It commits so much devastation among the herds of antelopes that roam over the plains that hunters in North and South Africa pursue him and kill him wherever he appears.
Dr. Livingstone states that the Bushmen take advantage of the torpidity of the lion after a full meal to surprise him in his slumbers. Their mode of attack differs widely from that of the fierce Arabs of North Africa. While one native discharges a poisoned arrow from a distance, his companion dexterously throws his skin coat over the animal's head. In its surprise and amazement the lion loses its presence of mind and bounds away in a panic, terrified and confused.
The poison used in the arrows of the Bushmen is obtained from a caterpillar about half an inch long. It is a very active poison, causing intense agony to any one wounded by one of these arrows. The effect on the lion is equally distressing. He can be heard moaning in distress, and finally becomes furious, biting the trees and ground in his rage and torment.
The African lion differs somewhat from the Asiatic. The latter has a more compressed form and a shorter mane; sometimes the mane is entirely wanting. Its tail, however, has a much larger tuft of hair at the end.
Africa may be said to be the chief home of the lion. It is the part of the world where his peculiar strength and beauty appear in all their perfection.
CHAPTER LX.
INCIDENTAL VIEWS OF ANIMAL LIFE.
In some parts of Africa great numbers of different kinds of mice exist. The ground is often so pierced with their burrows that the foot sinks in at every step. Little haycocks two feet high, and more than that in breadth, are made by one variety of these little animals.