In Wildest Africa -^ 



no other sign of the animal life of various kinds concealed 

 beneath the sea of rushes waving gently in the breeze. 

 Myriads of insects, especially mosquitoes and ixodides, 

 attack the invaders ; the animals are few that do not 

 fight shy of these morasses. They are the province of 

 the elephants, which here enjoy complete security ; of the 

 hippopotami, whose mighty voice often resounds over them 

 by day as by night ; of the buffaloes, which wallow in the 

 mud and pools of water to escape from their enemies the 

 gadflies ; and finally of the waterbuck, which are also able 

 to make their way through even the deeper regions of the 

 swamp. Wart-hogs also — the African equivalent of our 

 own wild boars — contrive to penetrate into these regions, 

 so inhospitable to mankind. We shall find no other 

 representatives, however, of the big game of Africa. It is 

 only in Central Africa and in the west that certain species 

 of antelope frequent the swamps. In the daytime the 

 elephant and the buffalo are seldom actually to be seen in 

 them, nor does one often catch sight of the hippopotami, 

 though they are so numerous and their voices are to be 

 heard. As we grope through the borders of the swamp, 

 curlew {Glareola fusca, L.) flying hither and thither all 

 around us, we are startled ever and anon by a sudden rush 

 of bush and reed buck plunging out from their resting- 

 places and speeding away from us for their life. Even 

 when quite small antelopes are thus started up by the 

 sound of our advance, so violent is their flight that for 

 the moment we imao-ine that we have to deal with some 

 huge and perhaps dangerous beast. 



In those spots where large pools, adorned with wonderful 



344 



