16 THE PLEISTOCENE AGE [ch. i 



waterbuck cows, their big ears thrown forward, stared 

 at us without moving until we had passed. Hartebeests 

 were everywhere ; one herd was on the track, and when 

 the engine whistled they bucked and sprang with un- 

 gainly agility and galloped clear of the danger. A 

 long-tailed, straw-coloured monkey ran from one tree to 

 another. Huge black ostriches appeared from time to 

 time. Once a troop of impalla, close by the track, took 

 fright ; and as the beautiful creatures fled we saw now 

 one and now another bound clear over the high bushes. 

 A herd of zebra clattered across a cutting of the line 

 not a hundred yards ahead of the train ; the whistle 

 hurried their progress, but only for a moment, and as 

 we passed they were already turning roimd to gaze. 

 The wild creatures were in their sanctuary, and they 

 knew it. Some of the settlers have at times grumbled 

 at this game reserve being kept of such size, but surely 

 it is one of the most valuable possessions the country 

 could have. The lack of water in parts, the prevalence 

 in other parts of diseases harmful to both civilized man 

 and domestic cattle, render this great tract of country 

 the home of all homes for the creatures of the waste. 

 The protection given these wild creatures is genuine, 

 not nominal ; they are preserved, not for the pleasure of 

 the few, but for the good of all who choose to see this 

 strange and attractive spectacle ; and from this nursery 

 and breeding-ground the overflow keeps up the stock of 

 game in the adjacent land, to the benefit of the settler 

 to whom the game gives fresh meat, and to the benefit 

 of the whole country because of the attraction it furnishes 

 to all who desire to visit a veritable happy hunting- 

 ground. 



Soon after lunch we drew up at the little station of 

 Kapiti Plains, where our safari was awaiting us, " safari " 



