OBDER OF CARNIVORA. 
345 
There is one important fact which has several times been 
observed. When the Lion is hungry or irritated, he flogs his 
sides with his tail and shakes his mane. If, therefore, a traveller 
finds himself unexpectedly in the presence of a Lion, he may know 
the brute’s intentions, and can take precautions accordingly. If 
the tail does not move, the animal may be passed without fear ; 
not only will he not spring upon you, hut throwing a stone at him 
will suffice to drive him away. Under the reverse circumstances, 
no time must he lost in seeking a place of refuge, unless you are 
in a position to commence a contest with your arms, and then the 
more prompt and determined your action, the more successful will 
be the issue. 
Because the Lion seldom attacks any living creature when 
his appetite is satisfied, and because he is content with one victim 
at a time, some people have fancied that he is magnanimous. 
We might as well praise the abstemiousness of a man who has 
well fed. But few animals kill for the mere pleasure of killing. 
If some of the Carnivora appear to contradict this, it may be 
because we are unable to appreciate their motives ; with the 
progress of knowledge, their true characters may in future be 
better understood. It is also at present impossible for us to say 
that the Lion is less irritable than other quadrupeds. The 
“ King of Beasts,” moreover, does not fear Man ; nevertheless, he 
treats him with respect, only attacking him in a case of urgent 
necessity, such as suffering from long abstinence, without a 
prospect of food. Numerous testimonies vouch for the correct- 
ness of this statement. 
“We arrived one day,” says Delegorgue, “where the Caffirs 
and their families, although deprived of firearms, traversed the 
localities where these animals roam, the presence of Lions being 
to them no cause for alarm. And there is a reason for this : 
either from motives of cunning, or through timidity, this terrible 
animal, when surprised, and hunger does not excite him, takes 
to flight at the sight of a Man or Child, and even retires when 
the wind carries the sound of human voices to him. These habits, 
which appear to be determined by a feeling of caution, are well 
known to the experienced.” 
One day Sparrmann and his companions saw before them, at two 
or three hundred paces distant, two large Lions, which fled as 
