THE LION IN SOUTH AFRICA 331 
Peleiene these animals roaring upon hundreds of different 
occasions, I can count the nights en the fingers of one hand 
when, all unconscious of my near vicinity, a party of several. 
lions has roared freely within 100 yards of where I was lying. 
Last year, whilst hunting with two companions in the neighbour- 
hood of the Pungwe river, I don’t think a single night passed 
during the six weeks we remained in that part of the country 
that we did not hear lions, and sometimes three different parties 
of these animals were roaring round our camp at the same time. 
But on no single occasion were they ever within a mile of where 
we were sleeping, and as there are probably few parts of 
Africa where lions are more plentiful than in this particular 
district, I think it is quite possible to have had a very consider- 
able experience of African travel and yet never to have heard 
lions roaring freely at very close quarters. If ever experi- 
' enced, such a serenade can never be forgotten, for it is at once 
_ magnificent yet calculated to fill the soul with awe. 
It is a fact I think which admits of no dispute that lions 
only roar freely in countries where they have not been much 
disturbed, and where they are practically the masters of the 
situation, and as soon as a district in which these animals exist 
_ is much hunted over, they become comparatively silent. Thus, 
_ although lions are still fairly numerous in the neighbourhood 
_ of the outlying mining camps in Mashonaland, where they con- 
| tinually make their presence disagreeably felt by killing the 
| donkeys, oxen and horses of the prospectors, they are seldom 
_ heard to roar at nights, and I have noticed this same peculi- 
_ arityin other newly settled districts. Loud roaring is usually, I 
_ think, a sign of happiness and contentment, and is indulged in 
very often when on the way down to drink, after a good meal. 
Naturally, when hungry and on the look out for their prey, 
_ lions do not roar, but remain perfectly silent, and when they 
_ attack one’s camp at night, the first intimation received of their 
__ presence will be given by the cries and struggles of the animal 
they seize. When standing at bay lions do not roar, but keep 
