THE LION. 33 
that the animal to which they belonged cannot be separated 
from the existing Lion, whose range was, therefore, formerly 
very extensive. It is, however, very noteworthy that there is 
no evidence of the Lion having ever inhabited the countries 
to the eastwards of the Bay of Bengal, where the Tiger is so 
abundant ; and it may thus be concluded that while the one 
is a western and southern form, the other is an eastern and 
northern animal; the meeting-place of the two being on the 
plains of India, as the Tiger, as already mentioned, is not 
improbably a recent immigrant. 
Habits.— Distinguished from the majority of the members of 
the Cat tribe by its inability to climb, the Lion is essentially a 
noisy animal, its well-known roar being in undisturbed districts 
frequently uttered at intervals, from early evening, throughout 
the night. Even the Lion, however, learns prudence, and in 
places where they are much molested and harassed by Man, 
they roar much less frequently than elsewhere. As is well- 
known, Livingstone had no very high estimate of the impres- 
siveness of the Lion’s roar ; but his opinion is not shared by the 
majority of more recent observers. Mr. F. H. Jackson, for 
instance, in the volumes of the “ Badminton Library ” devoted 
to big game, observes that, when heard on a still night at a 
short distance, the Lion’s roar is decidedly grand, especially 
when two or more animals are uttering the sound in concert: 
Later on in the same volume, Mr. Selous writes that “there 
is no more magnificent sound in nature than the volume of 
sound produced by a party of Lions roaring in unison, that is, 
if one is fortunate enough to be very near to them. It is, 
however, a rare occurrence to hear Lions roar loudly within a 
short distance of one’s camp, and in all my experience, tho gh 
I have heard these animals roaring upon hundreds of different 
occasions, I can count the nights on the fingers of one hand 
when, all unconscious of my near vicinity, a party of several 
7 D 
