THE EYES OF ANTELOPES 



to close quarters, and then of course it continued 

 the chase by sight. Now if this is the usual pro- 

 ceeding of African wild dogs, and I am convinced 

 that it is, the value of assimilative coloration to 

 animals on which the wild dog preys cannot be 

 very great. 



But not only do all carnivorous animals hunt by 

 scent, and rely far more upon their olfactory organs 

 than upon their keenness of sight to procure food, 

 but, as all practical hunters very well know, the 

 sense of smell is also very highly developed in all, 

 or at any rate in most, of the animals on which the 

 carnivora prey, and personally I am persuaded that 

 all browsing and grazing animals in Africa trust as 

 much to their noses as to their eyes both to avoid 

 danger and to find members of their own species. 

 The eyes of antelopes are quick to detect a moving 

 object, but they are by no means quick to notice 

 any unusual colour in a stationary object. I will 

 relate an anecdote illustrating this point. 



Early in 1883, I reached the spot on the Hanyani 

 river in Mashunaland where I intended to establish 

 my hunting camp for the season. Whilst my Kafirs 

 were chopping down trees to build the cattle en- 

 closures, I climbed to the top of the ridge at the 

 foot of which I was having my camp made. 



It was late in the afternoon, and I was sitting on 

 a rock looking over the open country to the south, 

 when I heard a slight noise, and turning my eyes 

 saw a fine male waterbuck coming towards me up 

 the ridge. I sat perfectly still, and it presently 

 walked slowly past within three yards of me and 

 then went on along the ridge, into the forest 

 beyond. As it passed me I noticed its shining wet 

 nose, and the way in which its nostrils kept 

 constantly opening and shutting at every step. It 

 was evidently listening to the noise that my Kafirs 

 were making chopping down small trees at the foot 



