CHAPTER XVII. 



AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. 

 Weaver-birds Pangolin A Leopard. 



IN the afternoon my friend went off to look for 

 some small buck among the adjoining copjes, while 

 I took my shot-gun and proceeded up the river in 

 search of anything edible or curious. If it had 

 not been the dry season, this locality would have 

 been very attractive in a botanist's eyes, but then 

 game would have been scarcer, for water would have 

 been scattered over the veldt, and not confined to 

 the one water-course. Thus the time for collecting 

 specimens of animal life is the least suited for 

 researches of the scientist in that study. 



In my route I came across a very numerous 

 herd of cattle, on the backs of which were feeding 

 large numbers of the buffalo weaver-birds (Textor 

 erythrorhynchus). My presence, or the walking, or 



