576 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



of the lion are strictly nocturnal; during the day he lies 

 concealed beneath the shade of some low, bushy tree or wide- 

 spreading bush, either in the level forest or on the mountain 

 side. He is also partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long, 

 yellow grass, such as occur in low-lying vleys. From these 

 haunts he sallies forth when the sun goes down, and com- 

 mences his nightly prowl. When he is successful in his 

 beat and has secured his prey, he does not roar much that 

 night, only uttering occasionally a few low moans ; that is, 

 provided no intruders approach him, otherwise the case would 

 be very different. 



Lions are ever most active, daring and presuming in dark 

 and stormy nights, and consequently, on such occasions, the 

 traveller ought more particularly to be on his guard. I 

 remarked a fact connected with the lion's hour of drinking 

 peculiar to themselves ; they seemed unwilling to visit the 

 fountains with good moonlight. Thus, when the moon rose 

 early, the lions deferred their hour of watering until late in 

 the morning ; and when the moon rose late, they drank at 

 a very early hour in the night. By this acute system many 

 a grisly lion saved his bacon, and is now luxuriating in the 

 forest of South Africa, which had otherwise fallen by the 

 barrels of my " Westley Richards." Owing to the tawny 

 color of the coat with which nature has robed him, he is 

 perfectly invisible in the dark ; and although I have often 

 heard them loudly lapping the water under my very nose, 

 not twenty yards from me, I could not possibly make out so 

 much as the outline of their forms. When a thirsty lion 

 comes to water, he stretches out his massive arms, lies down 

 on his breast to drink, and makes a loud, lapping noise in 

 drinking not to be mistaken. He continues lapping up the 

 water for a long while, and four or five times during the 

 proceeding he pauses for half a minute as if to take breath. 

 One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which, in a 

 dark night, glow like two balls of fire. The female is more 



