AFRICA is the land of the Lion.

Here for centuries he has reigned supreme, and even at the present day lions are very numerous in the interior.

The lion is essentially an animal of the night. He is seldom seen abroad till twilight sets in. He is lazy and indolent, and hardly ever hunts for his prey; he prefers to be in ambush, near some beaten track, till some unwary animal comes within his reach, when he springs upon it with one prodigious bound, and dashes it to the earth.

Except in darkness or during violent thunderstorms, he is a timid animal, and less to be feared. than the angry and agile leopard. If attacked,

however, he will fight fiercely, dealing death and destruction among his pursuers..

The great African missionary, the late Dr. Livingstone, thus describes an attack of a lion on himself:

"Being about thirty yards off the foe, I took a good aim at his body, through the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out: 'He is shot! he is shot!' others cried, 'He has been shot by another man too; let us go to him!' I did not see any one else shoot at him; but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger behind the bush, and, turning to the people, said, 'Stop a little till I load again.' When in the act of ramming down the bullets, I heard a shout.

"Starting and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height. He caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain or feeling of terror. It was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the 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, if so, is a merciful provision by our beneficent 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 the distance of 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 Mebalwe and caught this man by the shoulder; but at that moment the bullets he had received had taken effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysm of dying rage.

In order to take out the charm from him, the Bakatla, on the following day, made a huge bonfire over the carcase, which they declared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth-wounds in the upper part of my arm."

The following "Adventure with Lions," told by the celebrated traveller, Andersson, also testifies to the dangers of lion-hunting :

"I was staying with some friends in the interior, when one night several oxen were carried off by lions.

"Next morning a hunt was got up, and the enemy, a family of no fewer than five lions, was discovered in a dense thicket of weeds. To these we set fire, and at length the lions dashed out. Four of them escaped, but one took refuge in another patch of green reeds. I fired at this lion as it passed, but unfortunately wounded my favourite dog.

"Having rescued the dog at considerable risk to myself, we set fire to the second patch of reeds, and waited for the exit of the lion.

"Presently out he dashed into the open, and to my surprise all my companions, save one, took to their heels; and this one was too terrified with his first sight of a wild lion to attempt to escape. The lion crouched to make a spring at the terrified man, when I fired, but only wounded the beast.

Quick as thought, the enraged animal left his first intended victim, and turned with a ferocious growl upon me. To escape was impossible: I thrust therefore the muzzle of my gun into the jaws opened to devour me. In a moment the weapon was demolished; my fate seemed inevitable; when my friend fired, and broke the lion's shoulder. He fell, and, taking advantage of the incident, I scampered away at full speed.

"But my assailant had not yet done with me. Unhappily as I ran a creeper caught my foot, and I fell. In another instant the lion had got hold of my right foot. Finding, however, my left foot disengaged, I gave the brute a severe kick on the head, which compelled him for a few seconds