rises from the habit which the animal has of placing his mouth
close to the ground when he roars, so that his voice rolls over the
earth, as it were like a breaker, and the sound is carried along with
all its tremendous force. It is indeed a most awful note of preparation,
and so thought Alexander, who had never heard one before.

The Caffres had wakened up at the noise, and our travelers and the
Hottentots now fired their guns off in every direction to scare away the
animal. Repeated discharges had this effect, and in the course of half
an hour every thing was again quiet.

"Well," observed Alexander, "this is the first time that I ever heard
the roar of a lion in its wild state; and I can assure you that I shall
never forget it as long as I live."

"It is not the first time I have heard it," replied the Major; "but I
must say, what with the darkness and stillness of the night, and the
reverberation, I never heard it so awful before. But you, Swinton, who
have traveled in the Namaqua-land, have, of course."

"Yes, I have, but very seldom."

"But it is rather singular that we have not heard the lion before this,
is it not?" said Alexander.

"The lion is often near without giving you notice," replied Swinton;
"but I do not think that there are many lions in the country we have
traversed; it is too populous. On the other side of the mountains, if we
return that way, we shall find them in plenty. Wherever the antelopes
are in herds, wherever you find the wild horse, zebra, and giraffe, you
will as certainly find the lion, for he preys upon them."

"I know very well, Swinton, that you are closely attentive to the
peculiar habits of animals, and that they form a portion of your study.
Have you much knowledge of the lion? and if so, suppose you tell us
something about them."

"I have certainly studied the habits of the lion, and what I have
gathered from my own observation and the information I received from
others, I shall be most happy to communicate. The lion undoubtedly does
not kill wantonly--of that I have had repeated instances. I recollect
one which is rather remarkable, as it showed the sagacity of the noble
brute. A man who belonged to one of the Mission stations, on his return
home from a visit to his friends, took a circuitous route to pass a pool
of water, at which he hoped to kill an antelope. The sun had risen to
some height when he arrived there, and as he could not perceive any
game, he laid his gun