28 
THE LION. 
aborigines of the country, who, having been scattered 
and plundered by Moselekatse, had neither herd nor 
stall, but subsisted on locusts, roots, and the chase, 
They adopted this mode of architecture to escape 
the lions which abounded in the country. During 
the day the families descended to the shade beneath 
to dress their daily food. When the inhabitants in¬ 
creased, they supported the augmented weight on 
the branches by upright sticks ; but when lightened 
of their load, they removed them for fire¬ 
wood.” 
The lion, as with others of the feline family, 
seldom attacks his prey openly, and then only when 
compelled by extreme hunger. For the most part 
he steals upon it in the manner of a cat, or ambushes 
himself near to the water, or a pathway frequented 
by game. At such times he lies crouched on his 
belly in a thicket, until the animal appoaches 
sufficiently near, when with one prodigious bound 
he pounces upon it. In most cases he is success¬ 
ful, but should his intended victim escape, as at 
times happens, from his having miscalculated the 
distance, he either makes a second, or even a third 
bound, which, however, usually proves fruitless, or 
he returns disconcerted to his hiding-place, there 
to wait for another opportunity. 
The bound of the lion, when about to seize his 
prey, is terrific. Though I for my own part should 
not have imagined it to exceed twenty-five to 
thirty feet, yet others estimate it to be very ranch 
more. “ From the spot where a noble male lion 
