46 RESPECTING " TRAVELLERS' TALES. " 



they think of a book describing modern conditions ot 

 life ? " Surely, prima facie these things seem even 

 more improbable than any " traveller's tale" of former 

 days. We will ask our readers to conceive, if they 

 can, what their predecessors of a century ago would 

 say if they could be told of the great herd of humanity 

 now collected together in greater London? to say 

 nothing of such things as railway trains running up- 

 wards of a mile a minute, telegraphs, telephones, and 

 many other modern inventions,' every one of which 

 would sound in their ears, like " talk" (to use an 

 Americanism) of " the very tallest description. " 



We believe that the greater number of these old 

 gentlemen would be very apt to doubt the accuracy 

 of their respected grandson's yarns, and to say, " You 

 have breakfasted, or dined, too well, my boy ! " 



We therefore desire to explain the real facts, and 

 show that it is a very mistaken view of the case to 

 suppose that these wonderful accounts respecting the 

 mighty herds of game that have occasionally been 

 seen in South Africa and elsewhere, were generally 

 overdrawn. While we do not mean to say that 

 fictitious reports may not at times have been circulated 

 about them, we think there can be no doubt that in 

 the main the accounts given by writers of repute 

 were substantially correct. 



As regards the apparent impossibility so frequently 

 and positively asserted, of all these myriads of animals 

 being able to find subsistence upon the generally arid, 

 sterile country, where they were seen in former days, 

 it may, we think, be very safely asserted that an 

 entire popular fallacy exists upon such subjects. It 

 is not a question of permanent pasturage. Wild game 



