He did not feel the driver's whip, A worn-out fetter, that the soul H. W. Longfellow. COMPOUND DIVISION. (Weights and Measures.) A. 761 t. 14 cwt. 3 qrs. 27 lb. 15 oz. 14 dr. ÷ 9 ÷ 6 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 5 4 9 + HABITS OF LIONS. te-mer-i-ty, rashness gorg'-ed, filled with food des-patch', to send away, to kill oc-ca'-sion-al-ly, now and then con'-sti-tute, to make in-duce', to persuade mod'-ern, new, recent makes fun of anything in-spire', to fill the mind twad'-dle, unmeaning talk N-ga'-mi, a large lake in Central car-i-ca-ture' (n.), a picture which ques'-tion-a-ble, doubtful ma-jes'-tic, like a king When a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight of an animal may make him commence stalking it. In one case a man, while stealthily crawling towards a rhinoceros, happened to look behind him, and found to his horror a lion stalking him; he only escaped by springing up a tree like a cat. At Lopepe a lioness sprang on the after quarter of Mr. Oswell's horse, and when we came up to him we found the marks of the claws on the horse, and a scratch on Mr. O.'s hand. The horse, on feeling the lion on him, sprang away, and the rider, caught by a wait-a-bit thorn, was brought to the ground and rendered insensible. His dogs saved him. In general, the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the flank, near the hind leg, or by the throat below the jaw. It is questionable whether he ever attempts to seize the animal by the withers. The flank is the most common point of attack, and that is the part he begins to feed on first. The natives and lions are very similar in their tastes in the selection of tit-bits. The jackal comes sniffing, and sometimes suffers for his temerity, by a stroke from the lion's paw laying him dead. When gorged, the lion falls fast asleep, and is then easily despatched. Hunting a lion with dogs involves very little danger as compared with hunting the Indian tiger; because the dogs bring him out of cover, and make him stand at bay, giving the hunter plenty of time for a good deliberate shot. Where game is abundant, there you may expect lions in proportionately large numbers. They are never seen in herds, but six or eight, probably one family, occasionally hunt together. One is in much more danger of being run over when walking in the streets of London, than he is of being devoured by lions in Africa, unless engaged in hunting the animal. Indeed, nothing that I have seen heard about lions would constitute a barrier in the way of men of ordinary courage and enterprise. or The same feeling which has induced the modern painter to caricature the lion, has led the sentimentalist to consider the lion's roar the most terrific of all earthly sounds. We hear of the majestic roar of the king of beasts.' It is indeed well calculated to inspire fear, if you hear it in combination with the tremendously loud thunder of that country, on a night so pitchy dark that every flash of the intensely vivid lightning leaves you with the impression of stone-blindness, while the rain pours down so fast that your fire goes out, leaving you without the protection of even a tree, or the chance of your gun going off. But when you are in a comfortable house or waggon, the case is very different, and you hear the roar of a lion without any awe or alarm. The silly ostrich makes a noise as loud, yet he never was feared by man. To talk of the majestic roar of the lion is mere majestic twaddle. On my mentioning this fact some years ago, the assertion was doubted, so I have been careful ever since to enquire the opinions of Europeans, who have heard both, if they could detect any difference between the roar of a lion and that of an ostrich; the invariable answer was, that they could not, when the animal was at any distance. The natives assert that they can detect a variation between the commencement of the noise of each. There is, it must be admitted, considerable difference between the singing noise of a lion when full, and his deep gruff growl when hungry. In general, the lion's voice seems to come deeper from the chest than that of the ostrich ; but to this day I can distinguish between them with certainty, only by knowing that the ostrich roars by day, and the lion by night. The African lion is of a tawny colour, like that of some mastiffs. The mane of the male is large, and gives the idea of great power. In some lions the ends of the hair of the mane are black; these go by. the name of black-maned lions, though as a whole all look of the yellow tawny colour. At the time of the discovery of the lake (Ngami) Messrs. Oswell and Wilson shot two specimens of another variety. One was an old lion, whose teeth were mere stumps, and his claws were quite blunt; the other was fullgrown, in the prime of life, with white perfect teeth; both were entirely destitute of mane. The lions in the country near the lake give tongue less than those farther south. We scarcely ever heard them roar at all. The lion seldom attacks full-grown animals; but frequently when a buffalo calf is caught by him, the cow rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills him. One we found was killed thus; and on the Leeambye another, which died near Sesheke, had all the appearance of having received his deathblow from a buffalo. It is questionable if a single lion ever attacks a full-grown buffalo. The amount of roaring heard at night, on occasions when a buffalo is killed, seems to indicate there are more than one lion engaged in the onslaught. On the plain, south of Lebituane's ford, a herd of buffaloes kept a number of lions from their young by the males turning their heads to the enemy. The young and the cows were in the rear. One toss from a bull would kill the strongest lion that ever breathed. I have been informed that in one part of India even the tame buffaloes feel their superiority to some wild animals, for they have been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any elephants, except the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn by them; every living thing retires before the lordly elephant, yet a full-grown one would be an easier prey than the rhinoceros, for the lion rushes off at the mere sight of this latter beast.-LIVINGSTONE (Missionary Travels in South Africa). COMPOUND MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION. (Weights and Measures.) A. (av.) 21 t. 11 cwt. 3 qrs. 14 lbs. SONGS OF FLOWERS. bask, to be in the warmth glanc'-ing, looking suddenly ech'-o (n.) the returning of a sound co-e'-val, of the same age with fra'-grance, sweetness of smell PRIMROSE. Near to a prattling stream, Haunts that are perfum'd by me. |
