PRIMEVAL MAN 223 



the savages of present-day Africa count it one 

 of our greatest pleasures to have seen. During 

 the ages when the successive races of hunter- 

 savages dwelt in Europe a similar magnificent 

 fauna of huge and strange beasts flourished on 

 all the continents of the globe except in Aus- 

 tralia. In Europe it vanished in prehistoric 

 times, when man had long dwelt in the land. 

 In Africa south of the Sahara, and partially 

 in spots of Asia, it has persisted to this day. 

 In North America it died out before, or per- 

 haps, as regards the last stragglers, immediately 

 after, the coming of man; in South America it 

 seems clear that it survived, at least in places, 

 until he was well established. 



The three abundant and conspicuous beasts, 

 all three typical of the great mammalian fauna 

 which was contemporary with the prehistoric 

 human hunters, and all three common to all 

 the continents on which this great mammalian 

 fauna was found, were the lion — using the 

 name to cover several species of huge horse- 

 killing and man -killing cats; the elephant, in- 

 cluding several totally different species, among 

 them the mammoth and mastodon; and the 

 horse, including numerous widely different 

 species. Together with these three universally 

 distributed animals were many others belonging 



