IX 
THE LION 
327 
ears, as the roar of a lion upon a still night, when 
everything is calm, and no sound disturbs the solitude 
except the awe-inspiring notes, like the rumble of 
distant thunder, as they die away into the deepest 
bass. The first few notes somewhat resemble the 
bellow of a bull; these are repeated in slow succession 
four or five times, after which the voice is sunk into 
a lower key, and a number of quick short roars are 
at length followed by rapid coughing notes, so deep 
and powerful that they seem to vibrate through the 
earth. 
Our nocturnal visitor did not indulge in the usual 
solo, but he continued throughout the night to 
patrol the circuit of the camp, occasionally betray¬ 
ing his presence by a guttural roar, or by the well- 
known deep sigh which exhibited the capacity of 
his lungs. We could not see to shoot, owing to the 
darkness outside the fence, and the brightness of 
our fire within the camp ; this my men industriously 
replenished with wood, and occasionally hurled fire¬ 
brands in the direction of the intruder. 
At length we went to sleep, leaving the natives 
to keep watch ; they declared that nothing would 
induce them to close their eyes, as the lion would 
assuredly carry off one of the party before the 
morning. To their great discontent, I refused to 
disturb the night by firing a gun, as I had deter¬ 
mined to hunt up the lion on the following day 
at sunrise. 
Upon waking early, we discovered the deep 
footprints upon the sandy soil, which had marked a 
