230 ZOOLOGY. 



6. Felis leo, L. 



Althougli no specimens were brouglit away, a few 

 words on the Abyssinian lion may not be out of place. 

 The sportsmen of the army who went to Abyssinia with 

 the expectation of shooting large game were greatly dis- 

 appointed ; on the route selected the paucity of large 

 animals was remarkable. Not a single lion was shot by 

 any officer of the expedition, and only one or two were 

 seen. In my subsequent journey, however, to the Anseba, 

 I met with several, as related above, and aided in killing 

 one lioness. The incident has been related in a previous 

 page, and is worthy of notice, as it illustrates the bold- 

 ness of the lions. 



On the Anseba lions abounded, and the valley re- 

 sounded with their roaring every night. They were not 

 often seen, for they usually appeared to pass the day in 

 the dense thickets on the river-banks, or in the neigh- 

 bouring ravines, and they were often heard roaring in 

 these thickets towards evening. In one instance Captain 

 Mockler and I listened to one for some time, nearly an 

 hour before sunset. It was useless for us to attempt to 

 shoot him in the thicket in which he then was. The 

 Bedjuk people who were with us assured us they could 

 bring him out into the open. These people firmly believe 

 that the lion understands them when they speak to him, 

 and that if they abuse him sufficiently to make him 

 angry he wiU come out to attack them. The plan for 

 this novel lion-hunt therefore was that all should stand 

 outside the thicket, and that the Bedjuk should call him 

 names. I regret to say that the experiment was unsuc- 



