THE LION— KING OF BEASTS 



some of which had already observed him, although they 

 did not seem to mind him in the least. 



According to my own limited experience with lions, 

 having in all killed but six, and perhaps only seen seven 

 or eight more, I must say that I do not admire their 

 courage, unless they are both wounded and cornered. Five 

 full-grown lions, which I once saw lying on some flat 

 rocks, unfortunately jumped down and disappeared into 

 the high grass before it was possible for me to fire. I then 

 shot a few times into the moving grass in the hope that by 

 possibly wounding one of them it might charge down on 

 me, and so give me the chance of a shot at close quarters, 

 but, alas ! nothing of the kind happened. 



Much has been said and written about the roaring of 

 the lion, some holding the view that the lion only roars 

 after it has killed its prey, and when wounded or cornered, 

 and when prepared to charge. Others again affirm that 

 the lion also often roars before it kills its prey. In locali- 

 ties where it has not been much disturbed by hunters 

 the lion's roar may be heard at all times of the day. Per- 

 sonally, I am inclined to join the latter's opinion, for I 

 have at least twice heard lions roar just after sunset, 

 and in both cases I was in the position of knowing that 

 they had not yet killed their prey. Lions often hunt in 

 company with each other, and are then evidently roaring 

 to confuse the game, and thus drive it in a certain desired 

 direction, where other " quiet " lions lie in wait. 



Once I was hunting on the Loita plains, and seeing a 

 " donga " — i. e., a great many trees strung out along some 

 water course — I decided to go through the same for some 

 distance with the view of possibly putting up a lion or 



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