THE WILD FAUNA OP THE EMPIEE 



57 



points, and the milk teeth which he still uses are weak and fragile 

 things. At that age, though as big and heavy as the biggest dog, 

 he still has a long time before him ere he is capable of taking the 

 field for himself free from maternal guidance. The care and 

 trouble taken by a lioness and her mate in teaching their family 

 to kill game neatly are well known, as well as the amateur results 

 which attend the early efforts of the latter. The tuition could not 

 be successful if the lioness had the care of another and younger 

 family to take up her time and attention. 



As tending to illustrate the above remarks, I might quote some 

 cases which have come under my own observation recently — 

 namely, within the last fifteen months or so. 



1. August 1905. — One male and three full-grown females, with 

 two small cubs, not more than one month old ; no half-grown 

 animals. 



2. October 1905.— -Lioness with two large cubs (about four- 

 teen months old) ; she was giving no milk, and contained no 

 fetus. 



3. November 1905. — Lioness in prime of life. She was one of 

 a family of full-grown animals, conditions as in last case ; it was 

 so far past the cubbing season that had there been any of that 

 year's cubs they would have been sufficiently large to have been 

 running with the others. A young lion about three years of age 

 was killed out of same troop. The inference drawn was that he, 

 and perhaps another of the younger animals, represented this 

 lioness's last litter. Of course, it was just possible that an inter- 

 mediate litter might have all died. 



4. August 1906. — Two lionesses with four cubs, all of similar 

 size ; one secured was about a year old ; had any cubs been born 

 to either of these lionesses at a later date they could not, having 

 regard to the time of cubbing, have been more than a month old, 

 and therefore their mothers would not have left them, but this 

 party left the district entirely, in which they had been established 

 for some time. 



5. September 190G. — Two lionesses lying up, with three cubs 

 six weeks old ; the mother of the cubs was an oldish animal ; the 

 younger lioness, though full-grown, was young, in fact the spots 

 underneath were still quite distinct. Natives said that they had 

 been hunting together for some considerable time, sometimes 

 accompanied by a male, who was not upon this occasion seen, 

 but that the females, at all events, invariably returned during the 

 day to the patch of bush where the cubs were ; this was also 

 demonstrated by the tracks. To mo the evidence seemed to 

 point to the younger lioness being the survivor of the older one's 

 last family. The former was not in cub, though her age was 

 sufficient to have allowed of it. 



(5. October 1906. — Lion and lioness, accompanied by one large 

 cub about fifteen months old. The lioness had no milk, and con- 

 tained no fetus. 



The conclusion to which I have been brought from these and 



