In a Primeval Forest 



some plovers and night-herons, numerous sea-swallows 

 as well as seagulls; snipe (Gallinago media, Frisch.), and 

 the strange painted snipe (Rostratitla beiigalensis, L.), the 

 Actophylus africanus, and marsh-fowl (Ortygometra 

 pnsilla obscura, Xeum.), spurred lapwing (Hoplopterus 

 specws2is, Lcht.), and many other species. Now there 

 rings out, distinguishable from all the others, the clear 

 cry to me already so familiar and so dear of the 

 screeching sea-eagle, that most typical frequenter of 

 these riverside regions of Africa and so well meriting 

 its name. A chorus of voices, a very Babel of sound, 

 breaks continually upon the ear, for the varieties of small 

 birds are also well represented in this region. The most 

 beautiful of all are the cries of the organ -shrike and of the 

 sea- eagle. The veritable concerts of song, how r ever, that 

 you hear from time to time are beyond the powers of 

 description, and can only be cherished in the memory. 



There is a glamour about the whole life of the African 

 wonderland that recalls the forgotten fairy tales of child- 

 hood's clays, a sense of stillness and loveliness. Every 

 curve of the stream tells ot secrets to be unearthed and 

 reveals unsuspected beauties, in the forms and shapes of 

 the Phcenix palms and all the varieties of vegetation ; in 

 the indescribable tangle of the creepers ; in the ever- 

 changing effects of light and shade ; finally in the sudden 

 glimpses into the life of the animals that here make their 

 home. You see the deep, hollowecl-out passages down to 

 the river that tell of the coming and going of the hippo- 

 potamus and rhinoceros, made use of also by the crocodiles. 

 It is with a shock of surprise that you see a specimen of our 



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