94 HABITS OF THE LION. Chap. VIL 



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. It ie 

 questionable if a single beast ever engages a full-grown buffalo, 

 for when one falls a victim the amount of roaring seems to 

 indicate that there has been a league to effect the slaughter. 

 Messrs. Oswell and Vardon once saw three lions combine to 

 pull a buffalo down, and they could not accomplish it without 

 a struggle, though he was mortally wounded by a two-ounce 

 ball. I have been informed that in India even the tame buf- 

 faloes will chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they 

 enj'03-ed the sport. The calves of elephants are sometimes torn 

 by lions, but every living thing retires before the lordly 

 parent, though even a full-grown specimen would be an easier 

 {17) prey than the rhinoceros. The mere sight of the latter is 

 sufficient to make the lion rush away. Yet of his great 

 strength there can be no doubt. The immense masses oi 

 muscle around his jaws, shoulders, and forearms, proclaim 

 tremendous force, but he seems in this respect to be inferioi 

 to the Indian tiger. When ho performs such feats as taking 

 away an ox he does not carry the carcase, but drags it along 

 the ground. 



It is doubtful whether the lion ever attempts to seize an 

 animal by the withers, and he seldom mounts on its hind- 

 quarters. He either springs at the throat below the jaw or 

 flies at the flank. The last is the most common point of attack, 

 and it is the part he begins to feast on first. An eland may 

 be seen disembowelled so completely, that he scarcely seems 

 cut up at all. The entrails and fatty parts form a full meal 

 for even the largest lion. When gorged, he falls fast asleep, 

 and is then easily despatched. He sometimes lays dead the 

 jackal b} r a stroke from his paw as he comes sniffing about 

 the prey. 



Where game is abundant, lions may be expected in propor- 

 tion. They are never seen in herds, but six or eight, who arc 

 probably of one family, occasionally hunt together. There is 

 less danger of being devoured by them in Africa than of being 

 run over when walking in the streets of London. Hunting 

 them with dogs involves little peril when compared with 

 hunting the tiger in India, for the dogs drive them from trie 



