8 
THE LION. 
in countries bordering on the torrid zone. In parts 
of Southern Africa they are also very numerous, as 
what follows will shew :— 
ce These rocks and vales and picturesque scenes,” 
says Moffatt, when describing one of his journeys 
in the interior, “ were often vocal with the lion’s 
roar. It was a country once covered with a dense 
population ; on the sides of the hills and Kashan 
Mountains were towns in ruins, where thousands 
once made the country alive, amidst fruitful vales 
now covered with luxuriant grass, inhabited by 
game. The extirpating invasions of the Mantaties 
and Matabele had left to beasts of prey the undis¬ 
puted right of these lovely woodland glens. The 
lion, which had revelled on human flesh, as if con¬ 
scious there was none to oppose him, roamed at 
large, a terror to the traveller, who often hears 
with dismay his mighty roaring echoed back by the 
surrounding hills.” 
Elsewhere, when speaking of a wild and desolate 
region that he was traversing, the worthy Mis¬ 
sionary writes :—“ The number of lions hereabouts 
may be easily accounted for, when it is remem¬ 
bered how thinly scattered are the inhabitants; 
and, indeed, the whole appearance of the country 
impresses the mind with the idea that it is only fit 
for beasts of prey.” 
And further on, when speaking of the Chuenyane 
Mountains, he says :—“ The number of lions here 
was fearful. . . . During the night we heard their 
roar from every point of the compass,” 
Then, again, we are told by M. Delegorgue, the 
