LION. 
209 
springs, so necessary for him to secure the active 
inhabitants of the forest, he conies boldly down 
into places more frequented, where the husbandman 
and the shepherd have their habitation, and where 
the flocks and herds take shelter under their pro- 
tection. Impelled by a hunger which nothing can 
withstand, he leaps the enclosure, and frequently 
satisfies his appetite at the expense of his life. 
A deviation so unusual in the lion’s method of 
taking his prey is mentioned by Mr. Sparrman, 
that we cannot pass it unnoticed. “ A Hottentot, 
perceiving that he was followed by a lion, and con- 
cluding that the animal only waited the approach 
of night to make him his prey, began to consider 
of the best method of providing for his safety; which 
he at length effected in the following singular man- 
ner: — Observing a piece of broken ground, with a 
precipitate descent on one side, he sat down by the 
edge of it; and found, to his great joy, that the lion 
also made a halt, and kept at the same distance as 
before. As soon as it grew dark, the Hottentot, 
sliding gently forward, let himself down a little be- 
low the edge of the hill, and held up his cloak and 
hat upon a stick, making at the same time a gentle 
motion with it : the lion, in the mean while, came 
creeping softly towards him, like a cat ; and, mis- 
taking the skin cloak for the man himself, made a 
spring and fell headlong down the precipice.” 
When the lion is merely exasperated, and not 
impelled by hunger, he will sometimes revenge 
himself upon the object of his anger without de- 
vol. 1 . p 
