n8 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



of the sun have withered plants, as the hot July days welter the 

 common Dog's Mercury of English woodlands. 



Both drink and food having disappeared, small wonder the 

 Springbok should decide upon fresh pastures and start off on a 

 foraging expedition in new country. 



It must have been an engaging sight before civilization had 

 penetrated South Africa to the extent we see it to-day, to witness 

 an army of Springboks bounding across a barren, desolate plain in 

 anxious search of some fertile territory where hunger and thirst 

 might be appeased and the young fawns reared in comparative 

 luxury. 



Some idea may be gained of the immense companies that were 

 to be seen years ago, for Gordon Cumming has graphically recorded 

 the first herd he saw. He says that for two hours he watched an 

 army of Springboks which were in a solid mass, and which measured 

 at least half-a-mile in width. Mr. Protheroe states that "these 

 moving herds are called ' trekbokken,' and they are of such vast 

 dimensions that a Lion, which has tried to snatch a Springbok out 

 of a herd, has been unable to extricate himself, and in the most 

 humiliating manner has been obliged to march with the herd, unable 

 even to feed upon any of the animals which pressed him on every 

 side. A flock of Sheep has also been enveloped in one of these 

 ' trekbokken ' and carried off." 



Migration movements of animals — including birds, fishes and 

 insects — are accompanied by perilous adventures of many kinds. 

 Storms, winds, hard weather, various enemies (including man), the 

 necessity for keeping up with the onward "trek," all these have to 

 be encountered, and unknown perils hover over these wild creatures 

 during their protracted wanderings. 



The Springbok usually migrates eastwards, but, curious to 

 relate, at intervals of some twenty years an exactly opposite direc- 

 tion is chosen. Not long since, says the writer just quoted, "there 

 was a great ' trek ' to the sea, where the creatures drank greedily 

 and then died in tens of thousands. For many miles the dead bodies 

 lay along the shore, presently to putrefy and drive the few inhabit- 

 ants of the region far inland for fear of pestilence." Such is the 

 penalty involved by a sudden decision to overcome a terrible thirst, 

 and this incident shows one of the dangers to which these migratory 

 beasts are exposed. 



In size the Springbok stands about two and a half feet at the 



