THE LION 171 



the beast with his great rending canine teeth 

 upon the nape of the neck, whilst with his claws 

 he grips hold of the face, pulling it round and 

 exerting his tremendous strength to break the 

 victim's spine. This method of attack, added 

 to his great weight, soon crushes out all resist- 

 ance. Unless very hungry, a lion, after killing 

 a large animal in the manner described, will not 

 devour him immediately ; he will confine himself 

 to drinking the blood, which he laps daintily 

 like the great cat that he is. Thereafter his 

 proceedings, doubtless hallowed by long custom, 

 almost invariably follow the same quaint lines. 

 The kill is first very skilfully disembowelled, and 

 the entrails are more or less buried. He then 

 discusses, no doubt by way of hors cfosuvre, 

 such dainty morsels as the kidneys, liver, and 

 other viscera, going on, after these have been 

 enjoyed, to the thighs and other " meaty " 

 portions of the beast. His capacity is large 

 and his appetite inordinate, and thus it is that 

 in lean times, when game is not plentiful, he 

 can abstain from food as long as, or perhaps 

 longer than, most animals in similar unhappy 

 case. But although doubtless keenly alive to 

 the superiority, if it be obtainable, of nice 

 juicy meat, he nevertheless adapts himself to 

 circumstances by taking advantage of any oppor- 

 tunity of obtaining a meal which may haply 

 present itself. Thus he has been known to sit 

 with his gigantic paw patiently poised for hours 

 at the hole of a field-rat, to devour fruit of 

 various forest trees, to fill his omnivorous 



