70 
THE LION. 
However fabulous it may appear that a lion 
should actually make his way into a dwelling house, 
there can be little doubt that this has happened. 
Once, indeed, as recorded in “ Lake Ngami,” one 
of these beasts actually found its way into the 
church at Richterfeldt. The alarm being giveu, 
the Damaras, assegai in hand, rushed to the spot, 
and seizing him by the tail and ears, dragged him 
bodily out of the sacred edifice. The poor brute 
was actually dying of starvation, and offered but a 
very feeble resistance. I myself saw his skin. 
In further proof that the lion is not at all times 
shy of approaching the abodes of men, I may men¬ 
tion, in parenthesis, that I was informed by Mr. 
Hath, the Rhenish missionary at Ricliterfeldt, in 
Damaraland, that lions, as well as other beasts of 
prey, not seldom harboured in a tamarind grove 
near at hand, and that it was no uncommon thing 
even for lions to proceed from thence into his gar¬ 
den, and to approach to within a few paces of the 
dwelling-house itself. 
In corroboration of Mr. Rath, I may here state 
that when, many years ago, Mr. Galton and myself 
were encamped near to the tamarind grove just 
spoken of, the men on a certain occasion asked and 
obtained permission to spend the evening with an 
acquaintance whose kraal was not far distant, and 
as Mr. Galton was then absent at the Mission House 
and the dogs had followed our people, I was thus 
left quite alone. The night, though somewhat 
warm, was delightfully bright and still. To enjoy 
the beautiful weather I had taken my bedding out 
