ugh not greater than that
of most large and powerful animals, is, without doubt, quite sufficient!
But he fortunately possesses a wholesome dread of man, else would he
certainly long ere now have become king of Africa as well as of beasts.
When encountered in the day-time, he usually stands a second or two
gazing, then turns slowly round and walks leisurely away for a dozen
paces or so, looking over his shoulder as he goes. Soon he begins to
trot, and, when he thinks himself out of sight, bounds off like a
greyhound. As a rule, there is not the smallest danger of a lion
attacking man by day, if he be not molested, except when he happens to
have a wife and young family with him. Then, indeed, his bravery will
induce him to face almost any danger. If a man happens to pass to
windward of a lion and lioness with cubs, both parents will rush at him,
but instances of this kind ere of rare occurrence.

It would seem that light of any kind has a tendency to scare away lions.
Bright moonlight is a safeguard against them, as well as daylight. So
well is this understood, that on moonlight nights it is not thought
necessary to tie up the oxen, which are left loose by the wagons, while
on dark rainy nights it is deemed absolutely necessary to tether them,
because if a lion chanced to be in the vicinity, he would be almost sure
to attack, and perhaps kill, an ox, notwithstanding the vigilance of
guards and the light of the camp-fires. He always approaches
stealthily, like the cat, except when wounded; but anything having the
appearance of a trap will induce him to refrain from making the last
fatal spring. This is a peculiarity of the whole feline species. It
has been found in India that when a hunter pickets a goat on a plain as
a bait, a tiger has whipped it off so quickly by a stroke of his paw
that it was impossible to take aim. To obviate this difficulty a small
pit is dug, in the bottom of which the goat is picketed, with a small
stone tied in its ear to make it cry the whole night. When the
suspicious tiger sees the appearance of a trap he walks round and round
the pit, thus giving the hunter in ambush a fair shot.

When a hungry lion is watching for prey, the sight of any animal will
make him commence stalking it. On one occasion a man was very busy
stalking a rhinoceros, when, happening to glance behind him, he found to
his consternation that a lion was _stalking him_! he escaped by
springing up a tree.

The st