1I0N. 
297 
they then exert all their strength, and are some- 
times successful. We are told of the combat of 
a lion and a wild boar,, in a meadow near Algiers, 
which continued for a long time with incredible 
obstinacy. At last, both were seen to fall by 
the wounds they had given each other ; and the 
ground all about them was covered with thcif 
blood. These instances, however, are very rare, 
for the lion is in general the undisputed master 
of the forest. Man is the only creature that at- 
tacks him with almost certain success; with 
the assistance of dogs and horses, which are trained 
to the pursuit. These animals that, in a state of 
nature, would have fled from the presence of the 
lion, in an agony of consternation, when conscious 
of the assistance of man, become pursuers in their 
turn, and boldly hunt their natural tyrant. The 
dogs arc always of the large breed ; and the 
horses themselves, as Gesner assures us, must be 
of that sort called charossi , or lion-eyed, all others 
of this kind flying at the sight of a lion, and 
endeavouring to throw their riders. When the 
lion is roused, he recedes with a slow, proud 
motion; he never goes off directly forward, nor 
measures his paces equally, but takes an oblique 
course, going from one side to the other, and 
bounding rather than running. When the huin 
ters approach him, they either shoot or throw 
their javelins ; and in this manner disable him 
before he is attacked by the dogs, many of whom 
he would otherwise destroy. He is very vivacious, 
and is never killed at once, but continues to light 
desperately even after he has received his mortal 
blow. He is also taken by pit-falls ; the natives 
digging a deep hole in the ground, and covering 
it slightly over with sticks and earth ; which, 
however, give way beneath his weight, and he 
sinks to the bottom, from whence he has no meant 
vol, i, q q 
