This animal stands at the head of the numerous family of cats, and has
often been ranked by naturalists as the lord of the brute creation, and
holding the same relation to quadrupeds as the eagle does to birds.
Like all the rest of his genus, the lion steals upon his prey, and,
when at a proper distance, rushes upon it with a bound, securing it in
his sharp claws. In general he is cowardly; but, in pursuit of his
prey, he is, to the last degree, fearless and ferocious. His strength
is so great that he can break a man's skull with the stroke of his paw,
and can drag the body of a cow over the ground at a gallop. His roar is
terrific, and when heard, the animals around seem agitated with the
wildest terror. The lion is common in the hot parts of Africa, and is
occasionally found in India.
_Miscellaneous Anecdotes._--Some Hottentots once perceived a lion
dragging a buffalo from the plain to a neighboring woody hill. They
soon forced him to quit his prey, in order to secure it for themselves.
They now found that the lion had had the sagacity to take out those
inner parts of the buffalo that it rejected as food, in order to make
it easier to carry away the fleshy and eatable parts of the carcass,
thus showing reflection on his part.
It is probable that the lion does not easily venture upon any one who
puts himself in a posture of defence. The following anecdote would seem
to show that this is the case. A young man was walking one day on his
lands in the southern parts of Africa, when he unexpectedly met a large
lion. Being an excellent shot, he thought himself sure of killing him,
and therefore fired. But unfortunately, the charge had been in the
piece for some time, and the ball fell before it reached the animal.
The young man, seized with panic, now took to his heels; but being soon
out of breath, and closely pursued by the lion, he jumped upon a little
heap of stones, and there made a stand, presenting the butt-end of his
gun to his adversary, fully resolved to defend his life as well as he
could.
This movement had such an effect upon the lion, that he likewise came
to a stand; and what was still more singular, laid himself down at some
paces' distance from the stones, seemingly quite unconcerned. The
sportsman, in the mean while, did not dare to stir a step from the
spot; besides, in his flight, he had lost his powder-horn. At length,
after waiting a good half hour, the lion rose up, and retreated slowly,
step by step, as if it had a mind to steal off; but as soon as it got
to a greater distance, it began to bound away with great rapidity.
It is related that Geoffrey de la Tour, one of the knights that went
upon the first crusade to the Holy Land, heard, one day, as he rode
through a forest, a cry of distress. Hoping to rescue some unfortunate
sufferer, the knight rode boldly into the thicket; but what was his
astonishment, when he beheld a large lion, with a serpent coiled round
his body! To relieve the distressed was the duty of every knight;
therefore, with a single stroke of the sword, and regardless of the
consequences to himself, he killed the serpent, and extricated the
tremendous animal from his perilous situation.
From that hour the grateful creature constantly accompanied his
deliverer, whom he followed like a dog, and never displayed his natural
ferocity but at his command. At length, the crusade being terminated,
Sir Geoffrey prepared to set sail for Europe. He wished to take the
lion with him; but the master of the ship was unwilling to admit him on
board, and the knight was, therefore, obliged to leave him on the
shore. The lion, when he saw himself separated from his beloved master,
first began to roar hideously; then, seeing the ship moving off, he
plunged into the waves, and endeavored to swim after it. But all his
efforts were in vain; and at length, his strength being exhausted, he
sank, and the ocean ingulfed the noble animal, whose unshaken fidelity
deserved a better fate.
Some years since there was, in a menagerie at Cassel, in Germany, a
large lion, whose keeper was a woman, to whom the animal seemed most
affectionately attached. In order to amuse the company, this woman was
in the habit of putting her hands, and even her head, into the lion's
mouth, without experiencing the least injury. Upon one occasion,
however, having introduced her head, as usual, between the animal's
jaws, he made a sudden snap, and killed her on the spot.
Undoubtedly, this catastrophe was unintentional on the part of the
lion; probably the hair of the woman's head irritated his throat, so as
to make him sneeze or cough. This supposition is confirmed by the
subsequent conduct of the animal; for as soon as he perceived that he
had killed his attendant, the good-tempered, grateful creature
exhibited the signs of the deepest melancholy, laid himself down by the
side of the dead body, which he would not suffer to be removed, refused
to take any food, and, in a few days, pined himself to death.
A remarkable instance of docility in a lion once took place in the
menagerie at Chester, in England. A strange keeper, having fed a
magnificent lion one evening, neglected to fasten the door of the den.
The watchman, when going his rounds about three the next morning,
discovered the king of beasts deliberately walking about the yard, and
surveying the objects with apparent curiosity. The watchman went to
call the proprietors, and when they arrived they found the lion
_couchant_ upon the top of one of the coaches in the yard. With very
little entreaty, the monarch of the forest deigned to descend from his
throne, and very graciously followed a young lady, the proprietor's
daughter, back to his den.
Some time ago, for the purpose of seeing the manner in which the lion
pounces upon his prey, a little dog was, most cruelly, thrown into the
den of one of these animals in the Tower Menagerie. The poor little
animal skulked, in terror, to the most remote corner of the lion's
apartment, who, regarding him with complacency, refrained from
approaching him. The little trembler, seeing the lion's mildness,
ventured to draw near him; and soon becoming familiar, they lived
together thenceforward in the most perfect harmony; and, although the
little dog had sometimes the temerity to dispute his share of food with
the king of the beasts, yet he magnanimously allowed him to satisfy his
appetite before he thought of making a meal himself.
A lioness in the Tower of London once formed such an attachment for a
little dog which was kept with her in the den, that she would not eat
till the dog was first satisfied. After the lioness had become a
mother, it was thought advisable to take the animal away, for fear that
her jealous fondness for her whelps might lead her to injure it. But
while the keeper was cleaning the den, the dog, by some means, got into
it, and approached the lioness with his wonted fondness. She was
playing with her cubs; and, seeing the dog approach, she sprang towards
him, and, seizing the poor little animal by the throat, seemed in the
act of tearing him to pieces; but as if she momentarily recollected her
former fondness for him, she carried him to the door of the den, and
suffered him to be taken out unhurt.
To the traveller in Africa, the lion is formidable not at night only;
he lies in his path, and is with difficulty disturbed, to allow a
passage for his wagons and cattle, even when the sun is shining with
its utmost brilliancy; or he is roused from some bushy place, on the
roadside, by the indefatigable dogs which always accompany a caravan.
Mr. Burchell has described, with great spirit, an encounter of this
nature:--
"The day was exceedingly pleasant, and not a cloud was to be seen. For
a mile or two we travelled along the banks of the river, which in this
part abounded in tall mat-rushes. The dogs seemed much to enjoy
prowling about, and examining every bushy place, and at last met with
some object among the rushes which caused them to set up a most
vehement and determined barking. We explored the spot with caution, as
we suspected, from the peculiar tone of their bark, that it was, what
it proved to be, lions. Having encouraged the dogs to drive them out, a
task which they performed with great willingness, we had a full view of
an enormous black-maned lion and lioness. The latter was seen only for
a minute, as she made her escape up the river, under concealment of the
rushes; but _the lion_ came steadily forward, and stood still to look
at us. At this moment we felt our situation not free from danger, as
the animal seemed preparing to spring upon us, and we were standing on
the bank at the distance of only a few yards from him, most of us being
on foot and unarmed, without any visible possibility of escaping.
"I had given up my horse to the hunters, and was on foot myself; but
there was no time for fear, and it was useless to attempt avoiding him.
I stood well upon my guard, holding my pistols in my hand, with my
finger upon the trigger; and those who had muskets kept themselves
prepared in the same manner. But at this instant the dogs boldly flew
in between us and the lion, and, surrounding him, kept him at bay by
their violent and resolute barking. The courage of these faithful
animals was most admirable; they advanced up to the side of the huge
beast, and stood making the greatest clamor in his face, without the
least appearance of fear. The lion, conscious of his strength, remained
unmoved at their noisy attempts, and kept his head turned towards us.
At one moment, the dogs, perceiving his eyes thus engaged, had advanced
close to his feet, and seemed as if they would actually seize hold of
him; but they paid dearly for their imprudence; for, without
discomposing the majestic and steady attitude in which he stood fixed,
he merely moved his paw, and at the next instant I beheld two lying
dead. In doing this, he made so little exertion, that it was scarcely
perceptible by what means they had been killed. Of the time which we
had gained by the interference of the dogs, not a moment was lost. We
fired upon him; one of the balls went through his side just between the
short ribs, and the blood immediately began to flow; but the animal
still remained standing in the same position. We had now no doubt that
he would spring upon us; every gun was instantly reloaded; but happily
we were mistaken, and were not sorry to see him move quietly away;
though I had hoped in a few minutes to have been enabled to take hold
of his paw without danger.
"This was considered, by our party, to be a lion of the largest size,
and seemed, as I measured him by comparison with the dogs, to be,
though less bulky, as heavy as an ox. He was certainly as long in body,
though lower in stature; and his copious mane gave him a truly
formidable appearance. He was of that variety which the Hottentots and
boors distinguish by the name of the _black lion_, on account of the
blacker color of the mane, and which is said to be always larger and
more dangerous than the other, which they call the _pale lion_. Of the
courage of a lion I have no very high opinion; but of his majestic air
and movements, as exhibited by this animal, while at liberty in his
native plains, I can bear testimony. Notwithstanding the pain of a
wound, of which he must soon afterwards have died, he moved slowly
away, with a stately and measured step."