In Wildest Africa ^ 



their own to the wild animals.' Thus the oryx antelope 

 became the "gemsbock," and the cow-antelope, because 

 It was tenacious of life and difficult to kill, the " harte- 

 beest." The gnu, on account of its wildness, was called 

 the " wildebeest," the bustard the " pauw.'-' the hyena the 

 "wolf," and the giraffe- incredible though it may seem— 

 the " kameel " ! Hand in hand with this went the changing 

 of place-names : so we read of " Hartebeests Fontein,"''' 

 "Olifants River," " Kameeldoorn," " Zwartkop,"' and we 

 have a whole series of unpleasant, and sometimes utterly 

 ugly names by the introduction of which the beautiful 

 aboriginal names of various places have become obsolete. 

 Ihus not only do the primitive inhabitants of the land 

 disappear, but their names, too, are blown away upon 

 the wind. 



Countless are the voices that resound by day in the 

 Nyi'ka. P,ut by night these voices speak still more 

 mysteriously and wonderfully to him who listens to them, 

 bringing him into still closer union with nature. From 

 the multitude of these voices I choose a tew only. 



Old memories come back to me! It is in the year 

 1896. I have just landed, and am sitting in mv night 

 shooting-encampment by an inlet of the sea near Dar- 

 es-Salaam. A concert of the voices of nocturnal birds 

 ■singles with the sharp buzz of the mosquitoes. Again 

 and again one hears a strange cry. Unspeakablv ''sad 

 and mc^notonous, this peculiar sound rings out over the 



' Unrortunalcly such ridiculous and ugly „ames as i;emsbock, harle- 

 l)ee.st, wildebeest, etc., have gradually come into general use. 

 ^ Piunv is Dutt-li U}\ pcacoc/i. 



286 



