330 ‘BIG GAME SHOOTING 
Kensington—are identical with those of the skull of the largest 
lion shot by Colonel Arthur Paget in Somaliland, as given in 
Mr. Ward’s book of game measurements; the weight of the skull 
is 54 lbs., or Ib. in excess of the weight of the very large skull 
of a lion shot by Mr. Geddes in Eastern Africa, the measure- 
ments of which are recorded in the same book. I took the ex- 
treme length and the standing height of this lion very carefully; 
taking the distance with a tape line between pegs driven in firstly 
at the point of the nose and the tip of the tail, and secondly at 
the top of the shoulder-blade and the ball of the forefoot, the 
limb being held straight the while. These measurements give his 
extreme length in a straight line as he lay dead as 9 ft. 11 ins., and 
his vertical standing height to the top of the shoulder-blade as 
3 ft. 8ins. The height to the top of the mane, however, with 
which his shoulders were thickly covered and which was his 
apparent standing height, was exactly 4 ft. When the skin of 
this lion was pegged out on the ground it measured 11 ft. 9g ins. 
in extreme length from nose to tip of tail. 
The last lion which I shot, on October 3, 1892, near the 
Pungwe river in South-Eastern Africa, was a very thick-set, 
massive animal, and enormously fat. He would, I think, have 
weighed very heavy, but unfortunately I had no scale with me. 
I took a few careful measurements, however, which are as follows: 
Length as he lay in a straight line between pegs driven into 
‘the ground at the nose and tip of the tail, 9 ft. 1 in.; vertical 
standing height at shoulder, 3 ft. 4 ins.; girth of body behind 
the shoulders, 4 ft. o} ins.; girth of forearm, 17 ins.; length 
of pegged-out skin exactly 11 ft. If any conclusion can be 
drawn from these few statistics, it is I think tiat a lion which 
weighs much over 400 lbs. is an exceptionally heavy animal. 
One of the most striking characteristics of the lion is his 
roar; for there is no more magnificent sound in Nature than the 
volume of sound produced by a party of lions roaring in unison, 
that is, if one is fortunate enough to be very near to them. It 
is, however, a rare occurrence to hear lions roar loudly withina _ 
short distance of one’s camp, and in all my experience, though 4 
aptiire. 
ie, 
Oe ase 
