THE LION 



more prone to attack human beings than in many other parts of the continent. 

 In Somaliland, where they are smaller and greyer than usual, their number has 

 been greatly reduced of late years. The handsomest lions of all are those with 

 dark brown or black manes ; but in some parts of the country, at all events, 

 black-maned lions do not form a distinct race, as dark and light maned cubs 

 may be found in the same litter. 



Although the skulls of the two species present considerable differences, a 

 lioness, apart from the absence of stripes, is not unlike a tiger in general appear- 

 ance ; and it has long been a question whether the lion or the tiger is the more 

 powerful animal, although the balance of opinion seems to be in favour of the 

 tiger's claim to superiority in this respect. Certain it is, that the lion is much 

 the more noisy animal of the two ; a tiger never roaring in the persistent manner 

 characteristic of the lion. The impression caused by the lion's roar appears to 

 depend greatly on the idiosyncrasy of the listener and the circumstances under 

 which it is heard. Very noteworthy is the fact that the roar of the two species is 

 essentially similar in character. 



As a rule, lions, when too feeble to capture more active prey, turn into 

 regular man-eaters much less frequently than tigers ; but this may be in part 

 explained by the bolder nature of many African tribes, as compared with the 

 natives of a large extent of India ; and when a lion makes himself obnoxious, 

 such tribes have no hesitation in attacking and destroying the marauder. 



Lions in Africa subsist, to a great extent, on the flesh of antelopes and 

 zebras, or bontequaggas ; generally stalking their game in parties of two or 

 three, but one alone making the fatal spring. When stalking, a lion stretches 

 out its body to the fullest extent, and crawls so close to the ground that even 

 in low grass its presence is generally undetected till too late. Occasionally a 

 party of lions combine their forces to pull down a large animal like a buffalo. 

 Zebras can defend themselves only by kicking, but the gemsbok and the sable 

 antelope will pin a lion with their horns, and sometimes come off victorious. 



It has been very generally stated that lions are mainly, if not exclusively, 

 monogamous, and that they mate for life. It has, however, been pointed out by 

 Mr. Roosevelt that if this were really the case, they would almost always be found 

 in pairs, that is to say, a lion and a lioness together. That they are thus found not 

 infrequently may, indeed, be freely admitted ; but, on the other hand, it is much 

 commoner to come across a lioness and her cubs, an old lion with several lionesses 

 and their young, a single lion or lioness, a couple of lions and lionesses, or, lastly, 

 a small troop, which may be composed either solely of males or females, or of a 

 mixture of the two sexes. "These facts," writes the great American hunter, " are 

 not compatible with the romantic theory in question." 



The cubs, generally two or three in number, come into the world, unlike 

 kittens, with their eyes open, and are then about one-third the size of a cat. As 

 already mentioned, they are heavily mottled with brown on a tawny ground, and 

 it is very significant that these markings are to a great extent intermediate in 

 character between the rosettes of leopards and jaguars and the stripes of the tiger. 

 A peculiar feature in which the cubs of lions differ from those of leopards and 



