LION 13 



guish the lion's roar from the call of a male ostrich solely because the one is heard at 

 night and the other by day. Other sportsmen and travellers ridicule the idea of any 

 comparison between the roar of the lion and that of the ostrich ; asserting that while 

 from a distance the roaring of a solitary lion has no doubt a great resemblance to 

 the pairing-call of the ostrich, yet to compare the roar of a lion close by to the 

 call of an ostrich would be like comparing the rattling of a carriage across a bridge 

 to the rolling of thunder in the mountains. When lions are roaring together at a 

 short distance in concert the combined noise has been asserted to surpass every 

 other sound in grandeur. One traveller states, for instance, that nothing in the 

 way of power and profuseness of sound is to be compared to the roaring of a lion, 

 which literally shakes the earth, and that nothing sounded so grand to his ears as 

 a lion's roar in the otherwise completely undisturbed silence of an African desert 

 night. Another traveller describes the power and grandeur of the lion's roar as 

 reaching its zenith when two or three troops of challengers approach a drinking- 

 place, and each challenges the other troops by its roars. Nowadays ever}' 

 European can find at least an occasional opportunity of forming his own opinion 

 on the lion's roar, as these animals are kept in every zoological garden and every 

 menagerie, when in the evening after they have been fed, as well as during the 

 night, they raise their voices if anything too frequently. As regards the nature 

 of the roar, one writer describes it as consisting of a five-or-six-times-repeated dull 

 deep, plaintive sound ending in a weak sigh, which is only audible in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the animal. At other times he compares it to a sequence of deep, 

 but loud, solemn rolling sounds, gradually increasing in strength until the third or 

 fourth repetition, which at last die away in a murmuring growl resembling far-off' 

 thunder. The trembling ground, writes another observer, seems to pour forth the 

 deep powerful roar of the lion ; and this comparison is certainly not unfounded, 

 for lions roar with their heads bent to the ground, thereby greatly strengthening 

 the effect and reverberation of their voices. One lion, watched by a well-known 

 traveller, used to repeat his roar for hours in this fashion. 



A thoroughly experienced observer, much as he may admire it, cannot be 

 startled by the grandeur of the lion's roar, as it does not indicate either hunger or 

 thirst for blood. Lions, indeed, often roar when they are satisfied ; and the loudness 

 of their voice would certainly not assist them in surprising their prey. In isolated 

 and undisturbed parts the roar may be heard on bright, sunny days till nine or 

 ten o'clock in the morning, and in rainy weather, or when the sky is clouded, even 

 all day long, although in a subdued tone. Generally a lion begins to roar in the 

 evening gloom, and continues with shorter or longer intervals through the whole 

 night ; a roaring lion, as already mentioned, not being always hungry. The roar 

 of the lion is specially meant for its fellows ; but other sounds, audible only when 

 in close proximity, are much more alarming, as, for instance, the uninterrupted 

 growling, when the animal, surprised in its haunts, puts down its ears, waves its 

 tail in an uneasy manner, and, hesitating between flight and attack, examines the 

 situation, and tries to warn off the intruder by its attitude. Neither is the angry 

 grunting of a partially satiated lion, when surprised at its meal and unable to flee, 

 calculated to induce any confidence. Most terrific, however, are the short, coughing 

 sounds of a lion when preparing to attack. Although in some districts lions go 



