erence or
contempt; neither their number, nor their horrid shouts, nor the glitter
of their radiant arms, can daunt him for an instant. At length he begins
to lash his sides with his long and nervous tail--a certain sign of
rising rage--his eyes sparkle with destructive fires; and if the number
of the hunters is very great, he perhaps moves slowly on. But this he is
not permitted to do; a javelin thrown at him from behind wounds him in
the flank, and compels him to turn. Then you behold him roused to fury
and desperation: neither wounds, nor streaming blood, nor a triple row
of barbed spears, can prevent him from springing upon the daring Black
who has wounded him. Should he reach him in the attack, it is certain
death; but generally the hunter, who is at once contending for glory and
his own life, and is inured to danger, avoids him by a nimble leap; and
all his companions hasten to his assistance. Thus is the lion pressed
and wounded on every side; his rage is ineffectual, and only exhausts
his strength the faster; a hundred wounds are pouring out his blood at
once; and at length he bites the ground in the agonies of death, and
yields the victory, though unconquered. When he is dead, he is carried
back in triumph by the hunters, as a trophy of their courage. All the
village rushes out at once; the young, the old, women and children,
uttering joyful shouts, and praising the valour of their champions. The
elders admire his prodigious size, his mighty limbs, his dreadful fangs,
and perhaps repeat tales of their own exploits; the women seem to
tremble at their fierce enemy, even in his death, while the men compel
their children to approach the monster and tinge their little weapons in
his blood. All utter joyful exclamations, and feasts are made in every
house, to which the victors are invited as the principal guests. These
are intended at once to reward those who have performed so gallant an
achievement, and to encourage a spirit of enterprise in the rest of the
nation."

"What a dreadful kind of hunting must this be!" said Tommy; "but I
suppose if any one meets a lion alone, it is impossible to resist him."

"Not always," answered the Black: "I will tell you what I once was
witness to myself. My father was reckoned not only the most skilful
hunter, but one of the bravest of our tribe; innumerable are the wild
beasts which have fallen beneath his arm. One evening, when the
inhabitants of the whole village were assembled