l8o CARNIVORA. 



dreadful than the lion preparing for combat ; he lashes himself with his 

 tail, his mane becomes erect, and envelops the whole head, his enormous 

 eyebrows half conceal his flashing eyes, while he protrudes claws as long 

 as a man's finger. It has often been doubted whether the end of the lion's 

 tail was armed with a claw as Aristotle described it ; but the existence 

 of a strange appendage is demonstrated by Mr. Bennett, who exhibited a 

 claw-like formation taken from the tail of a specimen living in the Lon- 

 don Zoological Gardens : it was about a third of an inch in length, solid 

 for the most part, sharp at the apex, and hollowed out at the base. 



The roar of the lion has passed into a proverb ; when heard within 

 a distance of a mile or two during the silence of the night, it awes all 

 living creatures. Not knowing whence the sound proceeds, they leave 

 their lairs, and in the confusion one or two will probably pass within 

 reach of his spring. Livingstone, however, affirms that the roar of the 

 lion ma}' be mistaken for the cry of the ostrich, and that the voice of the 

 •jstrich has never frightened anything. Both Europeans and natives 

 told him that the sounds were indistinguishable, and that the only differ- 

 ence is that one is heard by day, the other by night. Figuier suggests 

 that the lion of the British possessions may roar "like a sucking-dove," 

 but that the lion of the French colony has a much more powerful voice. 



The lioness produces from two to five cubs at a birth, and is a devoted 

 mother, defending them from all aggressors, among whom their majestic 

 father is numbered, for the " King of Beasts," like the Tom cat of our 

 homes, devours his helpless offspring as soon as they come into the 

 world. 



As a rule the necessity of procuring food prevents lions from assem- 

 bling in large numbers, but Livingstone asserts that troops of six or eight 

 have been seen. These were probably two lionesses with their cubs. 

 Delegorgue relates that in winter twenty to thirty lions have been seen 

 to assemble and drive their prey into narrow passes. Five have been 

 seen in the chase of one giraffe, two pulling the victim down, the others 

 waiting close by. These also were probably two females with their 

 families. 



Generally the lion does not hunt during the day ; not that his eyes 

 are unfitted for diurnal vision, but indolence and prudence keep him at 

 home till evening. When the first shadows of twilight appear, he enters 

 upon his campaign. If there is a pool in the vicinity of his haunt, he 

 places himself in ambush on the edge of it, with the hope of securing a 



