^ The Lonely Woiulcr-world of the Xyi'ka 



attention is attracted by a pair of lUitelcur eaij^lcs, that 

 wheel in tlie air, and enjoy themselves for an hour at a 

 time playing on the wing. They prol)al)ly ha\-e made their 

 eyrie not tar trom this spot. 



For minutes at a time the cry of the francolin rings 

 out clearly round about my post ; then again it is silent. 

 My eyes can indeed see animals of many kinds, and my 

 sight ranges with restless efforts over the far distance ; but 

 so far I have looked in vain for a form that is frequent and 

 familiar enough in this wilderness — the towering figure of 

 the " Twigga." 



Where can the giraffes be hiding to-day ? Why have 

 they not come out to the still freshly green acacias in the 

 tar-stretching hollow to my let^t, where I have already 

 marked their presence for whole days at a time ? 



And yet they are there, only I had failed to distinguish 

 them. At last I can make out their strange forms, as they 

 graze there among the acacias, and they stand out sharply 

 under the oblique rays of the sun. 



What poetry there is in the movements of all the 

 various organisms that our eyes behold ! Every variety of 

 gait, from the heavy, swinging, and nevertheless rapid 

 march of the pachyderms to the graceful speed of a pretty 

 gazelle, speaks in a language of its own to him who has 

 become familiar with the peculiar movements of this 

 animal world. Just as at the outset the strange appear- 

 ance of an animal one sees for the first time makes a 

 surprisingly strong impression on one, so too does the 

 great difference in the gait of the various species. But 

 they were all soon familiar to me. So now at the sight ot 



