APPENDIX. 275 



I take it that it is now in a rudimentary state, as it only occasionally occurs. When there 

 is no spur there is a little, hard lump of skin, about the size of the head of a match. Leopards 

 also occasionally possess this appendage. 



Spots on Lions. — Nearly all the African beasts of prey are spotted, viz., leopard, cheetah 

 and serval, and other carnivorous animals also are spotted or blotched, such as the spotted 

 hyaena and the hunting-dog. The lion also possesses this characteristic, the cubs being spotted, 

 and even adult animals sometimes show signs of spots, especially on the belly. I killed a young 

 but full-grown lioness in which these spots were very marked on the under side, especially when 

 the skin was held in certain lights. It would thus seem as if all members of the cat tribe, at least, 

 have descended from a spotted ancestor, and that the lion was not always of his present colour. 



The Lion's Roar. — An inspection of the wonderful organ in the lion's throat is sufficient to 

 convince me that this reverberating apparatus does not take its origin by chance. It is absurd 

 to contend, as many people do, that it only serves the useless purpose of making a noise after 

 the animal has fed, and that it is not used during hunting. Such a statement is undoubtedly a 

 misrepresentation. Moreover, it is unlikely that an animal should possess an organ which, if used, 

 serves only to frighten the game and leave him supperless. I have seen it stated by many people 

 that the lion does not roar before or during hunting, and to prove the statement they do not 

 adduce facts, but always add the corollary, " For if he roared before hunting he would frighten 

 away the game." However, I have so often heard lions roaring both before and during hunting 

 that I cannot agree with the statement that they do not do so. Lions can often be heard roaring 

 almost incessantly from sundown until they have made their kills. Often, however, they will 

 become silent before killing. Having killed, they are usually silent until they have finished 

 eating and are on their way to water. 



Wherever there are lions which have been unmolested, there can they almost invariably be 

 heard roaring soon after sunset. It would, indeed, be curious if this nightly performance was 

 not merely useless, but adverse to their chances of success in the hunt. 



Lions make various kinds of roaring sounds. The commonest is the well-known sound 

 commencing with a low moan, gradually swelling in volume till a deep-throated roar is 

 produced. After one or two of these, the last one terminates with a wood-sawing noise in sharp 

 jerks, growing shorter and fainter till it dies away. This roar on a dark night is undoubtedly a 

 very unnerving sound, and I doubt if anyone could hear it under such conditions wholly unmoved. 

 Yet this sound is the finest music on earth, and, once heard, the listener is always anxious for 

 a repetition. 



When lions try for stock they sometimes approach in silence and sometimes they roar. 

 When they roar they will generally roar from one side and then pass on and roar again from 

 another direction, till they have, perhaps, roared from three or four different directions. After 

 this they will approach from a new direction in silence. 



The object undoubtedly appears to perplex their victims and make them uncertain as to 

 the direction in which to take flight. I presume this is the reason for which they roar on the 

 plains before hunting, namely, to utterly confuse the game, or make them imagine that there are 

 lions on every side. 



The roar of the lion is ventriloquial only in that it is difficult or impossible to judge how far 

 distant is the animal. The direction, however, can always be judged. A lion roaring close by 

 sounds very near, and a lion roaring in the distance also sounds close. A lion roaring perhaps 

 a mile away sounds as if he were but a few hundred yards off. Game might be grazing on the 



