102 
THE LION. 
quarter of an hour. In the meantime, the other 
lions draw around him, and lie down at a respectful 
distance. When the chief one, or leader, has had 
his rest, he commences feeding on the abdomen 
and breast, and after making sad havoc with these, 
and the tit-bits of the carcass, he will take a second 
rest, none of the others in the interim presuming to 
move. Having had a second gorge, he retires 
finally from the victim. The other lions, intently 
watching his movements, then rush on to the re¬ 
mainder, and it is soon devoured. At other times, if 
it happens to be a young lion that seizes the prey, and 
that an older one afterwards comes up, the younger 
at once retires until the elder has dined. “ This/ 5 the 
worthy Missionary adds, c< was what Africaner called 
c better manners than those of the Namaquas. 5 55 
Lions, if captured when quite young, and treated 
with kindness, become readily domesticated, and 
greatly attached to their owners, whom they will 
follow everywhere like dogs. 
On entering, one day, the temporary hut of a 
trader, in the vicinity of Lake Ngami, I imagined I 
saw two fiery eyeballs glancing at me from under 
the bed, but at the time I took no further notice of 
the circumstance. A short while afterwards, how¬ 
ever, some natives made their appearance, when, to 
my surprise, a lion, about eight or nine months old, 
suddenly sprang forward with a growl. In making 
a similar movement from a waggon, some little time 
previously, the beast had the misfortune to tumble 
off the vehicle, and so injured his spine as to 
become a cripple for life. He was much attached 
