LION-HUNTING. 



703 



keeps upon hilly ground ; but when driven into the plain, their part begins, and a new 

 combat of a no less original and dramatic character commences ; as every rider, accord- 

 ing to his zeal or courage, spurs his horse upon the monster, fires upon him at a short 

 distance, then rapidly wheels as soon as the shot is made, and reloads again, to prepare 

 for a new onset. The lion, attacked on all sides and covered with wounds, fronts 

 everywhere the enemy, springs forward, retreats, returns, and only falls after a glorious 

 resistance, which must necessarily end in his defeat and death, as he is no match for a 

 troop of well-mounted Arabs. After he has spent his power on a few monstrous 

 springs, even an ordinary horse easily overtakes him. One must have been the wit- 

 ness of such a fight, says Dumas, to form an idea of its liveliness. Every rider utters 

 loud imprecations, the white mantles that give so spectral an appearance to their dusky 

 owners, fly in the air like " streamers long and gay," the carbines glisten, the shots 

 resound, the lion roars ; pursuit and flight alternate in rapid succession Yet in spite 

 of the tumult accidents are rare, and the horsemen have generally nothing to fear but 

 a fall from their steed, which might bring them under the claws of their enemy, or, 

 what is oftener the case, the ball of an incautious comrade. 



The Arabs have noticed that the day after the lion has carried away an animal, he 

 generally remains in a state of drowsy inactivity, incapable of moving from his lair. 

 When the neighborhood, which usually resounds with his evening roar, remains quiet, 

 there is every reason to believe that the animal is gorged with his gluttonous repast. 

 Then some huntsman, more courageous than his comrades, follows his trail into the 

 thicket, levels his gun at the lethargic monster, and sends a ball into his head. Some- 

 times even, a hunter, relying on the deadly certainty of his aim, and desirous of acquir- 

 ing fame by a display of chivalrous courage, rides forth alone into the thicket, on a 

 moonlight night, challenges the lion with repeated shouts and imprecations, and lays 

 him prostrate before he can make his fatal bound. 



Dr. Livingstone informs us that the Bushmen likewise avail themselves of the tor- 

 pidity consequent upon a full meal, to surprise the lion in his slumbers : but their 

 mode of attack is very different from that practiced by the fiery Arabs of Northern 

 Africa. One discharges a poisoned arrow from the distance of only a few feet, while 

 his companion simultaneously throws his skin-cloak over the beast's head. The sudden 

 surprise makes him lose his presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest 

 confusio.n and terror. The poison which they use is the entrails of a caterpillar named 

 N'gwa, half an inch long. They squeeze out these, and place them all around the 

 bottom of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. " They are very careful 

 in cleaning their nails after working with it, as a small portion introduced into a scratch 

 acts like morbid matter in dissection wounds. The agony is so great that the person 

 cuts himself, calls for his mother's breast, as if he were returned in idea to his child- 

 hood again, or flies from human habitations. a raging maniac. The effects on the lion 

 are equally terrible. He is heard moaning in distress, and becomes furious, biting the 

 trees and ground in rage." 



The Arabs of the Atlas consider it much less dangerous to hunt the lion himself 

 than to rob him of his young. Daily about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, 

 the parent lions roam about, most likely to espy some future prey. They are seen 

 upon a rising ground surveying the encampment, the smoke arising from the tents, the 

 places where the cattle are preserved, and soon after retire with a deep growl. During 



