234 
THE LION. 
on the contrary, in many respects useful. In truth, 
from the manner in which these men hunt, which 
insures neither certain nor great results, they are 
often compelled to seek their subsistence in woods. 
The lion leaves after him ample fragments, which 
are by no means to be despised; and every morn¬ 
ing these are indicated by the vultures, who are 
sure pilots. The cloaks of most of the Mahaschee 
are made of the skins of the beast’s victims, which 
are rendered supple by means of the marrow ex¬ 
tracted from their bones; whilst the men themselves 
feed on the flesh. Hence these people shewed no 
desire to assist me in ridding the country of their 
formidable neighbours, whose services they prized.” 
Then again, it is said, the lion is a benefactor in 
this way; that, were he not to keep down the nu¬ 
merous granivorous animals that roam over the 
boundless savannahs of Southern Africa, little herb¬ 
age would remain for the cattle belonging to the 
colonists and natives. On this subject, Delegorgue 
expresses himself very strongly. 
“ In point of fact,” such are his words, ce the 
lion in these wilds is of incontestable utility, and I 
prove it thus : that if from Drakensberg, the source 
of the Yaal River, to the tropic of Capricorn, not a 
lion existed, it is very certain that the herds of 
gnoos and quaggas, already far too numerous, would 
multiply in a frightful proportion. It would require 
only ten years, and the pastoral people would not find 
a blade of grass for their cattle .... There were 
so many lions when I crossed from the Elands 
River to the Yaal River, that almost every day we 
