CHAPTER VII 
MAN-EATING LIONS 
People living in the perfect safety of their homes 
in a civilized country have no conception of the 
insecurity that is felt by natives in their kraals in the 
interior of Africa. The cause of this feeling of in¬ 
security is chiefly the man-eating lion, and no other 
animal of the forest inspires such terror into the black 
man’s heart. Naturally, there is a reason for this. 
In those villages, far in the heart of the pori, where 
the white man is never seen, not hundreds but thou¬ 
sands of natives are annually killed by these 
monsters. 
In nearly all cases, the man-eater is an animal well 
on in years. He has lost his youthful strength and 
agility and the capture of wild game for food has 
become for him a difficult task. He, therefore, 
adds man to his diet, because the latter is easier to 
procure ; and he appears to be well aware that the 
natives fear him and are comparatively helpless 
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