HABITS OF THE LION. 27 



seen a troop of wild hogs suddenly quit a neighborhood in 

 the middle of the day, where one of their friends had been 

 munched up ; but I have often seen the lion and the hogs 

 residing in the same forest without paying any attention to 

 each other. 



I have had occasion during many a night to study the 

 voice of the lion, and I will give to my readers my impres- 

 sions and experience upon this subject. 



When a lion and a lioness are together, the female always 

 roars first and at the moment when the couple is leaving its 

 lair. The roar is composed of a dozen distinct sounds 

 which are commenced by low sighing, and then go on cres- 

 cendo and finish as they began, leaving an interval of a few 

 seconds between each sound ; the lion then alternates with 

 the lioness. They roar in that manner every quarter of an 

 hour up to the moment when they approach the encampment 

 that they are about to attack, when they both keep silence ; 

 but after they have taken and eaten their food they recom- 

 mence their melancholy music and continue it until morning. 



A solitary lion generally roars as he rises from his slumber 

 at the commencement of the night, and will often continue 

 his thundering challenges without cessation until he reaches 

 the encampments. During the great heats of summer the 

 lion roars but little, and sometimes not at all ; but as the 

 season of his amours advances he makes up for the time lost 

 in silence. The Arabs, whose language is rich in comparisons, 

 have but one word for the roaring of the lion, and that is 

 rod, thunder. 



Among other foolish questions I have had asked me, is, 



