Character of the Lion. 5 
reason that a weighing machine is not found in the ordinary 
equipment of the hunter of dangerous game. This question of 
size has been the occasion of much heartburning, and one is apt 
to incur the indignation of the jealous sportsman by venturing 
on any discussion of it. With all humility, then, it may be 
stated that the dimensions of a well-grown lion may be 10ft. 
in length over all, 3ft. 8in. in height at the shoulder, and 
the weight about 5001b. Some accounts, which indicate 
much larger animals, do not, on examination, prove to be 
satisfactory. 
Like all his tribe, the lion will not waste his strength by 
downright hunting. He crawls up to his prey and secures it 
by a sudden impetuous rush, in which for the moment he puts 
out his whole energy. In the event of failure he rarely 
endeavours to follow up the quarry, but waits for another 
opportunity. Livingstone, although he was nearly killed by a 
lion, speaks with undisguised contempt of “the king of beasts,” 
as the following extracts from his travels show: 
“Tf he is encountered in the daytime he turns slowly round, 
after first gazing a second or two, walks as slowly away, 
looking over his shoulder, quickens his step to a trot till he 
thinks himself out of ‘sight, and then bounds off like a grey- 
hound. As a rule there is not the smallest danger of a lion 
which is unmolested attacking man in the light. . . . There is 
less danger of being devoured by them in Africa than of being 
run over when walking in the streets of London. .. . Nothing 
that I ever heard of the lion would lead me to attribute to it 
either the ferocious or noble character ascribed to it elsewhere. 
He chiefly preys upon defenceless creatures; and frequently, 
when a buffalo calf is caught by him, the cow rushes to the 
rescue, and a'toss from her often kills him. On the plain south 
of Sebituane’s Ford, a herd of these animals kept a number of 
lions from their young by the males turning their heads to the 
enemy. A toss, indeed, from a bull would put an end to the 
strongest lion that ever breathed.” His Majesty, according to 
the same writer, is fond of calling others to his assistance when 
