70 
THE STORY OF THE LION . 
the sound emitted by the ostrich during the pairing season; but persuade 
either the lion or the ostrich to come nearer, and one might then as well try 
to compare the rumbling of cart wheels over a wooden bridge with the 
incessant roll of thunder among mountains. But a lion makes other sounds 
far more disconcerting—because usually only heard at close quarters—than 
that tO' which it gives vent when, in company with others, it has killed a head 
of game, or is retiring to its lair, full fed. There is the constant low growling 
of the lion crouching in cover, uncertain whether to fight or to fly, as, with 
flattened ears and nervously twitching tail, he studies the situation, hoping 
by his attitude to warn off the disturber of his solitude. There is the angry 
snarl of the lion disturbed at his meals, when his appetite is not yet satisfied, 
and when one has come upon him so suddenly as to give him no time to' 
clear off; and, worse than all, the short, coughing grunts which often accom¬ 
pany a charge, and which startle the intruder in his domains as he bounds 
away. All these sounds are by no means musical, and, whether heard by 
day or by night, are well calculated to' try the nerves.” Similar testimony 
as to the impressiveness of the lion’s roar is given by Gordon Cumming, who 
describes it as consisting at certain times of five or six repetitions of a low. 
deep moaning, ending off with a faint and scarcely audible sigh, while at 
others it takes the form of loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, quickly repeated, 
and increasing in intensity till the third or fourth, after which it gradually dies 
away in a succession of low muffled growlings, like the roll of distant thunder. 
Then, again, the veteran hunter Sir Samuel Baker gives his impressions in 
the following words: “There is nothing so beautiful or enjoyable to my 
ears as the roar of a lion on 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 1 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.” 
This vibrating and reverberating sound alluded to in the last sentence is 
intensified by the habit lions often have of putting their mouths close to' the 
ground while roaring; Livingstone mentioning an instance where a lion stood 
for hours roaring near his camp, and making the sound reverberate in this 
manner. 
The intensity and grandeur of the sound must, however, be largely increased 
when, as is not unfrequently the case, a party of lions are heard roaring in 
