II THE CAPE BUFFALO 43 



guided by scent and not by sight, and I cannot see 

 that it matters much to them whether the beasts 

 on which they prey are black or red or grey or 

 spotted or striped ; whilst, if they should happen 

 to be still hunting after daylight, any antelopes or 

 other animals feeding and movinsf about within 

 their range of vision would at once be seen whatever 

 their colour might be. Every old hunter knows 

 how easy it is to overlook any animal, no matter 

 what its colour or surroundings, as long as it is 

 motionless, and how easy it is to see it as soon as 

 ever it moves. 



I have never yet heard any explanation given of 

 the black, and therefore most conspicuous, coloration 

 of the Cape buffalo. If any animals needed pro- 

 tective coloration buffaloes certainly did, for in the 

 interior of South Africa they formed the favourite 

 food of the lion, and enormous numbers of them 

 must have been annually killed by these powerful 

 carnivora, which seemed to live with and follow the 

 larger herds in all their wanderings. 



It certainly seems very strange to me that 

 giraffes, which are very seldom killed by lions or 

 other carnivora, should have found it necessary to 

 evolve a colour which harmonises with their sur- 

 roundings, as a protection against such foes, whilst 

 buffaloes, which in many districts used once to form 

 the principal food for the lions living in the same 

 countries, have retained throughout the ages a 

 coloration which is everywhere except in deep 

 shade singularly conspicuous. Altogether, a very 

 long experience of the larger mammals inhabiting 

 Africa and some other parts of the world has 

 convinced me that neither the need of protection 

 against carnivorous foes nor the theory of recogni- 

 tion marks can satisfactorily explain all the wonderful 

 diversity of colour to be seen in the coats of wild 

 animals. 



