Chap. VII. HIS ROAK 95 



cover, and as they stand at bay the sportsman has plenty of 

 time fur a deliberate shot. In short, nothing that I have seen 

 or heard about lions would constitute a barrier in the way of 

 men of ordinary courage. 



The same feeling which has induced the modern paintei to 

 exaggerate the form of the " king of beasts" has led the senti- 

 mentalist to consider his roar the most terrific of earthly sounds ; 

 "majestic" is the common epithet applied to it. It is calcu- 

 lated to inspire fear when heard in a pitchy dark night amidst 

 the tremendous peals of an African thunderstorm, and the 

 vivid flashes of lightning which leave on the eye the impression 

 of stone-blindness, while the rain pouring down extinguishes 

 the fire, and there is neither the protection of a tree, nor a 

 chance that your gun will go off. But when any one is snug 

 in a house or waggon, the roar of the lion inspires no awe 

 A European cannot distinguish between the note of a lion and 

 that of an ostrich. In general the voice of the former seems 

 to come deeper from the chest ; but to this day I can only 

 pronounce with certainty from which of the two it proceeds, 

 by knowing that the ostrich roars by day and the lion by 

 night. The natives assert that they can detect a difference 

 at the commencement of the sound. There is, it must be 

 admitted, a considerable distinction between the singing 

 noise of a lion when full and his deep gruff growl when 

 hungry. 



The African lion is of a tawny colour, like that of some 

 mastiffs. The mane in the male is large, and gives the idea 

 of great power. In some specimens the ends of the hair are 

 black, and these go by the name of black-maned lions, though 

 as a whole they look of the usual yellow tawny colour. At 

 lake Ngami Messrs. Oswell and Wilson shot two animals of 

 another variety. One was an old lion, whose teeth were mere 

 stumps, and his claws worn quite blunt ; the other was full 

 grown, in the prime of life, with white perfect teeth. Both 

 were destitute of mane. The lions in the country near the 

 lake give tongue less than those further south. We scarcely 

 heard them roar at all. 



In the country adjacent to Mashue numbers of different 

 kinds of mice exist. The ground is often so undermined with 

 their burrows that the foot sinks in at every step. Little hay- 



