“The next night,” this enterprising traveller says, “was a memorable one, as being the first on which he had the satisfaction of hearing the majestic thunder of the lion’s roar.” There was no one near to tell him that this was the roar of a lion; but he seemed to know by instinct that it could be nothing else. This roar consists, at times, of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times, he startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six times, in quick succession, each increasing in loudness, to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, muffled sounds, very much resembling distant thunder. At times, a troop may be heard roaring in concert, one assuming the lead, and two, three, or four more regularly taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch; but on no occasion are their voices heard to such perfection as when two or three strange troops of lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. When this occurs every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance at the opposite parties; and when one roars all roar together, and each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. As a general rule, lions roar during the night; but in distant and secluded situations, they may be heard roaring as late as nine o’clock in the morning. It often happens that, when two male lions meet at a fountain, a terrific combat ensues, which not unfrequently ends in the death of one of them.
The habits of the lion are strictly nocturnal. During the day, he lies concealed beneath the shade of some low, bushy tree, or wide-spreading bush, either in the level forest or on the mountain side. He is also partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long, rank, yellow grass. From these haunts he sallies forth when the sun goes down, and commences his nightly prowl. When he is successful in his beat and has secured his prey, he does not roar much that night, unless some rash intruders approach him, when the case will be very different.
Lions are most active and daring during dark and stormy nights. Mr. Cumming noticed a fact with regard to their hour of drinking, which is worthy of record. They seem unwilling to visit the fountain during good moonlight. Thus, when the moon rose early, lions deferred their hour of watering until late in the morning; and when the moon rose late, they drank at a very early hour in the night. When a thirsty lion comes to the water, he stretches out his massive arms, lies down on his breast to drink, and makes a loud, lapping noise in drinking, not to be mistaken; he continues lapping up the water a long while, and four or five times during the process he pauses for half a minute, as if to take breath. One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which, in a dark night, glow like two balls of fire.
Having determined upon a lion hunt, Captain Cumming, with a few riders, dashed on to the immense plain. As he proceeded, thousands upon thousands of blesboks darkened the ground. “After a ride of some miles, the lion’s roar was heard, and we soon discovered a dead wild bull, newly killed by a lion, and half eaten. His large and striking foot-prints were deeply marked in the sand. We felt convinced the lion was somewhere near us, but before we could track him out, the night came on, and the most furious thunder-storm I ever knew. The most vivid flashes of lightning followed one another in quick succession, accompanied by terrific peals of thunder, and the sky was black as pitch. The whole plain was soon a sheet of water. About midnight, however, we heard the lion roar, about a mile off. We then rose, and saddled our horses. We rode forward towards the lion’s feasting-place. As the light broke upon us, we slackened our pace, and rode slowly up the middle of the vast level plain towards the carcase of the wild beast, with large herds of springbok, blesbok, and quaggas on every side. Suddenly I observed a number of vultures seated on the plain, about a quarter of a mile a-head of us, and close behind them stood a huge lioness, eating a blesbok she had just killed. She was assisted in her repast by about a dozen jackals, which were feasting along with her in the most friendly and confidential manner. Directing my followers’ attention to the spot, I remarked, ‘I see the lion!’ to which they replied, ‘Whar! whar! yah, Almagty, dat is he!’—and instantly wheeling about their horses, they were about to fly. At the same moment the lioness moved off at a rapid pace. I was determined to have a shot at her. The first move was to bring her to bay, and not a second was to be lost. Spurring my good and lively steed, and shouting to my men to follow, I flew across the plain, and soon gained upon her. This was to me,” says the bold hunter, “a joyful moment, and I at once made up my mind that she or I should die.
“The lioness was a full-grown beast, and the bare and level nature of the plain added to her imposing appearance. Finding that I gained upon her, she reduced her pace from a canter to a trot, carrying her tail slackened behind her, and slewed a little to one side. I shouted loud to her to halt, as I wished to speak with her; upon which she suddenly pulled up, and got upon her haunches like a dog, with her back towards me, not even deigning to look round. She then appeared to say to herself, ‘Does that fellow know who he’s after?’ Having thus sat for half a minute, as if involved in thought, she sprang to her feet, and facing about, stood looking at me for a few seconds, moving her tail slowly from side to side, showing her teeth and growling fiercely. She next made a short run forward, making a loud rumbling noise like thunder. This she did to intimidate me, and to show her ‘monkey’ was up. My Hottentots now came on, and we all three dismounted, and drawing our rifles from our holsters, we looked to see if the powder was up to the nipples, and put on our caps. While this was doing, the lioness sat up, and showed evident signs of uneasiness. She looked first at us, and then behind her, as if to see if the coast was clear; after which she made a short run towards us, uttering her deep-drawn, murderous growl. Having secured the three horses to one another by the reins, we led them on, as if we intended to pass her, in the hope of obtaining a broadside. My men, as yet, had been steady, but they were in a precious ‘stew,’ their faces having assumed a ghastly paleness, and I had a painful feeling that I could place no reliance on them.
“‘Now then for it—neck or nothing! she is within sixty yards of us, and she keeps advancing.’ We turned the horses’ tails to her. I knelt on one side, and taking a steady aim at her breast, let fly. The ball cracked loudly on her tawny hide, and crippled her in the shoulder; upon which she charged with an appalling roar, and, in the twinkling of an eye, she was in the midst of us. She sprung upon Colesberg, one of my men, and fearfully lacerated his ribs and haunches with her horrid teeth and claws; the worst wound was on the haunch, and was most hideous. I was very cool and steady, and did not feel in the least degree nervous, having, fortunately, great confidence in my own shooting; and when the lioness sprang upon my man, I stood out from the horses, ready with my second barrel for the first chance she should give me of a clear shot. This she quickly did, for seemingly, satisfied with the revenge she had now taken, she quitted Colesberg, and slewing her tail to one side, trotted sulkily past within a few paces of me. Taking one step to the left, I pitched my rifle to my shoulder, and, in another second, the lioness lay stretched upon the plain a lifeless corpse.
“We now skinned the lioness, and cut off her head; and, having placed our trophies on our horses, we made for the camp. Before we had proceeded a hundred yards from the carcass, upwards of sixty vultures, whom the lioness had often fed, were feasting on her remains. We led poor Colesberg slowly home, where, having washed his wounds and carefully stitched them together, I ordered the cold water cure to be adopted. Under this treatment the wounds rapidly healed, and he soon recovered. When the shades of evening set in, terror seemed to have taken possession of the minds of my followers; and they swore that the mate of the lioness, on finding her bones, would follow in our spoer, and revenge her death. Under these circumstances, they refused to remain about the waggons or in the tent after the sun went down; and having cut down the rafters and cupboards of the house for fuel, they kindled a large fire in the kitchen, where they took up their quarters for the night.”