32 
THE LION. 
the claws of the animal, which had penetrated the 
skull of the unfortunate man.” 
It is a common belief that the lion only feeds on 
animals he himself has slain; but such is not the 
case, for many instances have come to my personal 
knowledge that, when half-famished, he will not only 
greedily devour the leavings of other beasts of prey, 
but even condescend to carrion. 
Animals slain by lions, it is to be observed, are 
not unfrequently found all but untouched. In locali¬ 
ties where game abounds this is easy of explanation, 
but not so where it is scarce. By some it is con¬ 
jectured that this abstinence on the part of the beast 
arises from his having, while destroying his victim, 
torn open the paunch, or stomach, the contents of 
which have come in contact with the flesh, thereby 
imparting to the latter a disagreeable odour, and 
rendering it anything but palateable. If this be 
really the fact, the lion is a much more delicate 
feeder than the natives, whom I have frequently seen 
cooking their viands in the half liquid and disagree¬ 
able matter in question. 
The quantity of flesh that a lion in a wild state 
devours at a meal is something enormous. On more 
than one occasion, I have known him to dispatch 
the greater part of a zebra in the course of the night. 
The lion eating up the lioness, as related, is another 
proof of the extraordinary capabilities of his capacious 
and elastic stomach.* 
* The regular daily allowance for a full-grown lion at the Zoolo¬ 
gical Gardens, Regent’s Park, London, is eleven pounds of meat, 
with which the animal would seem to be perfectly satisfied. But of 
