114 DEFENCE AGAINST ANIMALS OF 



ing an adventure with a lion, perhaps unparalleled 

 in the annals of hunting. 



Towards the close of the year 1823, in passing 

 over a common, I accidentally came upon two dogs. 

 One of them was a stout, ill-looking, uncouth brute, 

 apparently of that genealogy which dog-fanciers 

 term half bull and half terrier ; the other was an in- 

 significant female cur. The dog immediately bristled 

 up, and I had just time to take off my hat, and hold 

 it shield wise in self-defence, when he came on and 

 made directly at it. I gave him a hearty kick under 

 the breast, which caused him to desist for a mo- 

 ment. But he stoutly renewed the attack, which 

 was continued for above five minutes : he always 

 flying at the hat, and I regularly repeating my 

 kicks, sometimes slightly, sometimes heavily, accord- 

 ing to our relative situations. In the mean time the 

 female cur was assailing me from behind, and it was 

 with difficulty that I succeeded in keeping her clear 

 of me, by means of swinging my foot backwards at 

 her. At last, a lucky blow on her muzzle from the 

 heel of my shoe caused her to run away howling 

 and the dog immediately followed her, just at the 

 moment when two masons were coming up to assist 

 me. Thus, by a resolute opposition I escaped 

 laceration. But this little affair is scarcely worth 

 relating, except that it affords a proof of the ad- 

 vantage to be derived from resisting the attack of a 

 dog to the utmost. 



And now for the feline tribe. The story which I 

 am about to recount, will show that non-resistance 

 was the only plan to be pursued when escape from 



