110 BAHIA BLANCA. 



Dr. Smith, two others, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, 

 the bos caffer, as large as a fall-gx-ovvn bull, and 

 the elan but little less, two zebras, and the quac- 

 cha, two gnus, and several antelopes even larger 

 than these latter animals. It may be supposed that 

 although the species are numerous, the individuals 

 of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr. 

 Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very 

 different. He informs me, that in lat. 24^^, in one 

 day's march with the bullock-wagons, he saw, 

 without wandering to any gi'eat distance on either 

 side, between one hundred and one hundred and 

 fifty rhinoceroses, which belonged to three species : 

 the same day he saw several herds of giraffes, 

 amounting together to nearly a hundred ; and that, 

 although no elephant was observed, yet they are 

 found in this district. At the distance of a little 

 more than one hour's march from their place of en- 

 cainpment on the previous night, his party actually 

 killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and saw 

 many more. In this same river there were like- 

 wise crocodiles. Of course it was a case quite ex- 

 traordinary to see so many great animals crowd- 

 ed together, but it evidently proves that they must 

 exist in great nuinbers. Dr. Smith describes the 

 country passed through that day as " being thinly 

 covered with grass, and bushes about four feet high, 

 and still more thinly with mimosa-trees." The 

 wagons were not prevented travelling in a nearly 

 straight line. 



Besides these largo animals, every one the least 

 acquainted with the natural history of the Cape 

 has read of the herds of antelopes, which can be 

 compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. 

 The numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hy- 

 aena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly 

 speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds : 



