1904.] FIELD NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LION. 267 



they also become abnormally cowardly slionld such plans fail. I 

 have known remarkable instances of this. 



Another point on which I cannot endorse the general theory is 

 that of the Lion being a fastidiotis feeder, eating almost exclusively 

 his own kills, his prey being the larger mammals — buffalo, zebra, 

 and antelope. I have not found this to be so as regards his being 

 a fastidious feeder. In my experience Lions feed freely on carrioji 

 — often far gone in putrefaction. Sometimes also they prey on 

 such very small game as the smaller rodents. 



Mr. Selous has it on record how on one occasion a Lion ate the 

 skin of a Sable Antelope treated with arsenical soap for pre- 

 servation as a natural-history specimen. Nothing so remarkable 

 as this has occurred within my personal knowledge. It is probably 

 an almost isolated case. As an instance of the Lion's primary 

 fear of man and also of his eating carrion, I remember a case to 

 illustrate this which occurred to me on the western shores of Lake 

 Nyasa in 1885. I had shot two Elephants in the afternoon, and 

 after following up the herd with no further results than to have to 

 shoot a calf practically in self-defence, I returned some time after 

 dusk to where I had killed my first Elephant, and there slejDt under 

 the belly and between the legs of the animal to be in readiness to 

 cut out the tusks in the morning. In those days, in that country, 

 Lions gave little anxiety on the score of being man-eaters ; thei-e- 

 fore no precautions were taken to guard against them, either in 

 keeping watch or burning large fires. Had I had some of my 

 experiences of later years I could never have slept as I did then — 

 lying down anywhere and never keeping a watch or burning a fire 

 except to cook. Nothing occui-i'ed during this particular night to 

 disturb my rest. It was a surprise, however, when morning light 

 came, to find on the loose soft ashes of the grass burned the day 

 before that a troop of Lions had circled round, desii-ous of feeding 

 on the carcase, but deterred by the presence of man. 



The following night, after the tusks had been cut out and I had 

 moved camp to a point about a mile away, they returned and fed 

 on what remained of the flesh, then putrid from exposure to 

 the sun. 



On the Lower Shiri Plains, British Central Africa, in 1885, I 

 shot a very fine Lion whose stomach was full of Elephant's trunk 

 — an Elephant killed by natives and cut up bj^ them, the knife- 

 cuts in the flesh and hide being at once noticeable. He had made 

 a huge and rapid meal — chunks of solid flesh, with pieces of the 

 hide attached, weighing several lbs. each, had been bolted whole. 

 He was a very fine Lion, in splendid condition and in the prime 

 of life, as could be seen from the skull. 



As regards Lions preying on other game than large mammals, I 

 have already mentioned to this Society (P. Z. S. 1904, vol. ii. 

 p. 144) an interesting case of a Lion which I believe to have 

 preyed on porcupines. 



In ' Mammals, Living and Extinct,' Sir William Flower re- 

 n arked that probably Lions paired for life: this is so, I think. 



