316 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



custom, followed in their wake. It is a common thing to come 

 upon a full-grown lion and lioness associating with three or four 

 large ones nearly full-grown ; at other times full-grown males wilJ 

 be found associating and hunting together in a happy state of 

 friendship : two, three, and four full-grown male lions may thus 

 be discovered consorting together. 



The male lion is adorned with a long, rank, shaggy mane, 

 which in some instances almost sweeps the ground. The coloi 

 of these manes varies, some being very dark, and others of a 

 golden yellow. This appearance has given rise to a prevailing 

 opinion among the Boers that there are two distinct varieties of 

 lions, which they distinguish by the respective names of " Schwart 

 fore life" and "Chiel fore life :" this idea, -however, is erroneous. 

 The color of the lion's mane is generally influenced by his age. 

 He attains his mane in the third year of his existence. I have 

 remarked that at first it is of a yellowish color ; in the prime of 

 life it is blackest, and when he has numbered many years, but 

 still is in the full enjoyment of his power, it assumes a yellowish- 

 gray, pepper-and-salt sort of color. These old fellows are cun- 

 ning and dangerous, and most to be dreaded. The females are 

 utterly destitute of a mane, being covered with a short, thick, 

 glossy coat of tawny hair. The manes and coats of lions fre- 

 quenting open-lying districts utterly destitute of trees, such as the 

 borders of the great Kalahari desert, are more rank and handsome 

 than those inhabiting forest districts. 



One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his 

 voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It con- 

 sists at times of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, 

 ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times he startles the 

 forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six 

 times in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third 

 or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, mufflf d 

 sounds, very much resembling distant thunder. At times, and 

 not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring in concert, one 

 assuming the lead, and two, three, or four more regularly taking 

 u* heir parts, like persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish 



