22 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES CHAP. 



sunlight I could see with the naked eye the black 

 and white striping of their coats up to a distance 

 which I estimated at about 400 yards. Beyond 

 that distance they looked of a uniform dark colour 

 when the sun was behind them, and almost white 

 when the sun was shining on them. But at what- 

 ever distance they happened to be on the open 

 plain between myself and the horizon, their forms 

 showed up quite as distinctly as those of a herd 

 of cattle or horses. Never in my life have I seen 

 the sun shining on zebras in such a way as to 

 cause them to become invisible or even in any way 

 inconspicuous on an open plain, and I have seen 

 thousands upon thousands of Burchell's zebras. 

 Should these animals be approached when standing 

 amongst trees with the leaf on, they are not at all 

 easy to see, and the whisking of their tails will 

 probably be the first thing to catch one's eye ; but 

 in open ground, and that is where they are usually 

 met with, no animals could be more conspicuous. 

 I have seen zebras too by moonlight, but that was 

 many years ago, and I did not then take any special 

 note of their appearance ; but my impression is that 

 they were no more invisible than other animals, but 

 looked whitish in colour when the moon was shining 

 on them, and very dark when it was behind them. 

 As, however, zebras have a very strong smell, and 

 lions usually hunt them by scent and at night, 1 

 cannot think that their coloration, whether it be 

 conspicuous or not, matters very much to them, 

 though I look upon the theory that the brilliantly 

 striped coats of these animals render them in reality 

 inconspicuous as absolutely untenable, as it is not 

 in accordance with fact. 



When in East Africa I came to the conclusion 

 that not only the zebras, but also the impala ante- 

 lopes which are of a much richer and darker red 

 than in South Africa were conspicuously coloured, 



