EOAli Ob 1 THE LION. 11 



hearing is very acute, but his sense of smell would 

 not appear to be very nice. Indeed, to judge by 

 Gerard's adventures with the beast, which, by his 

 account, often approached to within a very few 

 paces of him. without being at all aware of his pre- 

 sence, it would not seern as if his olfactory nerves 

 served him in any very great stead. 



The roar of the lion perhaps one of the most 

 remarkable characteristics, so to say, of the animal 

 is fearful, and when heard in the night time, 

 whether in the desert or the forest, impresses 

 one with something like awe. It much resembles 

 distant thunder. The Arabs of Northern Africa 

 have, indeed, only a single word to express his 

 voice, and that is Rad, or thunder. 



When, however, people speak of the roar of the 

 lion, it is to be presumed they have in their mind's 

 eye the low, hollow, and half suppressed sigh, or 

 groan, that one so often hears in menageries. The 

 roar of the animal in its wild state is something very 

 different, and is truly terrific and appalling. But 

 it is seldom heard in all its intensity ; indeed, a 

 friend of mine, who frequently hunted the beast in 

 Southern Africa, only remembers hearing it twice, 

 and I, for my part, on not more than half-a-do/en 

 occasions. The lion's roar, however, even under 

 the mildest form, is most impressive and has not 

 been inaptly likened to the efforts " to disgorge 

 something from the throat." 



The impression made on my own mind by the 

 lion's roar would seem to have been in great 

 measure shared by other travellers, who, as my- 



