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THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS OF PREY 
is of a most amiable and affectionate disposition. In default of any 
companion of his own kind he takes to human beings, roaring when 
his attendant goes away to fetch his meat, of which he consumes 
about twenty pounds daily. A hedgehog was once put into his cage 
to beguile his loneliness, but it pricked his nose, and he, therefore, 
very naturally objected to it. Then a tortoise was tried, and this 
experiment succeeded better. He played with it as a kitten plays 
with a ball, turning it over and over with his paw, and the tortoise 
had the sense to keep its head well inside its shell. He plays like 
a kitten, too, with a bell hung from the top of his cage for his enter¬ 
tainment. 
An artist had permission to paint his portrait, and he soon got 
very much attached to him. He scratched his head and tickled his 
nose, which pleased him, and in the end they became such friends 
that he startled the whole neighborhood with his roars when the 
artist left him. The first time he came to paint Goma, he sat down 
opposite the bars, with his paws crossed over his chest, and watched 
him intently. The artist tried to paint him in this attitude, but he 
would not continue it. The attitude chosen finally was his monotonous 
march to and fro in his cage. He took an interest in his picture 
to the last, but I doubt if his criticism was. altogether favorable. 
There was one person against whom he had a spite—one of the 
king’s splendid cuirassiers or guards, who would wander around in an 
amiable way and sit down opposite the cage with a newspaper. Goma 
would crouch, waiting till the man moved, when he would spring— 
vainly—against the bars of his cage. Nothing would induce him to 
crust that man, with the black moustache and suave manners, for 
doubtless he had tormented the poor caged beast on the sly. 
At the end of the season, the queen gave a select garden-party 
“to meet Goma/’ who was gracious to the guests, but forgot to 
modulate his voice, and conversed so loudly that they turned and fled. 
How a Lion Reasoned. —The following interesting story 
shows how a man with his superior powers of mind and courage can 
master even the king of beasts. 
Diederik Muller, one of the most intrepid and successful of 
modern lion-hunters in South Africa, had been out alone hunting in 
