LION. 
207 
he ventured to peep over the side of the nest, 
hoping that the lion had taken his departure ; when, 
to his great terror and astonishment, his eyes met 
those of the animal, to use his own expression, 
“ flashing fire at him.” In short, the lion laid him- 
self down at the foot of the tree, and stirred not 
from the place for four-and-twenty hours. He then 
returned to the spring to quench his thirst, and in- 
the mean time the Hottentot descended the tree, 
and scampered to his home, which was not more 
than a mile distant, as fast as his feet could carry 
him. The perseverance of the lion was such, that 
it appeared afterwards he had returned to the tree, 
and from thence had hunted the Hottentot by the 
scent, within three hundred paces of the house.” 
However singular it may appear, it is, according 
to our author, a fact well established, that the lion 
prefers the flesh of the Hottentot to that of any 
other creature; and frequently singles him out from 
a party of Dutch, where the want of clothing and 
the difference of colour sufficiently distinguish the 
Hottentot from the European. 
Nothing can be more dreadful than the roaring 
of the lion, which resounding through the exten- 
sive forests, in the still hour of the night, is heard 
at a very considerable distance. This deep and 
hollow roar he is said to send forth particularly be- 
fore rain. It differs from his cry of anger, which 
is still louder, and always excited by opposition, 
when he lashes his sides with his tail, and his 
bushy mane, moving in every direction, seems to 
