THE VOICE OF THE LION. 395 



a large wagon, inserted his horn between the spokes of 

 the wheel, and instantly overturned it, scattering the 

 contents far and wide, and afterwards injuring the 

 vehicle to such an extent as to render it useless. 



The lion is not tied to time in drinking. After it 

 feeds it comes to water, but it never would dare to inter- 

 fere with the rhinoceros or the elephant. Where the 

 buffalo exists in numbers it is the principal prey of the 

 lion ; in other localities antelope and chiefly the zebra are 

 its food. 



A strange circumstance connected with the lion is, 

 that it is almost impossible to tell where he is when you 

 hear his voice. When roaring loudly he places his head 

 to the ground, gradually raising it as he diminishes the 

 power of his voice. Although I cannot say that I 

 recognise anything terrible in the lion's voice, many 

 other people do, and I have been in the company of 

 persons who became completely demoralised while it 

 lasted. That this animal's voice makes the earth 

 vibrate is a fact. 



The peculiarity I have alluded to of it being diffi- 

 cult to distinguish where the king of beasts is by his 

 voice is said to be utilised in this way : their prey hear 

 it, and to avoid the destroyer rush into his grasp. 



A Bechuana hunter of great experience told me this 

 in presence of many of his countrymen, and there are no 

 closer observers living of the animal world amid which 

 they reside than these people. 



We trecked next day, and made satisfactory progress. 

 At noon I had occasion to turn back a few hundred 

 yards on the trail, and I found, to my astonishment, the 

 spoor of several lions, whose treck was over the bullocks', 

 and, therefore, must have been placed there since we 



