THE LION. 45 



animals which seek their food in the dark, the eye is usually 

 of a large size, to admit a great number of rays. This 

 peculiar kind of eye, therefore, is necessary to the Lion to 

 perceive his prey, and he creeps towards it with a certainty 

 which nothing but this distinct nocturnal vision could give." 

 Men who hunt the lion in the daytime, when he is usually 

 sleeping off the effects of a hearty meal, and who awaken 

 him in a surprised and dazed condition when his cat-like eyes 

 cannot bear the blaze of the sun, ought not to be surprised 

 if he tries to postpone fighting until a more convenient season. 

 Nor can he be said to be less noble because he only fights 

 when it is necessary to procure food, to protect his young, 

 and to defend himself. A veritable Ulysses among the 

 beasts he is ready to fight if needs be, but unless urged by 

 hunger, or attacked by the hunter, he does not seem to bear 

 any particular malice against mankind. 

 The Lion's " ^* *® singular,'' says Sparrman, "that the lion. 

 Attitude which, according to many, always kills his prey 

 towards Man. immediately if it belongs to the brute creation, 

 is reported, frequently, although provoked, to content himself 

 with merely wounding the hvmian species ; or, at least, to wait 

 some time before he gives the fatal blow to the unhappy 

 victim he has got under him. A farmer, who the year 

 before had the misfortune to be a spectator of a lion seizing 

 two of his oxen, at the very instant he had taken them out 

 of the waggon, told me that they immediately fell down 

 dead upon the spot, close to each other; though, upon 

 examining the carcasses afterwards, it appeared that their 

 backs only had been broken. In several places through 

 which I passed, they mentioned to me by name a father 

 and his two sons, who were said to be still living, and who, 

 being on foot near a river on their estate, in search of a 

 lion, this latter had rushed out upon them, and thrown one 

 of them under his feet. The two others, however, had time 

 enough to shoot the lion dead upon the spot, which had 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



