his slumbers, and so made to pass from sleep to
death; but these obstacles are so many
impossibilities with which it is prudent not to contend.

M. Chassaing has been able to verify one
singular peculiarity of the lion's habits; namely,
that he swallows considerable quantities of clay,
and also of "diss," a coarse ever-green grass,
the sides of whose leaves cut like a two-edged
sword; which does not prevent its being eaten
by horses and mules. Both are no doubt taken
medicinally. The clay is his antibilious pill, the
"diss" his emetic.

In the adult state, there exist four times as
many lionesses as lions, although in youth the
balance of the sexes is pretty nearly equal. The
disturbance of the equilibrium may be attributed
to the furious battles between the males; at
the close of which, one of the rivals is almost
always left for dead, sometimes both. In fact,
the most efficient exterminators of lions are, the
lionesses. Those ladies are fond of holding soirées,
at which every gentleman present is expected
to fight for his love and his life; the survivor to
enjoy the honours of the evening in undisturbed
tranquillity. The invitation given is a passionate
roar, which attracts all the lions of the
neighbourhood. Their assemblies are sometimes even
held by day.

While following some footprints, at about
eleven in the morning, M. Chassaing reached
an eminence covered with thick brushwood.
In this retreat he suddenly caught sight of two
magnificent lionesses, and three lions, one of
whom was monstrous. This last followed one
of the lionesses step by step, keeping his
weaker rivals at a respectful distance; these
manifested their impotent rage by short, snappish,
subdued cries. The happy sultan swept round
his favourite in rapid circlings, seeming proudly
to enjoy his conquest. M. Chassaing was
considering whether he might not venture to
disturb the party, and was trying to get nearer
to the amorous couple; when, to his astonishment,
he perceived a little further off four other
lions, from two to three years of age, who,
doubting their own strength, kept their distance
from the lionesses, not daring to venture nearer.
He had the good luck to be able to gaze on this
strange tableau vivant for several minutes. Deeming
it folly to quarrel with the assembled nine,
he quietly and prudently retired from the spot.

Much has been said about lions killing men
for the sake of eating them. Our author
declares that he does not believe in spontaneous
aggression, except during the season of courtship,
when the animal is in a state of over-excitement.
A lioness, fearing danger for her cubs,
might also do the same. As to their devouring
a man after killing him, he denies the fact,
both for the lion and the panther. In a country
where wild swine and herds abound, the great
cats can never be literally famished. When a
man has been killed by a lion or a panther,
it is invariably by hyenas, tiger-cats, lynxes,
jackals, and ratons, that he is afterwards eaten.
Still, necessity knows no law; and he would
not refuse to admit, with Dr. Livingstone and
Adolphe Delegorgue, that an elderly lion,
incapable of catching boars, or leaping hedges,
might take to man-hunting, as the easiest mode
of procuring a meal. All things considered,
there is no safety in encountering any of the
great felines, and it is better to leave them
plenty of elbow-room. The Algerian lion and
panther never climb trees, like cats;
consequently, whatever may have been said, a man
perched more than four yards above the earth,
that is, beyond the reach of a bound, is perfectly
out of danger.

Lions are very numerous in Aurès and around
Batna. The mountain Bou-Arif, about twenty-
seven miles long, swarms with them to such an
extent, that, after killing fourteen, M. Chassaing
knew of twelve remaining. He makes out a,
bill of what one lion only costs his neighbours
and friends:

There is, therefore, no possibility of living in
quiet with lions. Any compromise is out of the
question. But if the end did not justify the
means—if lions were not to be exterminated
anyhow—the way in which war is made on them
can hardly be regarded as generous warfare.
Our chasseur sees a lioness whom he had already
wounded in the left fore paw, stretched in
repose on the ground, but at a considerable
distance. Nevertheless, he ventures a shot.
Instantly she makes a bound, roaring fearfully,
and in seeming search after her adversary, who
could not fire his second barrel, because, in her
advance, she cunningly kept on the right side
of an intervening thicket. Five minutes afterwards,
she continued her flight, rushing down
hill with all her remaining speed and strength.
Her enemy, after reloading, hurried off in the
same direction. Traces of blood were more
and more abundant; and, at every hundred
paces, the animal could be heard to fall and roll
on the ground. Those marks, and the wailings
which she incessantly uttered, proved both that
she was seriously wounded, and that she was
suffering considerable pain. From that moment
he was able to follow her by hearing only. He
made long circuits, in order to cut off her retreat;
but the ground was so rough, and the
brushwood so thick, that he always arrived too late.