The accounts published respecting the character of lions differ to such a degree that incidents which are considered natural in one portion of Africa may be regarded as incredible in other districts; there can be little doubt that the character of the animal is influenced by the conditions of its surroundings, which renders it extremely difficult to write a comprehensive account, that will embrace the entire family of lions throughout the world. Roualeyn Gordon Cumming gave a terrible description of a night attack upon his camp, when a lion bounded over the thorn fence, and seizing a sleeping servant from beneath his blanket close to the camp fire, carried him off into the surrounding darkness, and deliberately devoured every portion, excepting one leg, which was found on the following morning, bitten off at the knee-joint. This was the more extraordinary, as another man was at the same time asleep under the blanket with the unfortunate victim; this courageous fellow snatched a heavy firebrand from the pile, and beat the lion on the head in the endeavour to save his friend. Instead of relinquishing its prey, the lion dragged the man only a short distance, and commenced its meal so immediately that the cracking of bones could be heard throughout the night. In southern Africa a night attack by lions upon the oxen belonging to the waggons is by no means uncommon, in books published concerning expeditions to that country, but in nine years' experience of camp life in Africa, both equatorial and to 14 degrees north of the equator, I have never even heard of any actual depredation committed by lions upon a camp or upon a night's bivouac; the nearest approach was the threatening nocturnal visit already described, where no actual damage was inflicted. There is an instinct natural to all animals which gives them due warning whether man approaches them with hostile intent, and there can be no doubt that every wild animal possesses this discriminating power, and would be influenced according to circumstances. My own experience has led me to an opinion that the lion is not so dangerous as the tiger, although, if wounded and followed up, there cannot be a more formidable antagonist.