housand men. A remarkable instance of this kind came
under my own observation, which confirmed the reports I had before heard
from the natives. One day, when out elephant-hunting in the territory of
the "Baseleka," accompanied by two hundred and fifty men, I was
astonished suddenly to behold a majestic lion slowly and steadily
advancing toward us with a dignified step and undaunted bearing, the
most noble and imposing that can be conceived. Lashing his tail from
side to side, and growling haughtily, his terribly expressive eye
resolutely fixed upon us, and displaying a show of ivory well calculated
to inspire terror among the timid "Bechuanas," he approached. A headlong
flight of the two hundred and fifty men was the immediate result; and,
in the confusion of the moment, four couples of my dogs, which they had
been leading, were allowed to escape in their couples. These instantly
faced the lion, who, finding that by his bold bearing he had succeeded
in putting his enemies to flight, now became solicitous for the safety
of his little family, with which the lioness was retreating in the
background. Facing about, he followed after them with a haughty and
independent step, growling fiercely at the dogs which trotted along on
either side of him. Three troops of elephants having been discovered a
few minutes previous to this, upon which I was marching for the attack,
I, with the most heartfelt reluctance, reserved my fire. On running down
the hill side to endeavor to recall my dogs, I observed, for the first
time, the retreating lioness with four cubs. About twenty minutes
afterward two noble elephants repaid my forbearance.

Among Indian Nimrods, a certain class of royal tigers is dignified with
the appellation of "man-eaters." These are tigers which, having once
tasted human flesh, show a predilection for the same, and such
characters are very naturally famed and dreaded among the natives.
Elderly gentlemen of similar tastes and habits are occasionally met with
among the lions in the interior of South Africa, and the danger of such
neighbors may be easily imagined. I account for lions first acquiring
this taste in the following manner: the Bechuana tribes of the far
interior do not bury their dead, but unceremoniously carry them forth,
and leave them lying exposed in the forest or on the plain, a prey to
the lion and hyaena, or the jackal and vulture; and I can readily imagine
that a lion, having thus once tasted human flesh