234 MY SOMALI BOOK 



of diminution of the species, there was no influence 

 strong enough to produce a protective colouring in 

 an animal not given to colour variations ? And it 

 may be that the lion and buffalo did not meet until the 

 former had taken to hunting by night. 



It is instructive to note that the most conspicuously 

 coloured of the larger jungle animals are usually, 

 though not invariably, those who stand in least need 

 of protection. Take for instance some of the bears. 

 There is no animal so conspicuous in the Indian jungle 

 as the sloth bear, who is a vegetarian, and has no 

 eneniies but man ; there are cases on record of this 

 bear being killed by a tiger, but they are exceptional. 

 The Himalayan bear certainly has a taste for meat, 

 but he, too, is primarily a vegetarian. 



The numbers, again, of the Indian gaur that are 

 killed by tigers would probably be insufficient to affect 

 its colour in any great degree, even under daylight 

 conditions. 



There are other points of interest in Mr. Selous' 

 writings on this question, but it is time this chapter 

 came to an end. And I have attained my object if 

 I have shown, as I have tried to do, that while perhaps 

 the majority of the larger mammals, at the present day 

 and under existing conditions, can no longer be con- 

 sidered to benefit from the concealing effect of their 

 colouration ; yet that fact is not in itself any reason for 

 rejecting the theory that the necessity for concealment 

 has been in all probability the most important factor 

 in establishing the existing schemes of colouration 

 amongst animals. That, on the contrary, all the main 

 objections which have been based on the unquestionably 



