6 Quadrupeds. 
result of any mental process. The shake annihilated 
fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at 
the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in 
all animals killed by the carnivora ; and it* so, is a mer- 
ciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening 
the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of 
the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, 
I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to 
shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His 
gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels ; the Lion 
immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit his 
thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, 
after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear 
the Lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Me- 
balwe, and caught this man by the shoulder ; but at 
that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and 
he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few 
moments, and must have been his paroxysm of dying 
rage." The interesting nature of this narrative of a 
most hair-breadth escape must be our excuse for its 
length. 
Lions have been sometimes known to attain a great 
age ; thus Pompey, a large male Lion that died, in 
1760, in the Tower of London, was upwards of seventy 
years old. The usual period, however, seldom exceeds 
twenty years. The Lion is generally represented as 
the companion of Britannia, as a national symbol of 
strength, courage, and generosity. In ancient gems, 
paintings, and statuary, his skin is the attribute of 
Hercules. In Scriptural compositions, he is painted at 
the side of the evangelist St. Mark ; and holds the fifth 
place among the signs of the zodiac, answering to the 
months of July and August. 
In the various sculptured Lions discovered by Mr. 
Layard at Nineveh in 1848, the claw in the Lion's tail 
is distinctly marked, and is represented as being of 
large size. It is, however, really a very small, dark, 
horny prickle at the tip of the fleshy part of the tail, 
and entirely hidden by the hair. 
