106 
THE LION. 
a slave-ship having been captured, and some of its 
unfortunate inmates transferred to the ‘Ariadne 5 for 
conveyance to the Mauritius, c Prince’s ’ manners be¬ 
came quite altered. He soon tore one of the slaves 
down, and, until they were disembarked, it was 
necessary to keep him in durance vile, instead of al¬ 
lowing him to scamper about the deck like a huge 
playful cat. 
“ 4 Prince ’ had a keeper to whom he w T as much 
attached; the man got drunk one day, and as the 
Captain never forgave this crime, was ordered to be 
flogged ; the grating was rigged on the main deck, 
opposite c Prince’s ’ den, a large barred-up place, 
the pillars very strong and covered with iron. 
When the keeper began to strip, fi Prince 5 rose 
gloomily from his couch and got as near to his friend 
as possible ; on beholding the man’s bare back he 
walked hastily round the den, and when he saw the 
boatswain inflict the first lash, his eyes sparkled 
with fire, and his sides resounded with the strong 
and quick lashings of his tail; at last, when the 
blood began to flow from the unfortunate man’s back, 
and the clotted c cats ’ jerked their gory knots close 
to the lion’s den, his fury became tremendous. He 
roared with a voice of thunder, shook the strong 
bars of his prison as if they had been osiers, and 
finding his efforts to break loose unavailing, he rolled 
and shrieked in a manner the most terrific that it is 
possible to conceive. The Captain, fearing he might 
break loose, ordered the marines to load and pre¬ 
sent at 4 Princethis threat redoubled his rage, 
and at last the Captain, (whether from fear or 
