OSTRICHES.OSTRICHES.
Andersson writes of this experience: "The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, they set off at full speed, the female leading the way, the young following in her wake, and the male, though atsome little distance, bringing up the rear of the family party.
"It was very touching to observe the anxiety the old birds evinced for the safety of their progeny. Finding that we were quickly gaining upon them, the male at once slackened his pace, and diverged somewhat from his course; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from our purpose, he again increased his speed, and with wings drooping, so as almost to touch the ground, he hovered round us, now in wide circles, and then decreasing the circumference, till he came almost within pistol shot, when he abruptly threw himself on the ground, and struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a bird that had been badly wounded.
"Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was disabled, and made quickly towards him. But this was only a ruse on his part; for on my nearer approach he slowly rose, and began to run in an opposite direction to that of the female, who by this time was considerably ahead with her charge. After an hour's severe chase, we secured nine of the brood, and, though it consisted of about double that number, we found it necessary to be contented with what we had."
The ostrich resorts to various stratagems to remove intruders from the vicinity of its crude nest, which is merely a cavity scooped out of the sand, usually about a yard in diameter, but only a few inches in depth. One writer happened to ride by the place where a hen ostrich was sitting upon her nest, when the bird sprang up and gave chase, in order to distract his attention from the nest of either young birds or eggs, he couldnot ascertain which; for every time he turned his horse towards her, she retreated a few paces, but as soon as he rode on again she would pursue him.
The Creator has given the ostrich a wonderful instinct for providing its young with food. It was formerly supposed that the bird left her young to be hatched by the heat of the sand and sun; but it has been proved that she hatches them with the greatest care, and even reserves some of the eggs for food for the young birds when they first leave the shell. Thus, though a nest may hold from fifteen to twenty eggs, the mother bird sits upon not more than ten or a dozen; the rest are pushed to one side, in anticipation of the time when her hungry brood of little ones will look to her for food. This is a wonderful provision, when we consider how little the arid plains can offer for the support of the young birds.
Nature provides for their protection in still another way; for it gives them a covering suitable for the localities they frequent. This is neither one of down nor feathers; it is of the nature of a prickly stubble, and serves as a fine shield against the gravel and the coarse, stunted vegetation of the plains. Its color, too, renders it difficult to discern the chicks, even when crouching close at hand, so nearly do they resemble the color of the sand and gravel.
In Senegal the heat is so very intense that the ostrich sits upon her eggs only at night. Where the heat is less intense the eggs must be guarded night and day. The father bird usually sits on the nest at night, leaving the care of it to the mother bird during the day.
Every morning and evening the nest is left uncovered for a quarter of an hour, to allow the eggs to cool. The sight of the nests at this time has probably given rise to the erroneous idea that the ostrich leaves her eggs to hatch in the sun.
She has more sense than to believe in the sun's hatching her eggs; she is indeed quite aware of the fact that, if allowed to blaze down on them, even during the short time she is off the nest, it would injure them; and therefore on a hot morning she does not leave them without first placing on the top of each a good pinch of sand. When she has thus set her nest in order, she walks off, to fortify herself with a good meal for the duties of the day.
Now comes the white-necked crow's opportunity, for which, ever since the earliest dawn, he has been patiently watching; for an ostrich egg is to him the daintiest of all delicacies; but, nature not having bestowed on him a bill strong enough to break its hard shell, he is able only by means of an ingenious device to regale on the interior. So he watches till the parent's back is turned and she is a long distance from the nest; then he flies up into the air and drops a stone from a great height with so accurate an aim as to break an egg. He makes so good use of his quarter of an hour, that he, no less than the hen ostrich, has had an ample meal by the time the latter returns to the nest.
Though this crow is an inveterate egg stealer, he has a most respectable appearance, with his neat suit of black and his little white tie. The Boers have a legend to the effect that these birds are "the ravens"which fed Elijah. They say that a little of the fat from the meat remained on the birds' necks, in commemoration of which their descendants have this one white spot on their otherwise black plumage.
Tortoise shells of immense size are often found on the plains of Cape Colony, broken in much the same manner as the ostrich eggs. This crow evidently is as fond of the inmate of the tortoise shell as he is of the contents of an ostrich egg.
The white crow is not the only enemy of an ostrich nest. The worst foes are the jackals. These plunder the nests, often rolling the eggs off with their paws to some considerable distance.
The Hottentots are very fond of ostrich eggs. If they discover a nest they will often remove one or two of the eggs from time to time. In her endeavors to raise a brood the mother bird has been known, like the domestic fowl, to lay from forty to fifty eggs in a season.
An ostrich egg is usually as large as two dozen hen's eggs. One might suppose a slice of one of these eggs would make a breakfast for a person of ordinary appetite, while a whole one would seem more than sufficient for a person of the most voracious appetite; yet Andersson saw two natives dispose of five of these eggs during an afternoon, together with a large portion of flour and fat.
Dr. Livingstone did not agree with Andersson, who considered that ostrich eggs made an excellent repast; to the great explorer they had a rank, disagreeable flavor, which only the keen appetite of the desert made acceptable to the palate.
The shells of ostrich eggs are highly prized, for they are used for holding various kinds of liquids. Among the Bushmen there are scarcely any household utensils other than the ostrich eggshells. The shells are often covered with a light network, so that they may be slung across the saddle. Grass and wood are employed as substitutes for corks to these crude bottles.
In the Kalahari Desert it is no uncommon sight to see the women resorting to some hidden supply of water, with twenty or thirty of their water vessels in a bag or net slung over their backs. These vessels consist of ostrich eggshells, with a hole in the end of each large enough to admit one's finger. The process of filling them we have already learned in the description of the Kalahari Desert.
The Bushmen never touch the eggs, nor leave marks of human feet near them, when they find a nest. They go against the wind to the spot, and with a long stick remove some of them occasionally, and by preventing any suspicion keep the hen laying for months, as we do with fowls.
When the Hottentots discover a quantity of eggs, they remove their lower garment, the legs of which they tie up like bags, to serve as receptacles in which to carry home their bulky and queer-looking load. One can imagine the grotesque appearance a Hottentot would present with a pair of these inflated bags astride his shoulders, while he wends his way homeward to the kraal.
In the early settlement of Cape Colony, ostriches were found in great numbers. No later than fifty years ago flocks could be seen in almost any section of it. The salty nature of the soil, the sweet grass, and the dry atmosphere of the karroo plains are very favorable to the health of these birds.
As the hunters became more and more eager to secure the feathers, which were the real plunder of the chase, they wantonly hunted and killed great numbers of ostriches. In consequence the birds became very scarce, and the hunters had to seek their sport farther and farther to the north.
The settlers soon turned their attention to the rearing of ostriches as they would turkeys or hens, and ostrich farms became a common feature of Cape Colony. Ostrich farming is not only an interesting industry for the Boers, but it is a most lucrative business. The feathers, too, from these farms surpass in quality and value those brought from the wilds of the interior.
As a pound of ostrich plumes is worth about three hundred dollars, the owner of an ostrich farm finds it a profitable business to own as many full-grown birds as possible; for each will yield a quarter of a pound of feathers yearly. A tiny chick a week old is valued at the sum of fifty dollars, while a full-grown bird will command as high a price as two hundred and fifty.
The ugly scenery of Cape Colony, its eccentric plants,queer beasts, and general look of incompleteness, according to one writer, have called forth the remark from some jocular American that "South Africa was finished off in a hurry late on Saturday night, with a few diamonds thrown in to compensate."
The owner of an ostrich farm, however, finds much in compensation. The author of "Home Life on an Ostrich Farm" thus describes a farm of some twelve hundred acres: "We are in that part of the Karroo which is called the Zwart Ruggens, or 'black rugged country,' so named from the appearance it presents when, during the frequent long droughts, the bush loses all its verdure, and becomes outwardly so black and dry-looking that no one unacquainted with this most curious kind of vegetation would suppose it capable of containing the smallest amount of nutriment for ostriches, sheep, or goats.
"But if you break one of these apparently dried-up sticks, you find it all green and succulent inside, full of a very nourishing saline juice; and thus, even in long droughts, which sometimes last more than a year, this country is able to support stock in a most marvelous manner, of which, judging by outward appearance, it certainly does not seem capable. It seems strange that in this land of dryness the plants are so full of moisture; one wonders whence it can possibly have come.
"The littlekarrooplant, from which the district takes its name, is one of the best kinds of bush for ostriches, as well as for sheep and goats. It grows in little compact round tufts not more than seven or eight inches from the ground, and though so valuable to farmers itis but unpretending in appearance, with tiny narrow leaves, and a little, round, bright yellow flower, exactly resembling the center of an English daisy after its last petal has been pulled.
"Thefei-boschis another of our commonest and useful plants. Its pinkish lilac flower is very like that of the portulacca, and its little flat succulent leaves look like miniature prickly pear leaves without the prickles; hence its name, fromTurk-fei, Turkish fig. When flowering in large masses, and seen at a little distance, the fei-bosch might almost be taken for heather.
"Thebrack-bosch, which completes our trio of very best kinds of ostrich bush, is a taller and more graceful plant than either of the preceding, with bluish green leaves, and blossoms consisting of a spike of little greenish tufts; but there are an endless variety of other plants, among which there is hardly one that is not good nourishing food for the birds.
"All are alike succulent and full of salt, giving out a crisp, crackling sound as you walk over them. All have the same strange way of growing, each plant a little patch by itself, just as the tufts of wool grow on the Hottentots' heads; and the flowers of nearly all are of the portulacca type, some large, some small, some growing singly, others in clusters. They are of different colors,—white, yellow, orange, red, pink, lilac, etc. They are very delicate and fragile flowers; and, pretty as they are, it is useless to attempt carrying them home, for they close up and fade as soon as they are gathered.
"Thespekboom, which is a good-sized shrub, sometimesattaining the height of fifteen or twenty feet, grows plentifully a little way up the mountains; and in very protracted droughts, when the karroo and other bush of the plains begin at last to fail, it is our great resource for the ostriches, which then ascend for the purpose of feeding upon it; and though they do not care for it as they do for their usual kinds of food, it is good and nourishing for them. It has a large, soft stem, very thick, round, succulent leaves, and its clusters of star-shaped, waxlike flowers are white, sometimes slightly tinged with pink.
"Thorny plants abound, especially on the mountains, where indeed almost every bush which is not soft and succulent is armed with strong, sharp, often cruelly hooked spikes. On foot you are perpetually assailed by the great strong hooks of the wild asparagus, a troublesome enemy, whose long straggling branches trailing over the ground are most destructive to the skirts of dresses; while boots have deadly foes, not only in the shape of rough ground and hard, sharp-pointed stones, but also in that of numerous prickly and scratchy kinds of small bush.
"Among our troublesome plants, one of the worst and most plentiful is the prickly pear. It spreads with astonishing rapidity, and is so tenacious of life that a leaf, or even a small portion of a leaf, if thrown on the ground, strikes out roots almost immediately, and becomes the parent of a fast-growing plant.
"Sometimes ostriches help themselves to prickly pears, acquire a morbid taste for them, and go on indulging in them, reckless of the long stiff spikes on the leaves,with which their poor heads and necks soon become so covered as to look like pincushions stuck full of pins, and of the still more cruel, almost invisible fruit thorns which at last line the interior of their throats, besides so injuring their eyes that they become perfectly blind, and are unable to feed themselves."
Speaking of the prickly pear still further, the author acknowledges that it is not without its good qualities: "Its juicy fruit, though rather deficient in flavor, is delightfully cool and refreshing in the dry heat of summer, and a kind of treacle, by no means to be despised, is made from it.
"Great caution is needed in peeling the prickly pear, the proper way being to impale the fruit on a fork or stick while you cut it open and remove the skin. On no account must the latter be touched with the hands, or direful consequences will ensue.
"To the inexperienced eye the prickly pear looks innocent enough, with its smooth, shiny skin, suggestive only of a juicy interior, and telling no tales of lurking mischief; yet each of these soft-looking tufts, with which at regular intervals it is dotted, is a quiver filled with terrible, tiny, hairlike thorns, or rather stings, and woe betide the fingers of the unwary, who with no kind friend at hand to warn him, plucks the treacherous fruit.
"In dry weather at the Cape these spiteful little stings do not even wait for the newly arrived victim; but fly about, light as thistle down, ready to settle on any one who has not learned by experience to give the prickly-pear bushes a wide berth.
"The leaves of the prickly pear are good for ostriches and cattle, though the work of burning off the thorns and cutting the leaves in pieces is so tedious that it is only resorted to when other food becomes scarce. One kind, the 'bald-leaf,' has no thorns. It is comparatively rare, and farmers plant and cultivate it as carefully as they exterminate its troublesome relative."
Another queer plant this author describes as candle-bush, a stunted, thorny plant, which, if lighted at one end, will burn steadily just like a wax candle, and can be used as a torch for burning off the thorns of the prickly pear.
Speaking of the dry season, this writer says: "The long droughts are certainly very trying; indeed, they could not possibly be endured by any country less wonderfully fertile than South Africa, where it is calculated that three good days' rain in the year, could we but have this regularly, would be sufficient to meet all the needs of the land. But often for more than a year there will be no rain worth mentioning.
"The dams, or large artificial reservoirs, of which each farm usually possesses several, gradually become dry, and the land daily loses more of its verdure, till at last all is one dull, ugly brown, and the whole plain lies parched and burnt up under a sky from which every atom of moisture seems to have departed.
"The stock, with pathetic tameness of thirst, come from all parts of the farm to congregate close round the house, the inquiring ostriches tapping with their bills on the windows, as they look in at you, and the cattle lowing in piteous appeal for water. Then the hotwinds sweep across the country, making everybody tired, languid, headachy, and cross. Even our pets were sulky on a hot, windy day; and as for the ostriches, they were deplorable-looking objects indeed, as they stood gasping for breath, with pendant wings, open bills, and inflated throats, the pictures of imbecile misery."
When the weary drought is over, and the long-wished-for rain begins to fall, every one's heart is gladdened by the sound of abundance of rain, and the voice of many waters.
"It means everything to the farmer: the long drought over at last, the dams full, the parched country revived, the poor thin cattle no longer in danger of starvation, healthier ostriches, a better quality of feathers, a near prospect of nests, and, in fact, the removal of a load of cares and anxieties.
"How early we are all astir on the morning after a big rain! and with what eager excitement we look out, in the first gleam of daylight, for that most welcome sight, the newly filled dam! Everywhere the water is standing in immense pools and ponds. A troop of ostriches come down to drink. They are no doubt delighted to find such an abundant supply of water, after the somewhat scanty allowance which has been portioned out to them of late; and they stand greedily scooping up large quantities with their broad bills, then assuming comical attitudes as they stretch out their distended necks to allow the fluid to run down. In the distance, about a dozen other ostriches are spreading their white wings and waltzing along magnificently—apretty way of expressing their satisfaction at this new and delightful change in circumstances."
It would be delightful to quote without limit from this intensely interesting book, but there is not time to linger over its pages longer than to glean a few items:
"There are not many young animals prettier than an ostrich chick during the first few weeks of life. It has such a sweet, innocent baby face, such large eyes, and such a plump, round little body. All its movements are comical, and there is an air of conceit and independence about the tiny creature which is most amusing.
"Instead of feathers it has a little rough coat which seems all made up of narrow strips of material, of as many different shades of brown and gray as there are in a tailor's pattern book, mixed with shreds of black, while the head and neck are apparently covered with the softest plush, striped and colored just like a tiger's skin on a small scale. On the whole the little fellow, on his first appearance in the world, is not unlike a hedgehog on two legs, with a long neck.
"One would like these delightful little creatures to remain babies much longer than they do; but they grow quickly, and with their growth they soon lose all theirprettiness and roundness; their bodies become angular and ill-proportioned, a crop of coarse, wiry feathers sprouts from the parti-colored strips which formed their baby clothes, and they enter on an ugly stage, in which they remain for two or three years.
"A young ostrich's rough, bristly, untidy-looking 'chicken feathers' are plucked for the first time when he is nine months old. They are stiff and narrow, with very pointed tips, and their ugly appearance gives no promise of future beauty. They do not look as if they could be used for anything but making feather brooms. In the second year they are rather more like what ostrich feathers ought to be, though still very narrow and pointed, and not until their wearer is plucked for the third time have they attained their full width and softness.
"At five years of age the bird has attained maturity; the plumage of the male is then of a beautiful glossy black, and that of the female of a soft gray, both having white wings and tails. In each wing there are twenty-four long white feathers, which when the wing is spread out hang gracefully round the bird like a lovely deep fringe.
"On a large farm, when plucking is contemplated, it is anything but an easy matter to collect the birds; the gathering together of ours was generally a work of three days. Men have to be sent out in all directions to drive the birds up, by twos and threes, from the far-off spots to which they have wandered. Little troops are gradually brought together, and collected, first in a large inclosure, then in a small one, the plucking kraal, inwhich they are crowded together so closely that the most savage bird has no room to make himself disagreeable.
"Besides the gate through which the ostriches are driven into the kraal, there is an outlet at the opposite end, through the 'plucking-box.' It is a very solid wooden box, in which, though there is just room for an ostrich to stand, he cannot possibly turn round; nor can he kick, the sides of the box being too high. At each end there is a stout door, one opening inside, the other outside the kraal. Each bird in succession is dragged up to the first door, and, after more or less of a scuffle, is pushed in, and the door slammed behind him.
"Then the two operators, standing one on each side of the box, have him completely in their power, and with a few rapid snips of their shears his splendid wings are soon denuded of their long white plumes.
"These, to prevent their tips from being spoilt, are always cut before the quills are ripe. The stumps of the latter are allowed to remain some two or three months longer, until they are so ripe that they can be pulled—generally by the teeth of the Kaffirs—without hurting the bird. It is necessary to pull them, the feathers, which by their weight would have caused the stumps to fall out naturally at the right time, being gone."
In describing the condition of the plumes, this author writes: "Sometimes the white feathers would be dirty,—for there is nothing an ostrich likes better than sitting down to cool himself in the muddiest dam he can find; then it was necessary to wash them, dip them into strong raw starch, and shake them in the hot sun,beating two bundles of them together till quite dry. The starch makes them look very pretty and fluffy. Ostrich feathers are quite tabooed by ladies in South Africa; they are too common, every Kaffir or Hottentot wearing one in his dirty, tattered hat.
"If an ostrich feather is held upright, its beautiful form, graceful as the frondlike branch of the cocoanut palm, which it somewhat resembles, is at once seen to be perfectly even and equal on both sides, its stem dividing it exactly in the center, whereas the stems of other feathers are all more or less on one side."
Ostriches begin to make their nests soon after a good rain. The father bird becomes very savage, as if to warn all intruders away from the vicinity of the nest. His note of defiant warning can be heard then in every direction. He inflates his neck in a cobralike fashion, and gives utterance to three deep roars; the first two short, the third very prolonged. Lion hunters all agree in asserting that the roar of the king of beasts and that of the most foolish of birds are identical in sound; with this difference only, that the latter, when near, resembles the former when far away.
"When an ostrich challenges, he sits down; and, flapping each broad wing alternately, inflates his neck, and throws his head back, rolling it from side to side, and with each roll striking the back of his head against his bony body with so sharp and resounding a blow that a severe headache seems likely to be the result."
When the birds become aggressive, one dares not walk about the camp unless armed with a weapon called a "tackey." This is merely a long, stout branch of themimosa tree, from which all the thorns, except upon one end, have been stripped. It does not seem to be much of a protection against so ferocious and formidable a foe, one stroke of whose powerful leg can easily kill a man, and whose kick, as violent as that of a horse, is much more dangerous, owing to the terrible claw with which nature has armed the foot.
Those versed in the use of the tackey allow the enraged assailant to approach almost unpleasantly near, and then thrust the weapon of defense boldly in his face just as he is about to strike. The thorns are so annoying that he is obliged to close his eyes, and can merely run forward in a blind, helpless fashion. This gives the person bearing the tackey a chance to spring to one side and to proceed upon his way for some little distance, before the bewildered bird is ready for another attack, when he is again met by the same simple but effective instrument.
Some ludicrous stories are related of the encounters newcomers at the Cape have had with ostriches. A sturdy newcomer, six feet in height, on starting for an early morning walk, was cautioned against going into a certain camp where the ostriches were dangerous. He laughed at his friends' advice, told them he was not afraid of a dicky-bird, and disdaining the proffered tackey started off straightway in the forbidden direction. He did not return to dinner; a search was made for him, and eventually he was found perched up on a high ironstone boulder, just out of reach of a large ostrich, which was doing sentry, walking up and down, and keeping a vicious eye on him.
He had sat there for hours, nearly roasted alive, and there he would have had to sit till sundown, but for the timely appearance of his friends.
Another story is related of a gentleman whose theory was that any creature, however savage, could be quelled by the human eye. One day he tried to quell one of his own ostriches, with the result that he was presently found in a very pitiable predicament, lying flat on the ground, the subject of his experiment jumping up and down on him, and occasionally varying the treatment by sitting on him.
The explorer, Paul Du Chaillu, gives some interesting views of sections of Equatorial Africa, which from the western coast, as far as he had been, are covered with an almost impenetrable jungle, which begins where the sea ceases to beat with its continual waves; how much farther this woody belt extends, only further explorations will be able to show. From the farthest point it extends eastward as far as the eye can reach; near the banks of a large river, however, running from a northeast direction towards the southwest, prairie lands are to be seen.
"Now and then prairies looking like islands, resembling so many gems, are found in the midst of this darksea of everlasting foliage; and how gratefully my eyes met them no one can conceive, unless he has lived in such a solitude. Here and there prairies are seen from the seashore, but they do not extend far inland, and are merely sandy patches left by the sea in the progress of time.
"In this great woody wilderness man is scattered and divided into a great number of tribes. The forest, thinly inhabited by man, was still more scantily inhabited by beasts. There were no beasts of burden, neither horse, camel, donkey, nor cattle. Men and women were the only carriers of burdens. Beasts of burden could not live, for the country was not well adapted to them. The only truly domesticated animals were goats and fowls, the goats increasing in number as I advanced into the interior, and the fowls decreasing.
"I was struck by the absence of those species of animals always found in great number in almost every other part of Africa. Neither lions, rhinoceroses, zebras, giraffes, nor ostriches were found; and the great variety of elands and gazelles, although found almost everywhere else in Africa, were not to be seen there.
"Travelers in my locality would never dream that such vast herds of game could be found on the same continent, as those described by different travelers. Hence, large carnivorous animals are scarce, leopards and two or three species of hyenas and jackals only being found. Little nocturnal animals are more common, but they are very difficult to get at.
"Reptiles abound in the forest. There are a great many species of snakes, the greater part of which arevery poisonous. Some are ground snakes, others spend part of their lives upon trees, while some are water snakes. A very dangerous snake is the black variety of the cobra. This snake is much dreaded; for, when surprised or attacked, it rises up as if ready to spring upon you.
"There is also a large water snake found often in the beautiful clear water of the streams of the interior. I have often seen this snake coiled up and resting on the branches of trees under water.
"Lizards are also abundant in some districts, and it is interesting to watch how they prey on the insect world. Among them I noticed a night species, that lives in the houses, and that is the great enemy of cockroaches. They are continually moving from one place to another during the night in search of their prey. During the day, they remain perfectly still, and hide themselves between the bark of trees forming the walls of the huts.
"The country is also very rich in spiders; they are of wonderful diversity of form. Some of them are so large and their webs so strong that birds are said to be caught in them. There are house spiders, tree spiders, and ground spiders. The spiders are exceedingly useful, and rid the country of many unpleasant flies. How many times I have seen them overpower prey which seemed much stronger than themselves.
"The web spiders seemed to have but a few enemies, but the house and wall spiders, which make no web, have most inveterate enemies in the shape of two or three kinds of wasps.
"During the day I have seen these wasps travel along the walls with a rapidity that astonished me, and, finally, when coming to a spider, immediately pounce upon the unfortunate insect and overpower it by the quickness of the movements of their legs, and succeed in cutting, one after the other, the legs of the spider close to the body, and then suck it, or fly away with it to devour it somewhere else.
"I consider some species of ants, snakes, lizards, and spiders as most useful; for they destroy a great quantity of insects and other vermin. The great moisture of the country I have visited, with its immense jungle, is well adapted for the insect world, and would prove a very rich field for a naturalist and collector.
"I was surprised to see how closely several of them mimicked or imitated other objects. Some looked exactly like the leaves on which they most generally remain; others are exactly of the color of the bark of trees on which they crawl; while others looked exactly like dead leaves, and one or two like pieces of dead branches of trees. Dragon flies of beautiful color were met near the pools.
"Bats are very abundant, and I had succeeded in making a fine collection of them. They sometimes came by hundreds and spent the whole of the night flying round a tree which bore fruits they liked, and the noise made by their wings sounded strangely amid the stillness which surrounded them.
"Squirrels are rather numerous, and there are a good number of species. Birds of prey and snakes are their great enemies.
"There are eight species of monkeys, but they are not all found in every district. They live in troops, but when old they live generally by themselves or in pairs.
"Of all the mammalian animals inhabiting the forest the monkey tribe is the most numerous; but the poor monkey is surrounded by enemies, the greatest being man, who sets traps everywhere to catch him. Then he is continually hunted by the negroes with guns or arrows. The guanonien, an eagle, is also his inveterate enemy.
"The guanonien is a most formidable eagle, and, in spite of all my endeavors, I have been unable to kill one. Several times I have been startled in the forest by a sudden cry of anguish from a monkey which had been seized by this 'leopard of the air,' as the natives often call it, and then have seen the bird with its prey disappear out of sight.
"One day, hunting through the thick jungle, I came to a spot covered with more than one hundred skulls of monkeys of different sizes. Some of these skulls must have been those of formidable animals, and these now and then succeeded, it appears, in giving such bites to this eagle that they disabled him.
"For a while I thought myself in the Valley of Golgotha. Then I saw at the top of a gigantic tree, at the foot of which were the skulls, the nest of the bird, but the young had flown away. I was told by the natives that the guanonien comes and lays in the same nest year after year. When an adult specimen has been secured, it may be found to rival in size the condor of America.
"By the side of wild men, roamed the apes, the chimpanzee forming several varieties. Then came the largest of all, the gorilla, which might be truly called the king of the forest. They all roamed in this great jungle, which seems so well adapted to be their homes; for they live on the nuts, berries, and fruits of the forest, found in more or less numbers throughout the year; but they eat such a quantity of food that they are obliged to roam from place to place, and are found periodically in the same district.
"The elephant has become scarce, and recedes farther and farther every year into the fastnesses of the interior.
"Mile after mile was traveled over without hearing the sound of a bird, the chatter of a monkey, or the footstep of a gazelle, the humming of insects, the falling of a leaf; only the gentle murmur of some hidden stream came upon our ears to break the deadness of this awing silence, and disturb the grandest solitude man can ever behold—a solitude which often chilled me, but which was well adapted for the study of nature."
Long before the advent of man upon the globe, there was a period when huge crocodiles swarmed in the rivers of the temperate zones. The diminished heat ofthe temperate regions of the earth, as we know them to-day, has driven these scourges of all that live in the waters they frequent into the great rivers and lagoons of the torrid zone.
The crocodile is characterized by the depressed head, so indicative of a low order of intelligence; the vast jaw, which, armed with formidable rows of conical teeth, seems designed to snatch and to swallow; and the elongated, mud-colored body, with its long lizard-like tail, resting on short legs. These all stamp him with a peculiar ugliness and frightfulness.
The female crocodile generally lays her eggs, like the sea turtle, in a hole in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched by the potent rays of a tropical sun. These eggs are about the size of those of a goose, and are covered with a limy shell.
The young of the crocodile have numerous enemies. Many an egg is destroyed by the smaller flesh-eating animals, or by birds, before it can be hatched in the hot sand. Even if the eggs hatch, no sooner do the young creep out of the broken shells and instinctively move towards the water, than the ichneumon, a species of weasel, and the long-legged heron make haste to swallow them; hence their span of life is not usually a long one.
Should they escape these enemies and take refuge in the water, they become the prey of the different sharp-toothed fishes. Even the full-grown crocodile, in spite of its bony covering, is not exempt from attack. Like many other of the lower animals, when surprised, it endeavors to escape by feigning death. Crocodiles are very numerous in the river Shiré. On one occasionsome travelers on board a small vessel counted sixty-seven of them basking in the sun on the same bank.
Women, while drawing water, are sometimes seized by these creatures, and the protection of a fence is required to keep the crocodiles from the river's brink. It is the scourge of the lakes and rivers wherever it is found. Like the eagle among birds, or the lion among beasts, so is the crocodile among reptiles.
Its main food consists of fishes, various aquatic birds, and such animals as it can seize along the borders of the water. It is not only a powerful foe but a cunning one as well.
Like the various carnivorous animals, it can, though a reptile, fast in its aquatic home for weeks and even months without apparent inconvenience. When opportunity offers, it becomes a veritable glutton, and is then indolent and torpid at the close of its meal.
It is when excited by hunger that the crocodile displays its great force and activity. Wherever a river enters a lake, or where a lake empties its waters into some larger body, there the ugly reptile may be found lurking, on the watch for fish. As these pass in the rapidly moving waters, it darts upon them with astonishing velocity.
Again, it conceals itself near where animals have their favorite drinking spot, and rushes out upon the unsuspecting creatures as they approach the water's edge. In the same way it seizes upon the various water birds; often it swims quietly and warily under them and pulls them down by their legs.
Sometimes the crocodile is carried inland by floods,but, as a general rule, it does not advance far on shore in search of prey. On land it is not difficult to escape from its attack; for its legs are poorly fitted for running and the construction of its neck is such as to prevent its turning easily from one side to the other when in pursuit of a victim.
Winter is the most favorable time for catching the crocodile; then it may be found on the sand banks basking in the warm rays of the sun. Spring, too, is a favorable season, for the mother reptile keeps watch over the sand hills where she has deposited her eggs; and the native who is so successful as to discover this place digs a hole in the sand to the leeward and throws up the earth on the side from which he expects the crocodile to approach. He then conceals himself and awaits its coming. If the reptile has failed to observe him, it soon comes to the accustomed spot and falls asleep. The native huntsman then throws his harpoon with all his might into the creature; for, to make the stroke successful, the iron of the harpoon must penetrate to the depth of four inches. As soon as it is wounded, it rushes into the water. Then the huntsman retreats to the canoe, which a companion has brought to his aid.
When a crocodile is struck by the harpoon, it lashes violently with its tail and tries to bite the rope in two. To prevent such a thing happening, the rope is not woven, but consists of about thirty separate fine lines bound together at intervals of every two feet. These separate lines often get between the creature's teeth or become tangled about them.
As it moves through the water, a piece of wood attached by a long cord to the harpoon swims upon the surface; this serves to indicate the direction the creature is taking. By pulling upon the rope the natives drag the crocodile to the surface and soon pierce it by a second spear. It frequently happens, however, that the harpoon is pulled out of its body, and thus the prize escapes.
In some of the rivers of Africa the natives are very bold and skillful in attacking the crocodile in the water. Their mode is to arm themselves with a short dagger, dive beneath the reptile, and plunge the weapon into its body. Often the combat becomes a very fierce one, and the only chance of escape on the part of the native is to force his dagger, or, if by any misfortune he has lost this, to thrust his thumbs into the reptile's eyes with all his strength, thus causing great pain and loss of sight.
Among the ancient Egyptians the crocodile was an object of worship, and thus held sacred. In consequence of this idolatry, it became very bold and troublesome. Had it not been for its natural enemy, the ichneumon, this reptile would have increased to an alarming extent in the Nile countries.
Probably no insect is of more interest in Africa than the termite, or white ant. It is found in vast numbers and may well be dreaded. The amount of damagean army of termites can do is quite appalling; for, in their line of travel, they destroy everything in their pathway.
Du Chaillu devoted the greater part of his leisure hours to studying the habits of the many species of these white ants, the nests of which are very conspicuous on the prairies. He describes them as having wonderful diversity, not only in the form of their bodies and heads, but in their architectural tastes. One species builds a mushroom-shaped structure. Their singular hives are shaped like gigantic mushrooms scattered by tens of thousands over the prairies.
Du Chaillu believed these white ants of the prairies to be of a very different species from those which live in subterranean nests, and make their appearance through the floor of one's hut, removing all substances made of cotton or wood that they find in their pathways. They seemingly have a very keen sense of smell. They are very fond of eating wood, and are often found in dead trees.
One may go to bed with no fear from these little creatures, since no sign of them has been seen, and awake in the morning to find little covered passages overspreading the floor, chests of clothing, and the various stores, and to discover with dismay that the contents of the chests and of the store closets have been entirely destroyed by the thousands of busy ants, that, like an invading host, are engaged in working destruction with their sharp jaw-blades. Wood and cotton are the only materials they destroy; wool and silk they invariably spare.
Another species of ant which this author describes lives in the forest and is a very near neighbor of the other. He called it the tree ant from its habit of building hives or nests in trees.
Many of the nests of the termites are conical or turret-shaped, and are often twelve, sometimes twenty feet high; they are built in groups like villages. While there is a variety of termites most destructive in their line of march across a country, yet, in some ways, they are very useful; for they destroy every kind of decaying matter, whether animal or vegetable. They will, when pressed for food, eat even grass. Some writers have described the snapping of the mandibles of such a vast multitude of termites as resembling the sound of a gentle breeze among trees.
These termites have been known to attack the woodwork of houses; they can soon destroy even the stoutest timbers, gnawing them till they become mere shells. Some extraordinary stories have been told of their attacking and devouring large animals. Very probably, however, they do this only when the animal is very feeble from illness or old age.
Wherever food is to be found, they come in great hosts, and it is very hard to exterminate them; for, as fast as one multitude is disposed of, other multitudes press on from the rear ranks. They gather into their nests great stores of corn. The natives of Africa are very fond of it and often help themselves from these stores.
The natives often use these insects as food, and consider them very delicate and delicious eating when roasted. Sometimes they are pounded by the nativesinto a kind of jam, which the boys and girls of Africa like as well as American children do raspberry or currant jam.
It is no uncommon thing for hunters out searching for game, or even wild animals looking for prey, to mount the hills made by the termites to get a view of the surrounding country; for, so hard do the plastered tops of the unique dwellings of these most curious of masons become, when dry, that they easily sustain the weight of a human being, and even of a beast of the plain.
While the devastation which an army of termites leaves behind in its march is appalling, yet an army of locusts is still more destructive; for it often leaves the country in its line of march as bare as if no vegetation had ever grown there. Africa suffers in no small degree from the inroads of this enemy, small in size, but great in numbers.
Livingstone, in his travels in South Africa, speaks of the hills erected by the termites. These gigantic mounds, as he terms them, are utilized by the natives, who choose their sides as choice spots for rearing early maize, tobacco, or anything which requires a rich soil.
In the parts through which he passed these mounds were generally covered by masses of wild date trees. The fruit was small, for no tree was allowed to stand long. Food was abundant and the natives did not care to spend their time preserving wild fruit trees. So, when a date palm grew too tall for its top to be reached, as soon as the fruit was ripe it was cut down, in order that there should be no occasion to climb it; for it was considered too much trouble to do so.
Speaking of the swarming from a nest of these ants, he describes them as rushing out of a hole in a perfect stream, and, after flying one or two hundred yards, descending to the ground. If they lighted upon a soil suitable for founding a colony, they immediately bent up their tails, unhooked their wings, and, leaving them on the surface of the ground, quickly began their mining operations.
These wings seem formed only to help the insect in its short flight to a new abode and are then cast aside.
Occasionally this swarming occurs in a house, and, to prevent every corner from being filled with the insects, a fire is built at the orifice of the nest. But they do not hesitate to pass through the fire. While swarming they appear like snowflakes floating about in the air, and it is not uncommon to find dogs, cats, hawks, and almost every kind of bird busily devouring them.
The natives take advantage of the swarming season and collect the ants for food. They are then about half an inch long, about as large round as a goose quill, and very plump. When roasted, they are good eating and resemble grains of boiled rice. The general mode of catching them is to dig into the hill, and as the builders come forth to repair the damage, to sweep them quickly into some cooking utensil.
A singular animal of South Africa is the earth hog. Its food consists wholly of the white ants, whose dome-like structures are found in great numbers in the vicinity of the Orange River, and in other thinly settled localities.
This animal burrows a short distance below the surfaceof the ground. During the daytime it is seldom seen; at dusk, however, it ventures forth, intent on creeping up to the ant-hills which shelter its prey. By scratching a hole on the side of one with its fore-feet the little community is disturbed; and as the ants in their confusion run about in various directions, they are easily drawn into the earth hog's mouth by its long slender tongue.
Though apparently defenseless,—for it has no tusks nor efficient teeth,—no animal is safer in its concealment, for it is very rarely seen. When pursued, it burrows a retreat for itself with astonishing speed.
Although Africa may well be considered the home of the black man, yet we must not fail, in considering the people of the dark continent, to refer to the annals of history for many interesting facts about them.
From the days of the remotest antiquity, two Asiatic branches of the human family extended their area southwest into Africa. The emigrants called Hamites, peopled Egypt, Libya, and Numidia. They furnished us with the earliest annals of history; for they invented the hieroglyphics and the arts for which Egypt was celebrated. Their successors, the Semites, who followed them from Asia, spread all over the northern and eastern sections of the continent. Followers of Mohammed,they carried his faith with them in their journeying and laid the foundation of the Mohammedan religion as we find it in the sections along the Mediterranean Sea. As Arab traders they have extended their journeys into the very heart of the continent to carry on the traffic of ivory and slaves.
The black race is native to Africa. It is divided into three great branches, each of which is divided into numerous tribes and again subdivided into kingdoms.
Thenegroes, or true blacks, are native to Central Africa. They inhabit the great coasts of Guinea and Senegambia in West Africa, and also the great tract of country which extends eastward through the Soudan, the "Land of the Blacks," to the valley of the Nile. Most of the freed men of the United States are descendants of the negroes of the Guinea coast, who, having been captured as slaves, were shipped across the sea to America and sold into bondage.
Thenegroidbranch of the African race is doubtless of mixed ancestry, descended from the true negro and from the white race inhabiting North and East Africa. It is a well-marked branch, showing plainly the mixed ancestry of the people. The various tribes occupy Nubia, the high grassy plains of East Central Africa, which include the lake region and the basin of the Upper Nile, and the vast territory which contains the watersheds of the mighty Congo and Zambesi Rivers. The various tribes known as Kaffirs, Zulus, Bechuanas, and the many tribes of Bantu in the south of Africa all belong to thenegroidbranch.
A third branch, thenegrillos, or dwarfs, are a people of small stature. Some of the tribes are found in the thick forests that lie along the northern side of the Congo River. In South Africa we find them represented by the Bushmen, one of the lowest grades of the human family, occupying the land bordering on the Kalahari Desert. The Hottentots are somewhat larger in stature and of a higher order of intelligence. They very likely are of a mixed ancestry, having descended from a mingling of the Bushmen and some of the tribes of thenegroidbranch in this region.
Notwithstanding that there are but three branches of the native people of Africa, yet owing to their division into numberless tribes, each bearing its own special name, almost as much difficulty is found in tracing their origin as in trying to discover the source of any of the great rivers from their various tributaries which form a network over the country.
We shall later in our reading obtain some knowledge of the Moorish pirates who infested the Mediterranean Sea and who had their headquarters at Algiers.
It is due to the French nation that since 1830 the magnificent port of Algiers has been open to all the fleets of the world, and the coast of the Mediterranean, freed from pirates, has been accessible to all the navies of the world, should they choose to occupy it.
The attention of the French is now turned toward ridding the great sea of sand which extends between Northern Africa and Central Soudan from the fierce Tuaregs that still occupy it. They are a race as wild and barbarous—yes, as lawless—as were ever the terriblepirates of the Mediterranean Sea. They may be termed the brigands of the desert.
They roam over the vast region between Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli in the north, and Lake Tchad in the south. Mounted upon racing camels, they go upon raiding expeditions and seek the oases, with which the great desert is strewn, for refuge and to replenish their stores. Until recently these mysterious Sahara tribes have seemed determined to bar the road to their territory against all white men.
Who are the Tuaregs? From whence came they? It is believed that they are remnants of the Berber tribes of Northern Africa, who occupied the Libyan Desert. The Romans and other nations, together with the Arabs, from time to time drove them back into the great desert.
The raid and conquest of the Arabs was fierce and bitter. Some of these Berber tribes had been Christians for six centuries and had formed the flourishing African church to which St. Augustine belonged and did not readily forsake their faith to adopt that of Mohammed. In consequence their land was confiscated and their olive orchards burned. Early in the ninth century this work of persecution began, and for two hundred years these people had been crowded back into the desert.
Their homes gone, the migrating Berbers had no way of preserving the annals of the exodus of their tribes into the wilderness; for they had no written language, and in the course of time their memory became dimmed as to their history. They are called Tuaregs by the Arabs, meaning "those who have renounced."
All memory of their ancient faith has been lost. The Latin cross, which was its emblem, is found on the hilts of their swords and in the ornaments on the bridles of their racing camels, but the Tuaregs, descendants of these ancient Berbers of Christian faith, have no knowledge of its significance.
The only occupations of these people are their wars and the long expeditions across the desert. Mounted upon swift camels, they traverse its vast extent. Their faces, which are concealed by a black veil, remind one of the mailed knights of the Middle Ages. No one has ever seen the face of one of these Tuareg warriors uncovered. The Arabs term them the "Veiled Ones."
The fineness of the texture of the veil with which a Tarki, a native of one of these tribes, conceals his features is indicative of his social rank. If of the higher class, he wears his veil night and day. The strongest proof of friendship he can give is to raise his veil and show his features while talking to any one.
A Tarki of noble rank wears a high cap of red cloth decorated with large black tassels. His upper garments consist of a long white shirt bound about the waist by a broad red scarf, and a sleeveless blouse of some black material adorned with costly gold and silver embroidery. His lower garment is a pair of wide white Turkish trousers which reach to the instep. On his feet lie wears sandals made of goat skin. On his chest are small leather bags or metal cases; these contain amulets, generally large emeralds, of which rich deposits are found in the Sahara. Woven bands of leather fasten these bags or cases to his neck.
For weapons the Tarki carries a short dagger and a well-sharpened saber. These are fastened to his arm by a copper bracelet. The hilts of these weapons are always in the form of a Latin cross, and are adorned with five nails of copper arranged to represent a cross. He wears a two-handed sword suspended from his neck by a strong cotton cord, ending in two large tassels.
When out on an expedition the Tuaregs plant their long iron spears, inlaid with copper, in the ground, whenever they stop for the night or to rest awhile, and take a squatting position beside them.
Two or three iron javelins carefully sharpened are always fastened to the back or pommel of the saddle of a noble Tarki. These he can hurl to a great distance with considerable skill. As a means of defense he carries an oblong shield made of antelope skin and large enough to cover his whole person. Firearms he scorns to use.
In appearance the Tuaregs are tall, slender, and well formed. In disposition they are grave, silent, impassive, and affect an indifference to their surroundings. In character they are proud, cunning, quarrelsome, and tenacious. They are very excitable, brave, and enduring, and no privation nor fatigue can dishearten them. In their intercourse with others their hatred knows no pity, their vengeance no mercy.
They are the terror of the caravans that cross the desert, where every living being is an enemy. Whenever a solitary man appears on the dim horizon, the caravan makes ready for battle. It never thinks of approaching a well without sending out an advance guard to see if it is safe to proceed.
In attacking a caravan the Tuaregs first send out scouts in advance. These men are not armed, and under pretense of seeking food or by offering their services as guides, try to mingle with the caravan. Their object is to lead it to wells near which they know their warriors are lying in wait hidden behind sand hills.
Night is the time usually chosen for an onslaught, and generally at watering places a long distance apart. It is the custom for a caravan to stop several days at a well to allow the camels an opportunity to graze. A herd may thus be a long way from the main part of the caravan, and it is at such a time, when the forces are divided, that the Tuaregs usually make an attack.
In their rough life and hard struggle for existence they have become veritable outcasts. They are Mohammedans in name only, and do not repeat the five daily prayers with their faces turned toward Mecca; neither do they take their daily ablutions in the sand, as the prophet required. They use the Koran only when taking an oath, and are very faithful in keeping their pledges.
A curious custom, not unlike that which existed in the Middle Ages between the warrior knights and the religious orders, prevails; for the nobles leave the duty of praying to the tribes that form the middle classes. These tribes were formerly noble, but are now in a half-servile condition. They are excluded from certain privileges enjoyed by the warriors, to whom they pay heavy tribute in cattle, slaves, and dates. Aside from this they enjoy perfect freedom.
The old men, the women, the children, and the slaveslive in stone houses in villages and till the fields which surround them. Their lords dwell under leather tents and move from place to place, when necessary, to find fresh pasturage.
Should the French nation succeed in subjugating these brigand tribes of the Sahara, commerce in the desert will be as safe as that upon the sea.
There are two great branches of the African people, the Somal and Galla tribes, that occupy a large portion of Eastern Africa lying south and east of Abyssinia. These tribes are entirely distinct from the negro.
The Somal tribes occupy the country described as the great eastern horn of Africa, which terminates at Cape Guardafui.
Only a small portion of the country is known to Europeans. On the north it consists of a table-land, diversified by rugged cliffs as it approaches the coast, and by a wide maritime plain as it retreats from it. Inland this table-land stretches away towards the south in immense grassy plains. Great herds of gazelles, zebras, and antelopes roam over them; and the ostrich, giraffe, and elephant are found in large numbers. The central section is famed as a grazing land for camels, ponies, cows, and fat-tailed sheep.
The numerous Somal tribes, through mingling with the Arabs, have become Mohammedan fanatics. They speak a mixed language, have tall, slight, agile figures, and in color they are slightly darker than the Arabs. They have lips and noses almost Grecian in character, but woolly hair like the negro.
The Galla tribes occupy the immense tract of country,nine hundred miles from north to south, lying south of Abyssinia in the maritime region of East Africa. Somaliland is the eastern limit. Lake Rudolph is probably its western limit, though it may have an extension to the northwest.
The country is, for the most part, unexplored. It consist of a moderately elevated plateau, dotted with isolated mountain groups and affords ample pasturage for cattle, camels, and horses.
The Galla tribes are a tall, finely formed people, who have bright, expressive eyes, and a deep brown complexion. The tribes of the various sections differ widely in their characteristics. Those occupying the southern borders of Abyssinia are brave warriors and keen traders. They are either Mohammedans or professed followers of the Christianity of Abyssinia. The southern Galla tribes are all heathen.
Just southwest of the Galla country, between the snowy peaks of Kenia and Kilimanjaro and the eastern shores of Victoria Nyanza, is a wide plateau section. This is occupied by warlike nomads. They are feared all along the maritime region, for they plunder the Arab caravans which make their way inland towards the lake region in their journey from the coast. The coast tribes live in constant fear of these marauders and are always on the alert against their attacks.
The Portuguese claim all the coast line of southeast Africa from a point near Cape Delgado, for a distance of fourteen hundred miles southward to Delagoa Bay. This possession is know as the Province of Mozambique, and is under the control of a governor appointed by theCrown of Portugal. He is aided by a small military force, mostly Portuguese convicts, and has almost unlimited authority in controlling the affairs of the settlements. The points along the coast actually occupied by the Portuguese are few and isolated.
On the mainland of East Africa we find a narrow maritime belt, ten miles in width, extending from the Rovuma to Ozi River. This is under the dominion of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Arrangements were made in 1888 and 1889 in which this coast line was to be governed by two companies, the one English, the other German.
Very recently the British East Africa Company made a formal transfer of all its territory to Great Britain. By the terms of the transaction the company surrendered its royal charter in return for the payment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. England has thus secured an immense tract of territory, a million square miles, for a comparatively small sum.
The territory over which the British Government will now assume control extends about four hundred miles along the coast northward from Umba, situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. The southern boundary line runs in a northwest direction to the intersection of the Victoria Nyanza with the first parallel of north latitude. It skirts the northern shore of the lake and extends westward as far as the boundary line of the Congo Free State.
Its northern boundary begins at the River Juba. This boundary line extends from the intersection of the river with the sixth parallel, north latitude, to the thirty-fifth meridian, east longitude, which it followsto its point of intersection with the Blue Nile. The Congo Free State and the western watershed of the basin of the Upper Nile form the western boundary line.
Now that England has come into possession of so much East African territory, we may expect to receive much interesting information about the natives, as their land becomes open to civilization and commerce. A large part of East Africa must now become known to the world, and many improvements are to be looked for. A railway of six hundred and fifty-seven miles in length has at this early date been planned from Mombassa to Lake Nyanza. No doubt this will in time affect the great caravan routes into the interior.
At present the most frequented routes lead in several parallel lines from two coast towns opposite the Island of Zanzibar, extending up through the countries of Usagara and the dry plains of Ugogo to an Arab settlement in Unyamwezi, at a distance of five hundred miles from the coast. From here several routes lead northward to the countries surrounding Victoria Nyanza. The main line, however, passes westward to an Arab station in the country of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
By means of a ferry across this wide lake the Arabs have extended their trade routes still farther west into the central country of Manyema. Here they have an important trading station on the great Lualaba, or Congo, in the very heart of Africa, fully one thousand miles west of Zanzibar.