512 APPENDIX E 



instance, made no effort whatever to escape observation ; they 

 usually went to some drinking-place as clear of reeds as possible ; 

 but sometimes they were forced to come down to drink where 

 there was rather thick cover, in which case they always seemed 

 more nervous, more on the alert, and quicker in their movements. 

 They came down in herds, and they would usually move forward 

 by fits and starts — that is, travel a few hundred yards, and then 

 stop and stand motionless for some time, looking around. They 

 were always very conspicuous, and it was quite impossible for any 

 watcher to fail to make them out. As they came nearer to the 

 water they seemed to grow more cautious. They would move 

 forward some distance, halt, perhaps wheel and dash off for a 

 hundred yards, and then after a little while return. As they got 

 near the water they would again wait, and then march boldly 

 down to drink — except in one case where, after numerous false 

 starts, they finally seemed to suspect that there was something in 

 the neighbourhood, and went off for good without drinking. 

 Never in any case did I see a zebra come down to drink under 

 conditions which would have rendered it possible for the most 

 dull-sighted beast to avoid seeing it. Of course, I usually watched 

 the pools and rivers when there was daylight ; but after nightfall 

 the zebra's stripes would be entirely invisible, so that their only 

 effect at the drinking-place must be in the daytime ; and in the 

 daytime there was absolutely no effect, and the zebras that I saw 

 could by no possibility have escaped observation from a lion, for 

 they made no effort whatever thus to escape observation, but 

 moved about continually, and, after drinking, retired to the open 

 ground. 



The zebra's coloration is certainly never of use to him in helping 

 him escape observation at a drinking-place. But neither is it of 

 use to him in escaping observation anywhere else. As I have said 

 before, there are, of course, circumstances under which any pattern 

 or coloration will harmonize with the environment. Once I came 

 upon zebras standing in partially burned grass, some of the yellow 

 stalks still erect, and here the zebras were undoubtedly less con- 

 spicuous than tlie red-coated hartebeests with which they were 

 associated ; but as against the one or two occasions where I have 

 seen the zebra's coat make it less conspicuous than most other 

 animals, there have been scores where it has been more conspicuous. 

 I think it would be a safe estimate to say that for one occasion on 

 which the coloration of the zebra serves it for purposes of conceal- 

 ment from any enemy, there are scores, or more likely hundreds, 

 of occasions when it reveals it to an enemy ; while in the great 

 majority of instances it has no effect one way or the other. The 

 different effects of light and shade make different patterns of 

 coloration more or less visible on different occasions. There have 



