The vegetation of Africa presents less variety than that of Europe or Asia, yet it has many peculiarities.
Along the coast of the Mediterranean it bears a close resemblance to that of Southern Europe. A traveler starting from the south of Europe for Tangier would note little difference in the vegetation, and might suppose he was still in sunny Spain or France. Groves of orange and olive trees would greet him; wide plains covered with waving grain and barley, thick woods of evergreen and oak, would appear like familiar friends in nature. Even the cork trees and sea pines would not be unknown to him.
Intermixed with these he would find the cypress and the myrtle, the arbutus and the fragrant tree heath, pleasant reminders of home scenes; while plains coveredwith rock roses or with palmetto trees and the wild caper would all tend to remind him of his European home.
In the early part of the year the weather seems very much like late spring in New England. The meadows are grassy and bright with myriads of beautiful wild flowers, and the gardens blossom with fresh beauty. The almond, apricot, and peach trees are then in full bloom.
In the summer season a few flowers may still be found along the river banks, although the intense heat in most sections has burned and withered almost every form of vegetable life.
The tropical regions of Africa are not so rich in the variety of plants as those of South America, but they present several kinds peculiar to Africa alone.
As the traveler leaves the sultry coast regions and ascends to the higher portions of land in the interior, he perceives a change in the character of the productions; for they present all the gradual changes noticeable in passing from a torrid to a temperate zone.
The forests of Africa cannot be said to rival those of Brazil, but they are rich in valuable woods, particularly the harder species. Many of them furnish excellent timber, suitable for shipbuilding. In these tropical forests, ebony, certain kinds of rosewood, and the timber called African teak, are produced. The gigantic baobab is also peculiar to these sections of woodland. Livingstone mentions instances where the gigantic trunks of some of these trees had become hollow from old age and served as natural cisterns for rain water.
The branches of the baobab make a canopy of a hemispherical form, often from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, the outermost branches drooping till they touch the ground. The leaves of this tree are five-fingered or seven-fingered. The flowers are white in color and extremely large, suspended on drooping stems often a yard in length.
The fruit, sometimes called monkey-bread, is about the size of a citron melon. Its pulp is slightly acid and agreeable to the taste, so that it may be eaten with or without sugar. The juice of the fruit, when mixed with sugar, makes a refreshing drink. It is not only effective in quenching thirst, but it is used largely in the treatment of pestilential fevers caused by the malarial vapors arising from many sections of Africa.
The natives of tropical Africa mix the bruised leaves of the tree with their daily food. Travelers use them for fevers and other sicknesses. The bark, too, is used for medicinal purposes.
In the central portions of Africa a most remarkable three, called the butter tree, is found. The fruit of this tree yields a species of oil, which has much the appearance of butter and serves the same purpose for food.
Some of the extensive level plains of Africa are covered with acacias. From the stalks of these trees the sap exudes in large drops, or beads, which, when hardened, form the gum arabic of commerce.
In different sections of Africa there are species of palm trees, characteristic of special localities. These are of the greatest value and importance to the natives.
In the north the date palm, in particular, is a never-failingmeans of sustenance, and seems to be a special provision of Providence for the wants of man, flourishing in regions of comparatively barren, and often surrounded by the hot, arid sands of the desert.
If I were a king, O stately tree,A likeness, glorious as might be,In the court of my palace I'd build for thee!With a shaft of silver, burnished bright,And leaves of beryl and malachite;With spikes of golden-bloom ablaze,And fruits of topaz and chrysoprase.And there the poets in thy praise,Should night and morning frame new lays,—New measures sung to tunes divine;But none, O palm, should equal mine!
If I were a king, O stately tree,A likeness, glorious as might be,In the court of my palace I'd build for thee!
With a shaft of silver, burnished bright,And leaves of beryl and malachite;With spikes of golden-bloom ablaze,And fruits of topaz and chrysoprase.
And there the poets in thy praise,Should night and morning frame new lays,—New measures sung to tunes divine;But none, O palm, should equal mine!
The doom palm is another species, and is remarkable for its many-forked stem. It is found in Upper Egypt and in Central Africa, and in some sections is very plentiful, forming forests; while in others it is found in isolated groups, growing in the very sands of the desert.
The leaves of this tree are shaped like a fan. From the fibres of its leafstalks ropes are sometimes made. The tree is, however, still more useful, for it bears a fruit about the size of an orange. In shape it is somewhat different, being larger and more irregular.
The outer skin of the fruit is red. Upon peeling this off, a thick, spongy, dry substance is found, having rather an insipid sweet taste, and very much the appearance of gingerbread. For this reason the tree is sometimes called the "gingerbread tree."
The substance found within the fruit is used for food, and it is sometimes infused and used as a drink, which is very cooling and useful in fevers. The seeds, one of which is found in each fruit, are semi-transparent and very hard. Beads and other ornaments are made from them.
Amid the tropical growth of the west of Africa the oil palm flourishes. Its products furnish the incentive to an immense commerce, attracting European ships to coasts once given completely over to the slave trade.
Along the tropical coasts the cocoa palm grows, while along the Gambia River vast quantities of a species of plant called the groundnut are extensively cultivated. Nine million bushels of groundnuts have been exported during one year from the valley of the Gambia.
This plant has a peculiar habit of thrusting its pods into the ground for the nuts to ripen; hence the name groundnut. Vast quantities of oil, resembling olive oil and used for the same purposes, are obtained by crushing the nuts. A bushel of nuts will usually yield a gallon of oil.
The plant grows like a trailing vine, with small yellow flowers. After the flower falls, the stalk on which it grew grows longer, and, bending downward, the pod on the end forces its way into the ground to ripen.
The vines are dug up by means of a pronged fork or hoe. They are then spread out to dry, and finally stacked up to become thoroughly cured.
The pods are first picked by hand from the vines, and then cleaned in a fanning mill to clear them of dust and chaff. Sometimes they are bleached with sulphur before they are packed for market.
The groundnut forms one of the chief articles of food in some sections. It is sometimes eaten raw, but is usually roasted. Recently an interesting account of the process of making a meal from groundnuts appeared in one of the daily journals. The experiment had been tried, in the German armies, of using this meal in place of others obtained from the various cereals. It was found on trial to be very nutritious,—far more so than oat or rye meal.
By actual experiment, not only did the soldiers thrive upon porridge and bread made of this meal, so rich in vegetable oils, but they became very fond of it as a daily food and ate it with good appetite, even in their soups.
As the cost of the meal is very slight, it will be a matter of economy to make groundnut meal one of the ingredients of the daily food of the German soldier. Arrangements have already been made to import large quantities each year from Africa for use in making meal for army consumption in Germany.
You will doubtless be surprised to learn that the groundnut is really only a species of the familiar peanut. So it is really an old friend with a new name. It is sometimes called ground pea, or earth nut. Theformer name is given to it because its pod resembles the pod of the pea vine.
In the southern portion of the United States a similar nut bears the name gouber. Not only are the nuts of this plant of value as an article of food and commerce, but the vines form an excellent fodder for cattle.
In the Barbary States, which border upon the Mediterranean Sea, there is an extensive cultivation of grain. Wheat, barley, maize, rice, and a variety of corn called Kaffir corn, are found in considerable quantities. Figs and olives thrive luxuriantly, and pomegranates, grapes, and melons abound.
Tobacco has been introduced and has been cultivated to quite an extent. The white mulberry tree is also cultivated, for use in the silkworm culture. Here, too, are found the indigo and cotton plants, together with the sugar cane, while most of the kitchen vegetables of Europe are easily cultivated.
South of the Barbary States, in the mountainous districts of the Atlas range, is found a peculiar kind of timber growth. It bears the name sandarach, and is almost imperishable. It is generally supposed to be the same species of wood mentioned as the shittim wood in the Scriptures. The ceilings of the Mohammedanmosques are largely, if not exclusively, built of it.
Passing beyond the chain of the Atlas Mountains, the vegetation changes. There are now but few trees, and there is a noticeable dryness in the atmosphere. It is in these regions that rain seldom falls, while such is the heat of the winds that it is scarcely bearable even by the natives.
Here, the palm, by divine Providence, affords a grateful shade. The mass of foliage formed by its fan-like leaves is almost impervious to the scorching heat, and beneath its towering yet graceful form the orange, lemon, pomegranate, and vine flourish. Strange to say, their fruits, grown thus in the cooling shade, seem to acquire a peculiar richness of flavor not noticeable in those grown in the ordinary way.
The vegetation of Egypt may be said to be somewhat of an intermediate character, for it partakes of the characteristics of the several sections we have already had described.
In the parts watered by the Nile there are found rich productions of grains of all kinds, while in the southern and drier portions are found only stunted, miserable-looking bushes and shrubs. These dispute with the drifts of accumulating sand for the possession of the native soil of these sections.
Indigo and tobacco are found in the parts of Egypt which have the richest soil. Cotton has been cultivated to some extent, by means of an expensive and laborious system of irrigating the soil.
Along the Senegal the cotton plant flourishes, in itsrich, well-watered soil, almost without care or cultivation. One can scarcely estimate what quantities of cotton could be raised under careful and painstaking labor. Coffee grows luxuriantly in all the fertile sections of Africa, and is very abundant.
In the deserts of the interior the eye is greeted by very different pictures from those which the other sections of Africa present. These deserts are mostly destitute of plants, and the few they have are of stunted growth. A very remarkable kind of grass covers entire districts, to the great annoyance of the traveler, on account of its prickles. Agoul, a plant peculiar to the desert, furnishes food for the camel.
In the equatorial parts of Africa all trees peculiar to European countries are lacking. Even the date tree is seldom seen. While the flora of these tropical regions resembles somewhat that of India, yet there are peculiarities of vegetation which belong strictly to African localities.
Here are found masses of the baobab trees of which we have read, and whose fruit furnishes the refreshing drink so necessary to the natives. Here, also, are found the cotton trees, the bases of which form great buttresses; while shrubs in no inconsiderable variety and rich and varied verdure cover the soil. Groups of palm trees, sago palms, and other varieties of the same family bend down to the water's edge along the great streams.
In the thickets climbing plants of every description twine among the branches of the trees. One variety has recently been discovered which yields a very good species of india rubber. These specimens of plant life,with the masses of wild flowers, showing a brilliant coloring of mingled scarlet, orange, and white, make a scene of rare beauty.
While there is so much that is new and strange in these tropical regions, yet the absence of waving fields of grain and corn is strongly noticeable. Here, too, the vine is quite unknown. The fig is of little or no use, except in a few localities. Only the orange and the lime remain to remind us of the usual fruits of the tropics.
Here and there may be found various kinds of apples and plums; but, owing to the intense heat, they do not attain any perfection of size or flavor. It is a curious fact that all the fruit is not only small and undeveloped, but seems to lose, in a large degree, not only its peculiar flavor, but its succulent juices as well.
In some places in the wooded sections pineapples are very abundant, and seem to be as well established as in their native soil in tropical America.
In the tropics, wherever a broad belt of alluvial soil is exposed by the fall of the tide, as on the shores of the sea, in the estuaries of rivers, and in the shallow lagoons, we may expect to find a dense vegetation of mangroves.
These water-loving trees seem to seek the salt water sections in preference even to other localities equally damp. Their growth is peculiar and picturesque. The seeds germinate on the branches, increase to a considerable length, and then fall into the mud. Here, with their sharp points lying buried, they soon take root.
As the mangrove grows upwards, roots issue fromthe trunk and low branches, and ultimately strike into the muddy ground, where they grow and present the appearance of a series of loops and arches, from five to ten feet high, which support the body of the tree like so many stakes.
Their matted roots interrupt the flow of the waters, and by retaining the earthy particles that sink to the bottom between them, gradually raise the level of the land. As the new land is thus built up, seeds begin to grow in it, and thousands of roots descend, still further to consolidate it. Thus, year after year, the mangroves extend the land into the sea.
As we approach the southern portion of the great peninsula of Africa, we find a wilderness of sand. This barren tract occupies the central portion of the country. Here there is little or no vegetation to attract the eye.
In the table-lands of Cape Colony there are numerous fleshy, leafless tribes of aloes and other plants. These fix their hold in the sand by means of a single tough, wiry root. For conveying nourishment to the plants, these roots must be practically useless, since the soil affords little food. Hence the main sustenance of these plants must come from the dews with which a wise Creator supplies their needs. Many varieties of heath are found here, among other plants.
Upon the hills and rocks of some sections of Africa is a curious tribe of plants which seem partly of the nature of palms and partly of the nature of ferns. They may be said to be of an intermediate family. These fernlike palms literally cover the hills and rockyslopes. After a rain, such portions of the country as have been watered by nature's hand blossom forth into indescribable beauty; for the gladiolus, oxalis, and other native plants are in brilliant bloom.
At Cape Town the American aloe tree has been introduced, and vast impenetrable hedges have been formed by the interlacing of its spinelike leaves, which are often six feet in length. Here, too, flourish the oak and pine of Europe, for the climate is most favorable to their growth.
We have had occasion to speak of the thick-leaved, cactuslike plants of the desert, which seem to prefer the arid soil of the naked plains, where they are fully exposed to the burning rays of a tropical sun.
They furnish a great contrast to the delicately feathered mimosas of the more fertile sections of the continent. Among all the lovely children of Flora, the goddess of flowers, none can rival these plants in the beauty of their foliage.
One can gain but a faint idea of the beauty these plants attain under a tropical sun. In most species the branches extend horizontally, or are umbrella-shaped, and the deep blue sky, shining through the light green foliage, has a very picturesque effect.
As we study the animal life of Africa, we can but notice the great variety in its species. We find notonly those kinds with which we are most familiar, and those which have become known to us through our study of other continents, but many new and strange ones, characteristic of Africa alone.
Here are found the lion, leopard, jackal, hyena, and other carnivora of the cat and dog families. Varieties of the thick-skinned animals are numerous; for we find a species of elephant somewhat different from the elephant of Asia, several varieties of the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the wart hog, and boar, all ugly, unwieldy and clumsy in their form and movements.
In the tropics are found great varieties of monkeys, chattering wildly as they spring among the branches of the trees. The fierce gorilla haunts the dense forests, to the terror of the natives and travelers.
Du Chaillu, the explorer, had an encounter with gorillas while crossing the Sierra del Crystal to reach the Fan country. During the journey he had occasion to scale a range of granite hills and to traverse an elevated table-land. Here he found the temperature quite cold at night.
As he climbed a second range of hills he came upon the Ntambounay Falls. These he declared to be one of the grandest sights he ever beheld, and adds:—
"It was not a waterfall, but an immense mountain torrent, dashing downhill at an angle of twenty-five or thirty degrees, for not less than a mile right before us, like a vast, seething, billowy sea.
"The river course was full of the huge granite boulders which lie about here as though the Titans had been playing at skittles in this country; and against thesethe angry waters dashed as though they would carry all before them, and breaking up, threw the milky spray up to the very tops of the trees which grew along the edge.
"Where we stood, at the foot of the rapids, the stream took a winding turn up the mountains; but we had the whole mile of foaming rapids before us, seemingly pouring its mass of waters down on our heads."
It was just above these falls that Du Chaillu shot an immense serpent. One can imagine the feeling of repulsion with which he saw his men cut off its head and divide the body into pieces, which they roasted and ate with relish.
A short distance beyond the spot, he came upon the footprints of what the natives declared to be gorillas. These footprints were so fresh that it was decided to give chase to the creatures which had made them. The gorillas were, however, very agile, and soon escaped into the forest depths.
Du Chaillu, in speaking of his experience, says: "I protest I felt almost like a murderer when I saw the gorillas the first time. As they ran, on their hind legs, they looked fearfully like hairy men, their heads down, their bodies inclined forward, their whole appearance like men running for their lives.
"Take this with their awful cry, which, fierce and animal as it is, has something human in its discordance, and you will cease to wonder that the natives have the wildest superstitions about these 'wild men of the woods.'"
One of the superstitions, common wherever the gorillais to be found, is that the spirits of certain departed negroes have entered the bodies of a particular species of gorilla. The gorillas of this species can never be caught or killed, since they bear a charmed life. The natives claim, too, that these gorillas show more shrewdness and sense than ordinary animals. In a word, they combine the intelligence of man and the strength and fierceness of the brute creation.
In further description of a gorilla hunt Du Chaillu continues: "I noticed, ahead of us seemingly, a noise as of some one breaking down branches or twigs of trees. This was the gorilla, I knew at once by the eager and satisfied looks of the men.
"They looked once more carefully at their guns, to see if by chance the powder had fallen out of the pans; I also examined mine, to make sure that all was right, and then we marched on cautiously. The singular noise of the breaking of the branches continued. We walked with the greatest care, making no noise at all.
"The countenances of the men showed that they thought themselves engaged in a very serious undertaking; but we pushed on, until finally we thought we saw through the thick woods the moving of the branches and small trees which the great beast was tearing down, probably to get from them the berries and fruits he lives on.
"Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence which made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with the tremendous barking roar of the gorilla.
"Then the underbrush swayed rapidly just ahead,and presently before us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone through the jungle on all fours, but when he saw our party he erected himself and looked us boldly in the face.
"He stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight, I think, never to forget. Nearly six feet high, with immense body, huge chest, and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring, large, deep-gray eyes and a malignant expression of face, which seemed to me like some nightmare vision,—thus before us stood the king of the African forests.
"He was not afraid of us. He stood there and beat his breast with his huge fists till it sounded like an immense bass drum, which is their mode of offering defiance, meantime giving vent to roar after roar.
"The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it where I did not see the animal. So deep is it that it seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than from the deep chest of the creature.
"His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motionless on the defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as he again sent forth a thunderous roar.
"And now he truly reminded me of nothing but some horrible dream creature,—a being of that hideous order,half man, half beast, which we find pictured by old artists in some representations of the lower regions.
"He advanced a few steps, then stopped to utter that hideous roar again, advanced again, and finally stopped when at a distance of about six yards from us. And here, as he began another of his roars, and beating his breast in rage, we fired, and killed him. With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and yet was full of brutishness, he fell forward on his face."
As soon as the great beast was dead, the men cut up the carcass and divided it in portions to be cooked. The brains were carefully preserved as charms. When prepared in one way, the charm gives the wearer a mighty arm for the chase; when in another, it renders the possessor popular and a favorite in savage society.
In place of the deer, so familiar to us in the study of other countries, we find numerous specimens of the great family of antelopes. Some writers have named as many as twenty varieties.
Among the antelope family the gnu, or horned horse, is perhaps the most curious specimen. In size it is about as large as an ass. In form it has the body, neck, mane, and tail, like those of a horse, while the legs and horns are like those of the antelope.
The gnu is very spirited, and full of gambols. Its sense of smell is acute, and its sight very keen. It may be seen in herds on the plains which border upon the Orange River, where its free and varied movements, full of grace, can but attract the attention and awaken the interest of the observer.
The gazelle is the fleetest of the antelopes of Africa. It is usually quite small. One variety is no larger than a hare. Other varieties are as large as a deer. It is famed for the beauty of its eyes and the grace of its movements.
The eland is another species which abounds in South Africa wherever fertile planes or low hills exist. In the parts of Cape Colony which have been longest settled, however, it has been so hunted that specimens are rarely seen.
Livingstone describes the eland as the most magnificent of the antelopes. It belongs to the variety called bovine antelope, from the fact that it has some of the characteristics of the ox tribe. In spite of these peculiarities of structure, the eland is not only a very beautiful, but a very graceful animal. It is about the size of a horse. It stand fully five feet high at the shoulders, and weighs from seven to nine hundred pounds.
The horns of the eland are almost straight, turning backwards and inwards. They are quite pointed at the ends. They are very strong, and their great strength is increased by the peculiar spiral formation. They remind one vividly of the old-fashioned paper lamp-lighters used when matches were not so common and the large open fireplaces were found in every home.
The eland has quite a swelling, or protuberance, of the larynx, similar to that found in the elk. Its tail resembles that of the ox, and has a tuft of long black hair at the end. It may be termed a gregarious animal, since it is always found in herds, which are often very large.
These animals are generally very plump and well filled out in all parts. As they are gentle and not difficult to capture, they furnish sport for the hunters who pursue them. The flesh is much prized. The muscles of the thighs are considered the finest parts. These are dried like tongues.
It is rather a matter of surprise that no attempt has been made to domesticate the eland, possessing, as it does, so many excellent qualities and serving so many useful purposes.
Livingstone describes a species which he found north of Cape Colony as having a very marked bovine form to the body, more so than in the common species, marked with narrow transverse bands of white.
The springbok is another variety of antelope. It is one of the most beautiful and graceful, as well as one of the most numerous, species to be found in South Africa. It is found in immense herds of a thousand or more when the season arrives for it to migrate to the north or when the weather is suitable for it to return to the south.
The springbok derives its name from the habit it has of leaping as it runs. Its leaps are often from fifteen to twenty-five feet. It is extremely beautiful, with its graceful form and fine colors. In size it is larger thanthe roebuck. Its neck and limbs are not only longer but much more slender.
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 space, 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 mass, half a mile broad.
So immense are these herds of springboks that when a lion or a leopard, lurking on the outskirts of the mass, is swept into the ranks, he is virtually taken prisonerand 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.
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 signifieslong 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 Cæsar. 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 grass 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 veryseldom 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 space 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 coarse, 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.
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 hindlegs 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.
This done, he jumps upon his horse again. The elephant is now disabled; but, in its frenzy of pain, it struggles to keep its footing upon three legs and retaliates upon its foes. They are too powerful for it, and in a short time the other hind leg is likewise disabled. The animal then falls to the ground, and soon dies from loss of blood. Elephant hunts of this description are exceedingly dangerous. Hunters are not infrequently caught and killed by the infuriated animals.
There are various other ways of capturing the elephants. Among these may be mentioned the native custom of digging pits and covering them with branches of trees and brush concealed under a layer of earth. Theelephant is likely to step into one of these pits if pursued, and is soon at the mercy of its captors. Sometimes the natives burn the grass of the steppes, or plains, and thus surround the bewildered animal by fire.
It is not pleasant to think that the poor inoffensive elephant is thus cruelly hunted to its death that man may be the gainer. All sport that tends to cruelty can but make us wish that man would be more humane to dumb creatures.
Arabs esteem the flesh of the elephant as a great delicacy. The meat is fat and juicy, but it has coarse fibers and a rank smell. The trunk and feet are considered the most delicate portions for eating, and they are very good when well cooked.
When the natives wish to cook one of the enormous feet, they first dig a hole, nearly a yard wide, in the ground. This is filled with wood, which is kept burning until the sides of the hole are very hot. The fire is then put out and the food to be roasted laid upon the hot embers. The hole is first covered over with green wood and wet grass. It is then plastered with mud, which is stamped down until hard and compact. In order to keep all the heat in, earth is then piled over this queer oven, and the whole structure, with its contents, is left undisturbed for more than a day and a half. When the mound is opened, the foot is found so well baked that the bottom drops off, like the sole of an old shoe, while there is sufficient tender, juicy meat inside to feed fifty hearty men.
The elephant in its native state is quite a pioneer. The jungle thickets are not infrequently choked byunderbrush and interlaced with ropelike, trailing plants. These would make the forests well-nigh impenetrable were it not that the monarch of the elephant herd and his followers break a pathway through these sylvan shades.
They force a way through the thickets and trample down and break off the larger branches that obstruct the way. The lighter and loftier branches yield to the pressure of the huge, massive bodies of the herd, as the creatures pass, but spring back into place again to meet in Gothic arches overhead. The immense animals march along in Indian file, and having once broken a pathway soon tread it down as bare and almost as regular as a gravel path.
Were it not for the service thus rendered by the elephant as a pioneer, many of the dense, thorny forests would soon become choked with underbrush and the interlacing of the branches of trees and various creeping plants. Even with the help thus given in forcing a passage through these forest jungles, progress seems almost impossible, though one be very adroit and willing to exert himself to the utmost limit of endurance.
It is interesting to note the chief differences between the Asiatic and the African elephant. In the latter the head is much more rounded, the tusks much larger, and the ears of enormous size,—so large, in fact, as sometimes to cover the entire shoulders. It is said that the natives use the ears as a sort of truck on which to drag loads.
In the African elephant the molar teeth are marked with large, irregular, oval-shaped ridges upon theirthin, flat surfaces. These ridges pass from side to side. In the Asiatic elephant these ridges are like narrow ribbons with indented edges running in parallel lines.
The poet has thus pictured the elephant in its native forest jungles:—