44 DAYS AND NIGHTS BY THE DESERT. 



me that there are birds here very, very much, if not 

 exactly, resembling the lanklat and bandani, which 

 the Hindoos assert pick the shreds of meat from 

 between the tiger's teeth, and which the Bechuanas 

 assert perform the same duty for the lion. On first 

 hearing such strange statements, the listener is more 

 than disposed to believe that they are fabrications 

 of an inventive mind ; but when a similar story is 

 repeated thousands of miles from where the first 

 was heard, and by a people that could have no 

 communication, somehow or other you begin to 

 surmise that there must be some truth in it. After 

 all, it is not more remarkable than that a species of 

 plover picks off the leeches which adhere to the 

 crocodile's mouth now known to be the case, 

 although Herodotus, who first gave the fact to the 

 world, was dubbed a liar for his pains. 



VLEY IN THE INTERIOR. 



