, 
rendered them peculiarly tame and docile, insomuch 
that, for twelve months after their arrival, they were fre- 
