The Lion, however, is not disposed to remain long with an empty stomach. Then it is that he approaches Man’s habitations, with the hope of surprising the domestic animals. Fences ten feet in height form no obstacle to him, for he will bound over such with ease, when, falling into the midst of the herd, he seizes the nearest. The amount of strength which he manifests under circumstances similar to these is really extraordinary. A Lion has been known, at the Cape of Good Hope, to carry off a small Cow as a Cat would a Mouse, and, with the burden, leap a wide ditch. It is almost impossible to conceive the muscular force necessary to jump a fence several feet high when carrying a load of several hundred-weight. The audacity of the Lion increases in proportion to his requirement. When he has exhausted all means of procuring subsistence, and when he can no longer put off the cravings of hunger, he sets no limit to his aggressions, and will brave every danger rather than perish by famine. In open day he will then proceed to where the herds of Oxen and Sheep pasture, entirely disregarding Shepherds and Dogs. At such times he has been known to carry his rashness so far as to attack a drove of Buffaloes—an action which is all the bolder as a single one, unless it is taken by surprise, is well able to defend itself. The Lion seems to delight in the tempests of wind and rain, so common in Southern Africa; his voice mingles with the thunder, and adds to the terror of the timid animals, on whom he then boldly advances. He usually, however, waits in ambush, or creeps insidiously towards his victim, which with a bound and a rush he dashes to the earth. “In South Africa,” says Capt. Burton, “the Lion is seldom seen, unless surprised asleep in his lair of thicket; during my journey I saw but one, although at times his roaring was heard at night. Except in darkness or during violent storms, which excite the fiercer Carnivora, he is a timid animal, much less feared by the people than the angry and agile Leopard. When encountered in the daytime, he stands a second or two gazing; then turns slowly round and walks as slowly away for a dozen paces, looking over his shoulder; he then begins to trot, and when he thinks himself out of sight bounds like a Greyhound.”