152 HABITS OF THE LION. 



pens to cross to the windward of them, both lion and lioness 

 will rush at him, in the manner of a bitch with whelps. This 

 does not often happen, as I only became aware of two or three 

 instances of it. In one case a man, passing where the wind 

 blew from him to the animals, was bitten before he could climb a 

 tree ; and occasionally a man on horseback has been caught by 

 the leg under the same circumstances. So general, however, is 

 the sense of security on moonlight nights, that we seldom tied up 

 our oxen, but let them lie loose by the wagons ; while on a dark, 

 rainy night, if a lion is in the neighborhood, he is almost sure to 

 venture to kill an ox. His approach is always stealthy, except 

 when wounded ; and any appearance of a trap is enough to cause 

 him to refrain from making the last spring. This seems charac- 

 teristic of the feline species ; when a goat is picketed in India for 

 the purpose of enabling the huntsmen to shoot a tiger by night, 

 if on a plain, he would whip off the animal so quickly by a stroke 

 of the paw that no one could take aim ; to obviate this, a small 

 pit is dug, and the goat is picketed to a stake in the bottom ; a 

 small stone is tied in the ear of the goat, which makes him cry 

 the whole night. When the tiger sees the appearance of a trap, he 

 walks round and round the pit, and allows the hunter, who is lying- 

 in wait, to have a fair shot. 



When a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight of 

 an animal may make him commence stalking it. In one case a 

 man, while stealthily crawling toward a rhinoceros, happened to 

 glance behind him, and found to his horror a lion stalking him ; 

 he only escaped by springing up a tree like a cat. At Lopepe a 

 lioness sprang on the after quarter of Mr. Oswell's horse, and 

 when we came up to him we found the marks of the claws on 

 the horse, and a scratch on Mr. O.'s hand. The horse, on feeling 

 the lion on him, sprang away, and the rider, caught by a wait-a- 

 bit thorn, was brought to the ground and rendered insensible. 

 His dogs saved him. Another English gentleman (Captain Cod- 

 rington) was surprised in the same way, though not hunting the 

 lion at the time, but turning round he shot him dead in the 

 neck. By accident a horse belonging to Codrington ran away, 

 but was stopped by the bridle catching a stump ; there he 

 remained a prisoner two days, and when found the whole space 

 around was marked by the footprints of lions. They had evi- 



