nearly
half that distance. The yager was also aimed. Both cracked together.
The lion's eyes suddenly closed, his head shook convulsively, his paw
dropped loose over the capstone, his jaws fell open, and blood trickled
down his tongue. In a few moments he was dead!

This was apparent to every one. But Swartboy was not satisfied, until
he had discharged about a score of his arrows at the head of the animal,
causing it to assume the appearance of a porcupine.

So tightly had the huge beast wedged himself, that even after death he
still remained in his singular situation.

Under other circumstances he would have been dragged down for the sake
of his skin. But there was no time to spare for skinning him; and
without further delay, Von Bloom and his companions mounted their horses
and rode off.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A TALK ABOUT LIONS.

As they rode back they conversed about lions, to beguile the time. All
of them knew something about these animals; but Swartboy, who had been
born and brought up in the bush, in the very midst of their haunts as it
were, of course was well acquainted with their habits--ay, far better
than Monsieur Buffon himself.

To describe the personal appearance of a lion would be to waste words.
Every one of my readers must know the lion by sight, either from having
seen one in a zoological collection, or the stuffed skin of one in a
museum. Every one knows the form of the animal, and his great shaggy
mane. Every one knows, moreover, that the lioness is without this
appendage, and in shape and size differs considerably from the male.

Though there are not two _species_ of lions, there are what are termed
_varieties_, but these differ very little from each other--far less than
the varieties of most other animals.

There are seven acknowledged varieties. The Barbary lion, the lion of
Senegal, the Indian lion, the Persian, the yellow Cape, the black Cape,
and the maneless lion.

The difference among these animals is not so great, but that at a glance
any one may tell they were all of one species and kind. The Persian
variety is rather smaller than the others; the Barbary is of darker
brown and heavily maned; the lion of Senegal is of light shining yellow
colour, and thinly maned; while the maneless lion, as its name imports,
is without this appendage. The existence of the last species is doubted
by some naturalists. It is said to be found in Syria.

The two Cape lions differ princip