A Breath from the Veldt 273 



LION 



Crescendo Diminuendo 



Moan-ROAR-R-O-A-R-ROAR-Roar-roar-Grunt-grunt-grunt-grunt-grunt-grunt (dying away) 



OSTRICH 



(Not quite so loud, but at a distance exactly same tone as the lion) 



Crescendo 

 ROAR-RO AR-R O A R-R O A R-R-R-R-R-R (prolonged) 



The difference between the two is rather in power than in quality or 

 sequence of sounds, the lion's roar being three times as strong as that of the 

 ostrich. Their voices are often compared, to the disparagement of the lion, 

 but that is because the lion very rarely roars his loudest. A man may hear 

 lions roar every night for a month, and yet know nothing of what they can do 

 when bent on a really fine vocal effort. I think Selous says that in all his long 

 experience he could count on his fingers the number of times he heard lions 

 roaring properly, whereas the ostrich always does his best. 



The lion too is something of a ventriloquist, being able to make his voice 

 sound quite far away when he is comparatively near. When he does let 

 himself go, there is no sound in the world to touch it. One night, on my 

 return to the standing camp, I had the good fortune to listen to three lions, 

 which came up the bed of the river and passed close by me, roaring at intervals 

 in the most magnificent style. 



In sporting books the lion is commonly portrayed in the attitude of roaring 

 — with his head well up in the air, like a stag ; but this is a mistake. Nearly 

 all deer put the head up in the air, stretch the neck, and let the horns touch 

 the back whilst roaring, while buffaloes of all sorts depress the neck and raise 

 the muzzle as they bellow. But the lion, if closely watched, will be seen to 

 emit his first moan in any position, and then draw his neck in and lower his 

 head, with extended jaws, right down between his fore paws, as if about to 

 be violently sick, whilst at the same time the back is arched, and the whole 

 animal bears an appearance of concentrated strain. It is a position both 

 undignified and ugly, but it is the true one for a lion doing a proper roar in a 

 standing position. When roaring lying down, however, the lion always puts 

 his head right up, like a dog barking. I give little sketches of the real 

 attitudes, at the risk of destroying some of the romance with which my readers 

 may have surrounded the king of beasts, as he makes the earth and all that 

 therein is tremble beneath him. 



On the road to the Nuanetsi I was lying half asleep under a tree, while 



2 N 



