AFRICAN NATURE NOTES 



to the running powers of wild dogs — Curious incidents — Chasing wild 

 dogs with tame ones — One wild dog galloped over and shot — Two 

 others caught and worried by tame dogs — Wild dog shamming dead 

 — Clever escape — Chetahs overtaken on horseback — Three chetahs 

 seen — Two females passed — Male galloped down — A second chetah 

 overtaken — Great speed of trained Indian clietahs — Three chetah cubs 

 found — Brought up by bitch Pages 1 19-129 



CHAPrER VIII 



EXTINCTION AND DIMINUTION OF GAME IN SOUTH AFRICA 



NOTES ON THE CAPE BUFFALO 



lOxlinction of the l)laauwl)ok and the true cpiagga — Threatened extermination 

 of the black and wliite rhinoceros and the buffalo in South Africa — 

 Former abundance of game — Scene in the valley of Dett witnessed by 

 the author in 1873 — Buffaloes protected by the Cape Government — 

 But few survivors in other parts of South Africa — Abundance of 

 bulfaloes in former times — Extent of their range — Still plentiful in 

 places up to 1 896 — The terrible epidemic of rinderpest — Character of 

 tlie African buffalo — A matter of individual experience — Comparison of 

 buffalo with the lion and elephant — Danger of following wounded 

 buffaloes into thick cover — Personal experiences -Well-known sports- 

 man killed by a buifalo — Usual action of buffaloes when wounded — 

 Difiicult to stop when actually charging — The moaning bellow of a 

 dying buffalo — Probable reasons for some apparently unprovoked 

 attacks by buffaloes — Speed of buffaloes — Colour, texture, and abund- 

 ance of coat at different ages — Abundance of buffaloes along the Chobi 

 river — Demeanour of old buffalo bulls — "God's cattle" — Elephants 

 waiting for a herd of buifaloes to leave a ])ool of water before themselves 

 coming down to drink ....... 1 30- 1 48 



CHAPTER IX 



NOTES ON THE TSE-TSE FLY 



Connection between buffaloes and tse-tse flies — Sir Alfred Sharpe's views — 

 Buffaloes and tse-tse flies both once abundant in the valley of the 

 Limpopo and many other districts south of the Zambesi, in which 

 both liavc now become extinct — Permanence of all kinds of game other 

 than buffaloes in districts from which the tse-tse fly has disappeared — 

 Experience of Mr. Percy Reid — Sudden increase of tse-tse flies between 

 Leshuma and Kazungula during 1888 -Disappearance of the tse-tse fly 

 from the country to the north of Lake N'gami after the extermination 

 of the buffalo — History of the country between the Ciwai and Daka 

 rivers — And of the country between the Chobi and the Zambesi — 

 Climatic and other conditions necessary to the existence of the tse- 

 tse fly— Never found at a high altitude above the sea — Nor on open 

 plains or in large reed beds — "Fly" areas usually but not always well 

 defined — Tse-tse flies most numerous in hot weather — Bite of the tse- 

 tse fly fatal to all domestic animals, except native goats and perhaps 



