OEDEE OF CAENIVOEA. 345 



There is one important fact which has several times been 

 observed. When the Lion is hungry or irritated, he flogs his 

 sides with his tail and shakes his mane. If, therefore, a traveller 

 finds himself unexpectedly in the presence of a Lion, he may know 

 the brute's intentions, and can take precautions accordingly. If 

 the tail does not move, the animal may be passed without fear ; 

 not only will he not spring upon you, but throwing a stone at him 

 will suffice to drive him away. Under the reverse circumstances, 

 no time must be lost in seeking a place of refuge, unless you are 

 in a position to commence a contest with your arms, and then the 

 more prompt and determined your action, the more successful will 

 be the issue. 



Because the Lion seldom attacks any living creature when 

 his a]3petite is satisfied, and because he is content with one victim 

 at a time, some jjeople have fancied that he is magnanimous. 

 "VVe might as well praise the abstemiousness of a man who has 

 well fed. But few animals kill for the mere pleasure of killing. 

 If some of the Carnivora apj^ear to contradict this, it may be 

 because we are unable to ajDpreciate their motives ; with the 

 progress of knowledge, their true characters may in future be 

 better understood. It is also at present impossible for us to say 

 that the Lion is less irritable than other quadrupeds. The 

 " King of Beasts," moreover, does not fear Man ; nevertheless, he 

 treats him with respect, only attacking him in a case of urgent 

 necessity, such as suffering from long abstinence, without a 

 prospect of food. Numerous testimonies vouch for the correct- 

 ness of this statement. 



"We arrived one day," says Delegorgue, "where the Caffirs 

 and their families, although deprived of firearms, traversed the 

 localities where these animals roam, the presence of Lions being 

 to them no cause for alarm. And there is a reason for this : 

 either from motives of cunning, or through timidity, this terrible 

 animal, when surprised, and hunger does not excite him, takes 

 to fliffht at the siffht of a Man or Child, and even retires when 

 the wind carries the sound of human voices to him. These habits, 

 which appear to be determined by a feeling of caution, are well 

 known to the experienced." 



One day Sparrmann and his companions saw before them, at two 

 or three hundred paces distant, two large Lions, which fled as 



