348 ifcfnGS of tbe 1Rot>, IRffle, an& 6un 



passage so admirable in spirit and style that I cannot 

 refrain from quoting it : 



"There have been discussions as to who is king 

 among the beasts, and to this day the lion is generally 

 given the title. But look down that narrow game- 

 track A lion is coming up it from the water. As 

 he turns the curve in the winding path he sees that a 

 rhinoceros or buffalo is coming down to drink. He 

 slinks into the bush, lies very low, gives them the road, 

 lets them pass well by, and then resumes his interrupted 

 way. If this is the king, he is exceedingly courteous to 

 his subjects one might even think just a little in awe 

 of some of them. King of the cats in Africa he may be 

 and is ; but king of the beasts he is not. 



Come with me to a desert pool some clear moonlight 

 night, when the shadows are deep and sharply cut, and 

 the moon herself, in the dry, cloudless air, looks like 

 a ball. All is nearly as bright as day, only the light is 

 silver, not gold. Sit down on that rock and watch the 

 thirsty animals as they drink buffalo, rhinoceros, 

 antelope, quagga, and occasionally, if the water is 

 large, lions too. But what has frightened the antelope 

 and quagga that they throw their heads up for a second 

 and fade away into the shadows? The other beasts, 

 too, are listening, and now leave the sides of the pond. 

 Nothing but the inevitable, irrepressible jackal, that 

 gamin amongst wild things, remains in view. As yet 

 your dull human ears have caught no sound, but very 

 soon the heavy tread and low rumbling note of an 

 oncoming herd of elephants reaches you. They are 

 at the water. The jackals have sat down with their 



