684 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



most of the natives devour it greedily. During the mo- 

 ments of panic the zebra's terror is Hke the horrible fear felt 

 in a nightmare, and under its influence the animal will rush 

 anywhere; but as with other wild beasts the feeling is as 

 short-lived as it is intense. If one of their number has been 

 killed the herd may wander about for a few minutes whinny- 

 ing; but after these few minutes they settle down to their 

 ordinary life business, and feed, or rest, or make love, or 

 fight as before. Night is a time of frequent panic, but 

 during the day there is little fear of present molestation, 

 and nothing either of remembrance of past or anticipation 

 of future molestation. In approaching the drinking-places 

 there is usually much watchfulness and suspicion, the ad- 

 vance being made by fits and starts, with halts and sudden 

 backward wheels; for, although the lion generally kills them 

 on the open plain, he also often lies in wait for them by 

 some much-frequented pool. 



We have already discussed the alleged " protective color- 

 ation" of big game. As regards the game of the open plains 

 protective coloration plays practically no part; and as re- 

 gards the zebra it plays absolutely no part whatever. Under 

 the glaring African sun, and in the African landscape, any 

 animal, of any color or shape, is sometimes hard to see — a 

 rhino, buffalo, giraffe, or zebra, or even an elephant; and 

 there are exceptional circumstances under which any con- 

 ceivable color or coloration scheme will merge the wearer 

 with the surroundings. But the game animals of the East 

 African plains do not rely on their coloration for their pro- 

 tection; they are colored in all kinds of ways, and they are 

 neither helped nor hurt by their coloration, whether it is con- 

 cealing or revealing. The zebra has an advertising colora- 



