ffalo, which in
size and strength greatly surpasses the most powerful breed of English
cattle: the lion also preys on all the larger varieties of the
antelopes, and on both varieties of the gnoo. The zebra, which is met
with in large herds throughout the interior, is also a favorite object
of his pursuit.

Lions do not refuse, as has been asserted, to feast upon the venison
that they have not killed themselves. I have repeatedly discovered lions
of all ages which had taken possession of, and were feasting upon, the
carcasses of various game quadrupeds which had fallen before my rifle.
The lion is very generally diffused throughout the secluded parts of
Southern Africa. He is, however, nowhere met with in great abundance, it
being very rare to find more than three, or even two, families of lions
frequenting the same district and drinking at the same fountain. When a
greater number were met with, I remarked that it was owing to
long-protracted droughts, which, by drying nearly all the fountains, had
compelled the game of various districts to crowd the remaining springs,
and the lions, according to their custom, followed in the wake. It is a
common thing to come upon a full-grown lion and lioness associating with
three or four large young ones nearly full-grown; at other times,
full-grown males will be found associating and hunting together in a
happy state of friendship: two, three, and four full-grown male lions
may thus be discovered consorting together.

The male lion is adorned with a long, rank, shaggy mane, which in some
instances, almost sweeps the ground. The color of these manes varies,
some being very dark, and others of a golden yellow. This appearance has
given rise to a prevailing opinion among the boers that there are two
distinct varieties of lions, which they distinguish by the respective
names of "Schwart fore life" and "Chiel fore life:" this idea, however,
is erroneous. The color of the lion's mane is generally influenced by
his age. He attains his mane in the third year of his existence. I have
remarked that at first it is of a yellowish color; in the prime of life
it is blackest, and when he has numbered many years, but still is in the
full enjoyment of his power, it assumes a yellowish-gray,
pepper-and-salt sort of color. These old fellows are cunning and
dangerous, and most to be dreaded. The females are utterly destitute of
a mane, being covered with a short, thick, glossy coat of tawny hair.
The