IX 
THE LION 
335 
where he found the lioness in the same position. 
Naturally he considered that it was dead, but upon 
approaching the prostrate body he was instantly 
attacked, knocked down, and seized by the back ; 
he would assuredly have been killed had he not 
been assisted by his followers. Although he killed 
the lioness, he was seriously mauled, and was laid 
up for a considerable period in consequence. 
It would be easy to produce cases where lions 
have caused terrible fatalities, and others where 
they have failed to support their reputation for 
nobility and valour ; but as I have already observed, 
there is no absolute certainty or undeviating rule 
in the behaviour of any animal. The natives of 
Central Africa, who are first-rate sportsmen, have 
no fear of the lion when undisturbed by hunters, 
but they hold him in the highest respect when he 
becomes the object of the chase. I have known 
a lion which, when stopped by the nets in one of the 
great African hunts, knocked over five men, all of 
whom were seriously wounded, and, although it was 
impaled by spears, it succeeded in evading a crowd 
of its pursuers. 
Stories of lions are endless, and were they com¬ 
piled, a most interesting work might result, but my 
object in producing a few anecdotes, mostly of my 
own personal experience, is to elucidate the character 
of the animals by various examples, which prove the 
impossibility of laying down any fixed or invariable 
rule. 
There can be no doubt that the mode of hunting 
