The World and Its People Part 40

The general color of the springbok is a tawny brown on the upper parts of the body. Beneath the body the color is pure white. The colors are separated upon the flanks by a broad band of deep, rich, red wine color.

The head of the animal is white, with the exception of a broad band of brown on each side, which reaches from the eye to the mouth. There are two curious folds of skin which start from the tail and extend to the middle of the back. These folds are usually closed, but open out when the animal is bounding. When open they disclose a large triangular s.p.a.ce, which at other times is entirely hidden.

The springbok ordinarily makes its home in the arid, sandy plains called karroos. When, however, the pasturage becomes burned from the heat of the sun, the herds migrate in immense numbers to other sections. Often, as they migrate, they destroy the fields of the colonists in their line of travel.

One writer speaks of seeing the country around Little Fish River specked, as far as eye could reach, with immense herds of springboks.

These he estimated as numbering twenty-five to thirty thousand animals.

Another writer describes a still more wonderful sight, where, through an opening among hills, a vast herd poured for hours together in a compact moving ma.s.s, half a mile broad.

So immense are these herds of springboks that when a lion or a leopard, lurking on the outskirts of the ma.s.s, is swept into the ranks, he is virtually taken prisoner and has to march along in the midst, a captive not a captor.

When young the springbok is easily tamed. It then becomes a very active, over-familiar, tricky, and troublesome pet.

CHAPTER LV.

SOME OF THE RUMINANTS.

The domestic animals, such as the cow and sheep, have been introduced into Africa with great success, but they are not native to the continent.

Of the ruminants, or cud-chewing animals, of Africa, the giraffe is a most beautiful yet peculiar specimen. It is found in a wild state only in South Africa. Its name is taken directly from the Spanish language, which received the word from the Arabic tongue. The word in the original signifies _long neck_.

The animal is sometimes called camelopard, from two Greek words which signify camel and panther, since in some respects it is like a camel, while its spots are suggestive of the panther.

The first giraffe ever seen in Europe was exhibited in the circus at Rome under Julius Caesar. Other emperors exhibited them at different times; but, after the fall of Rome, no living specimen of the animal was ever taken to Europe until the early part of the present century. At that time the Pacha of Egypt gave a specimen to France and one to England.

Since then specimens have often been brought from Africa for exhibition in menageries, both in England and in our own country.

When full-grown the giraffe is from sixteen to seventeen feet high. This is nearly three times as tall as a man. The long neck of the animal enables it to reach the tops of trees, from which it gathers the leaves as its chief food.

It has a long, slender tongue, which it can extend far out of its mouth to draw down leaves and branches within its reach.

Two short horns grow between its ears. These are not like those of an ox, but are merely bones covered with a hairy skin.

The giraffe has rather a short body. The front legs are longer than the hind legs, so that the body is higher in front than behind. The back forms a decided slope from the neck to the tail. The legs are slender, while the feet are cleft, like those of an ox. The skin is of a light reddish-orange color, marked with large spots of a decidedly darker shade, and covered with short hairs. Upon the neck is a long mane, and at the end of the tail is a tuft of black hair.

African travelers state that the giraffe, when found in a wild state, is much handsomer than when kept in captivity. In a wild state the color of the skin changes its tints in strong lights and shades, as the animal moves about.

The giraffe has eyes more beautiful even than those of the gazelle, according to some writers. It can see to a great distance and has a keen sense of smell. When the wind is blowing towards it, it can scent a hunter a long way off. For this reason it is very difficult for a hunter to approach it. Sometimes he conceals himself behind tall gra.s.s and bushes; but he is often discovered there by the giraffe, for its tall neck enables it to look over almost any bush.

The giraffe, like the camel, has an awkward gait, since it moves both legs on one side of its body at a time, as a horse does in pacing. It can run very fast, and only a very swift horse is ever able to overtake it. It usually lives in families of a dozen or more. The home is generally along the edges of the deserts. Instinct seems to teach the animal to make its home where it can see in all directions and be on the watch for its enemies, the lion and the panther.

In the open country the giraffe can usually get away by running; but should it be attacked in the woods, it strikes out for its foe with great force from its fore feet. The blow often disables or kills its enemy, though sometimes the giraffe is overpowered and killed.

The Hottentots lie in ambush around the haunts of the giraffe, chiefly where it has watering places. They kill it by means of poisoned arrows.

The flesh is eaten, and the thick skin is made into cups, leather bottles, and straps.

The Arabs, too, hunt the giraffe. They are very fond of its flesh, and out of its skin they make leather shields. Its sinews and tendons they make into thread and strings.

The giraffe, as we see it in the menageries, has probably been kept in captivity from babyhood. It is very seldom that a full-grown specimen is caught. When a baby giraffe is captured it soon becomes tamed, provided it can be made to eat. Often, however, it will refuse all food, and will pine for its mother, like any other baby. It soon dies then for lack of nourishment.

In the menageries the keepers feed the giraffe upon grain, Indian corn, carrots, and hay.

The buffalo is probably the fiercest and the most powerful of all the cud-chewing animals. The Cape buffalo is regarded by naturalists as quite a distinct species from other buffaloes. It is about eight feet long from the base of the horns to the tail, and stands five and one-half feet high. It is considered much more formidable than any other animal of South Africa. This species does not seem to have ever been domesticated, although there is good reason to believe that it could be.

Its horns are very large and spread out almost horizontally over the top of the head. They then bend downward and at the ends take an upward turn. Like the common buffalo, the animal carries its muzzle in a projecting position, with its horns reclining on its shoulders. As it grows older, the narrow s.p.a.ce between the horns at the base becomes filled with solid bone as hard as iron. It is thus able to defend itself against any enemy, whether man or beast.

The buffalo is almost always a match for a lion or a leopard. A herd of buffaloes will become as much excited at the sight of a lion as oxen would over a strange dog. If the lion does not succeed in escaping, the herd will kill him by tossing him from one to another on their horns and trampling him under foot.

On no account will a hunter provoke an encounter with a buffalo, unless the chances are greatly in his own favor, and unless he has every facility for escape. Its great size and strength render it a formidable foe. It is still found in large herds in the interior of South Africa.

In Cape Colony, however, though once very common, it is now seldom seen.

The hide of the buffalo is so tough and thick that the Kaffirs make their shields of it. These shields are impenetrable even to musket shot.

Huntsmen in shooting at buffaloes use bullets mixed with tin; yet these often become flattened when they strike the tough, resisting hide of the animal.

Its coat is of very scant, irregular hair, somewhat bristly in appearance, and often so thin that the smooth brown skin shines through when the sunlight falls upon it. The smooth, oily polish of the skin is no addition to the appearance of the animal. In fact, it is rather an unpleasant feature of it.

The buffalo is well adapted for marshy districts. It will frequently immerse itself in muddy waters, till only its head can be seen. Here it will stand for hours, protecting its body from insects by a coating of mud. Its food consists of coa.r.s.e, rank herbage common to the marshes.

For this food it seems to have a preference.

The Cape buffalo has a habit of grazing generally in the evening. During the day it lies at rest in the woods and thickets.

CHAPTER LVI.

VIEWS OF ELEPHANTS.

Of the thick-skinned animals the elephant is perhaps the most interesting to be found in Africa. The African elephant is much larger than that of Asia, and is rarely, if ever, found tame in menageries. It may be known by its enormous ears, which are three times as large as those of Asiatic elephants. It is very wild and fierce.

The Arabs hunt the elephant for its tusks. These form a staple export, namely, the ivory of commerce. Doubtless thousands of elephants are killed yearly in Africa to supply the demand for ivory. Hence the supply must needs in time cease, as the animal becomes extinct.

The Arabs are the chief of elephant hunters. They usually hunt them on horseback, though they not unfrequently go on foot. When on foot they follow the tracks of the animal, planning to come upon it at noon, when it is usually asleep or lying in the shade to rest.

When an elephant is found asleep, a hunter creeps up and cuts off its trunk with a cruel stroke of the sword. The poor creature, feeling the blow, struggles to its feet, but is so bewildered and stupefied with pain that the hunter escapes and the sufferer bleeds to death in about an hour.

Should the animal happen to be awake, the hunters creep up behind it and cut the sinews of one of the hind legs just above the heel. This disables it so it cannot stand upon the leg, and hence cannot run. It is but the work of a few minutes to cut the sinews of the other hind leg, when the animal falls to the ground. An artery is then cut, and the unfortunate creature soon bleeds to death.

In a hunt on horseback, the Arabs chase the elephant until they get it so angry that it will turn upon them. It is the work of one hunter then to let the elephant almost overtake him, while he keeps his horse just out of reach of the enraged animal's trunk, with which it tries to seize the steed.

So intent is the elephant upon chasing and capturing this enemy that it does not pay any attention to the other mounted hunters. As soon as one of them can get near enough, he jumps off his horse and cuts the cord of the animal's leg with a powerful blow of his sword, which he wields with both hands.