4s A V O Y A G E to ' THE l775* dark. But as he was well acquainted with the nature of December. _ . ~ . * the lion, and the manner o f its leizmg upon its prey, and at the fame time had leifure between whiles tò ruminate On' the ways and means in which it was moft likely that his exiftence would be put an end to, he at length ’ hit on a method of faving his life, for which, in fait, he had tò thank his meditations upon death, and the final! fkill he had in zoology, (or, to fpeak plainly, his knowledge o f the nature of animals.) For this purpofe, inftead o f making the heft of his way home, he looked out for a klipkrans, (fo they generally call à rocky place level and plain at top; and having a perpendicular precipice on one fide o f it,) and fitting himfelf down on the edge o f one of thefe precipices,' he found, to-his great joy, that the lion likewife made a half, and kept the faine diftance as before. A s foon as it grew darkr the Hottentot Hiding a little forwards, let' himfelf down below the upper edge of the precipice upon fomfe projecting part or cleft of the rock, where he could, juft keep himfelf from falling. But in order to cheat Ithe lion foil more, he fet his hat and cloak on the ftickj' making with it at the fame time a gentle motion juft over his head, and a little way from the edge o f the mountain. ' | This crafty expedient had * 'the defired fuecefs. He. did not ftay long in-that iituation,'before the lion came creeping foftiy towards hirh like a cat,and miftaking the Ikin-cloak for.the Hottentot.:himfelf, took his leap with-fuch exactnefs and precilion, as to fall headlong down the precipice, directly clofe* to--theifnare which had been fet up for him;’ when the. Hottentot! ià faid; in his great joy,, exultingly to have .. called C A P E o f G O O D H O P E . 4 9 called out, fkatfi, an interjection o f very extenfive im- Be'c7emba-. port and fignification.” | _ This is not the only inftance o f lions in Africa being enfnared in the midft of their leap. In the out-houfes and wafte grounds about farms, where a lion has been upon the w a t c h f o r fome animal and miffed it, or where they have other reafons to expedl him, they fet up the figure of a man clofe by the fide o f feveral loaded guns; fo that thefe difcharge themfelves into the body o f the beaft, at the very inftant that he fprings or throws himfelf upon the drefled figure. As this is done with fo much eafe and fuccefs, and as they hardly ever think it worth while in Africa to take lions alive, they feldom give themfelves the trouble o f catching them by means o f pit-falls. From all the moft credible accounts I could collect concerning the lions, as well as from what I faw myfelf, I think I may fafely conclude, that this wild beaft is frequently a great coward; that is, very deficient in point of courage comparatively to his ftrength: on the other hand, however, he often fhews an unufual degree of intrepidity, of which I will juft mention the following inftance, as it was related to me. “ A lion had broken into a walled inclofure for cattle, through the latticed gate, and done a good deal of damage. The people belonging to the farm, were well aflured o f his coming again by the fame way ; in confequence of which, they ftretched a line directly acrofs, the entrance, fo thick fet with loaded guns, that they muft neceffarily difcharge themfelves into the lion’s body as foon as ever he ihould Come, which they firmly expected he would, to difplace V o l . II. H. the
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