THE LION. 4$§

animals which seek their food in the dark, the eye is usually
of a large size, to admit a great number of rays. This
peculiar kind of eye, therefore, is necessary to the Lion to
perceive his prey, and he creeps towards it with a certainty
which nothing but this distinct nocturnal vision. could give.”
Men who hunt the lion in the daytime, when he is usually
sleeping off the effects of a hearty meal, and who awaken
him in a surprised and dazed condition when his cat-like eyes
cannot bear the blaze of the sun, ought not to be surprised
if he tries to postpone fighting until a more convenient season.
Nor can he be said to be less noble because he only fights
when it is necessary to procure food, to protect his young,
and to defend himself. A veritable Ulysses among the
beasts he is ready to fight if needs be, but unless urged by
hunger, or attacked by the hunter, he does not seem to bear
any particular malice against mankind.

The Lion's “it is singular,” says Sparrman, “that the lion,

Attitude which, according to many, always kills his prey
towards Man. immediately if it belongs to the brute creation,
is reported, frequently, although provoked, to content himself
with merely wounding the human species; or, at least, to wait
some time before he gives the fatal blow to the unhappy
victim he has got under him. A farmer, who the year
before had the misfortune to be a spectator of a lion seizing
two of his oxen, at the very instant he had taken them out
of the waggon, told me that they immediately fell down
dead upon the spot, close to each other; though, upon
examining the carcasses afterwards, it appeared that their
backs only had been broken. In several places through
which I passed, they mentioned to me by name a father
and his two sons, who were said to be still living, and who,
being on foot near a river on their estate, in search of a
lion, this latter had rushed out upon them, and thrown one
of them under his feet. The two others, however, had time
enough to shoot the lion dead upon the spot, which had