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Birds and All Nature, Vol. IV, No 6, December 1898

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<h2>THE AFRICAN LION.</h2> Amid the far-off hills, With eye of fire, and shaggy mane upreared, The sleeping Lion in his den sprang up; Listened awhile—then laid his monstrous mouth Close to the floor, and breathed hot roarings out In fierce reply. —Edwin Atherstone. (1821) THE common opinion of the Lion from the remotest times is that he is King of Beasts, and a single glance at his face of majesty is sufficient to make us accept it. His roar is terrific, and the fact is well known that all animals tremble at the mere sound of his voice. The effect of it on his subjects is said to be indescribable. "The howling Hyena is stricken dumb, though not for long; the Leopard ceases to grunt; the Monkeys utter a loud, gurgling sound and mount to the highest tree-tops; the Antelopes rush through the bushes in a mad flight; a bleating flock becomes silent; the laden Camel trembles and listens no longer to his driver's appeal, but throws load and rider off and seeks salvation in flight; the Horse rears, snorts, and rushes back; the Dog, unused to the chase, creeps up to his master with a wail." But it is said we must not think that the Lion lets his roar re-echo through the wilderness at all times. His usual sounds are a deep growl and a long-drawn tone, like the mewing of a giant Cat. His real roar is uttered comparatively seldom, and many people who have visited countries inhabited by Lions have never heard it. It is the only one of its kind, and is surpassed in fullness of tone by the voice of no living creature except the male Hippopotamus, according to Pechnel-Loesche. "The Arabs have a pertinent expression for it: 'raad,' meaning thunder. It seems to come from the very depth of the chest and to strain it to the utmost." This Lion is distributed all over Central and Southern Africa. They are regularly met with on the banks of the Blue and White Nile, and in the deserts of central and Southern Africa they are of common occurrence. The Lion leads a solitary life, living with his mate only during the breeding season. Selous says that in South Africa one more frequently meets four or five Lions together than single specimens, and troops of ten or twelve are not extraordinary. His experience taught him that the South African Lion prefers feasting off the game some hunter has killed to exerting himself to capture his own prey. This is why he regularly follows nomadic tribes wherever they go; he regards them as his tributary subjects and the taxes he levies on them are indeed of the heaviest kind. The Cubs are usually two or three and the Lioness treats them with great tenderness. They play together like Kittens. In well-managed zoological gardens Lions are now bred as carefully as Dogs; and even in circuses, where the animals have but little room and often insufficient nourishment, they are born and sometimes grow up. The cubs are at first rather clumsy. They are born with their eyes open and are about half the size of a Cat. Towards the close of the first year they are about the size of a strong Dog. In the third year the mane begins to appear on the male, but full growth and distinction of sex, according to Brehm, are only completed in the sixth or seventh year. Lions in captivity have lived to be seventy years old. Brehm, who loved the Lion and was probably better acquainted with his habits than any other traveler, says: "The most prominent naturalists give the Lion credit for qualities which in my opinion include nobility enough. And whoever has become more closely acquainted with that animal; whoever has, like myself, intimately known a captive Lion for years, must think as I do; he must love and esteem it as much as a human being can love and esteem any animal." <hr class="chap" /> [Pg 208] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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