THE LION 
FELIS LEO 
' ' % LTHOUGH, with the spread of civilization, and all that 
that word implies, the range of the lion in Africa is 
I yk gradually becoming more and more restricted, no very 
f long period of time has elapsed since this magnificent 
i animal was an inhabitant of every portion of that vast 
continent, suited to its habits, from Cape Agulhas to the 
shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 
There is an entry in the diary of van Riebeek, the first Dutch Governor 
of the Cape Colony, which might have been repeated by several of the 
Governors of British East Africa when residing at Nairobi only a few 
years ago. The entry referred to reads: “ This night the lions roared as if 
they would take the fort by storm.” Just two hundred and sixty years have 
passed since van Riebeek wrote those words on the site of the present 
city of Cape Town, but one must travel many hundreds of miles from that 
busy centre of civilization before there is any possibility of hearing a wild 
lion roaring to-day. Lions still sometimes roar at nights in the near 
vicinity of Nairobi, but two centuries hence, when that fast-rising township 
has in its turn grown into a great city, one wonders if there will still be 
any wild country, any wild game, or any wild lions left in any part of 
Africa. 
That, however, is a question for the future to determine, and at the 
present day lions may be met with in almost every part of Africa where 
game is still sufficiently plentiful to afford them a living. Where there is 
much game there will be many lions, and even where game is very scarce 
and scattered it is never safe to assume that lions are altogether absent. 
When travelling with horses, donkeys or cattle in almost any part of the 
interior of Africa, it is, indeed, always well to remember the possibility 
of lions being about, and to take every precaution for the safety of one’s 
live-stock at nights; for where game is scarce, lions are often very hungry, 
and, therefore, ready to attack any animal, tame or wild, which may come 
in their way, and the boldness and determination of a really hungry lion 
under cover of darkness is almost beyond belief. 
Both lions and lionesses may sometimes be met with living alone, 
but more often these great carnivora live in families. Some lions are 
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