THE LION. 



301 



heard, but rarely seen ; on only two occasions its foot- 

 prints appeared upon the road. The king of beasts, 

 according to the Arabs, is of moderate stature : it 

 seldom attains its maximum of strength, stature, and 

 courage, except in plain countries where game abounds, as 

 in the lands north of the Cape, or in hills and mountains, 

 where cattle can be lifted at discretion, as in Northern 

 Africa. In Unyamwezi its spoils, which are yellow, 

 like those of the Arab lion, with a long mane, said to 

 hang over the eyes, and with a whitish tinge under the 

 jaws, become the property of the Sultan. The animal is 

 more common in the high lands of Kara^wah than in the 

 low countries ; it has, however, attacked the mbogo, or 

 wild bull, and has destroyed cattle within sight of the 

 Arabs at Kazeh in Unyanyembe. The lion is rarely a 

 man-eater ; this peculiarity, according to some writers, 

 being confined to old beasts, whose worn teeth are unfit 

 for fight. 



The "polygamous bird" was first observed on the 

 Ugogo plateau ; it extends through Unyamwezi and 

 Usukuma to Ujiji. The eggs are sold, sometimes fresh, 

 but more generally stale. Emptied and dried, they 

 form the principal circulating-medium between the 

 Arab merchants and the coffee-growing races near the 

 Nyanza Lake, who cut them up and grind them into 

 ornamental disks and crescents. The young birds are 

 caught, but are rarely tamed. In Usukuma the bright 

 and glossy feathers of the old male are much esteemed 

 for adorning the hair; yet, curious to say, the bird is 

 seldom hunted. Moreover, these East Africans have 

 never attempted to export the feathers, which, when 

 w r hite and uninjured, are sold, even by the Somal, for 8 

 dollars per lb. The birds are at once wild and stupid, 

 timid and headstrong : their lengthened strides and 



