other words, in my opinion, the lion avoids trouble when he can, not
from cowardice but from essential indolence or good nature; but does not
need to be cornered* to fight to the death when in his mind his dignity
is sufficiently assailed.

* This is an important distinction in estimating the inherent
courage of man or beast. Even a mouse will fight when
cornered.

For of all dangerous beasts the lion, when once aroused, will alone face
odds to the end. The rhinoceros, the elephant, and even the buffalo can
often be turned aside by a shot. A lion almost always charges home.*
Slower and slower he comes, as the bullets strike; but he comes, until
at last he may be just hitching himself along, his face to the enemy,
his fierce spirit undaunted. When finally he rolls over, he bites the
earth in great mouthfuls; and so passes fighting to the last. The death
of a lion is a fine sight.

* I seem to be generalizing here, but all these conclusions
must be understood to take into consideration the liability
of individual variation.

No, I must confess, to me the lion is an object of great respect; and
so, I gather, he is to all who have had really extensive experience.
Those like Leslie Tarleton, Lord Delamere, W. N. MacMillan, Baron von
Bronsart, the Hills, Sir Alfred Pease, who are great lion men, all
concede to the lion a courage and tenacity unequalled by any other
living beast. My own experience is of course nothing as compared to that
of these men. Yet I saw in my nine months afield seventy-one lions. None
of these offered to attack when unwounded or not annoyed. On the other
hand, only one turned tail once the battle was on, and she proved to be
a three quarters grown lioness, sick and out of condition.

It is of course indubitable that where lions have been much shot they
become warier in the matter of keeping out of trouble. They retire to
cover earlier in the morning, and they keep more than a perfunctory
outlook for the casual human being. When hunters first began to go into
the Sotik the lions there would stand imperturbable, staring at the
intruder with curiosity or indifference. Now they have learned that
such performances are not healthy-and they have probably satisfied
their curiosity. But neither in the Sotik, nor even in the plains around
Nairobi itself, does the lion refuse the challenge once it has been put
up to him squarely. Nor does he need to be cornered. He charges in q