342 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES CHAP. 



the tracks of tortoises. It was explained to me 

 that these reptiles make light scratches on the 

 ground with their claws as they walk along, and 

 these almost imperceptible marks the infant Bush- 

 men are taught to follow. No wonder they grow 

 up to be good game trackers ! 



In many parts of the countries the Bushmen 

 inhabit not only does game periodically become 

 scarce or almost non-existent, but all other sources 

 of food supply are liable at times to fail them as 

 well. 



At such times these wild people sometimes en- 

 dure the most terrible privations, and no doubt 

 numbers of them succumb yearly to slow starva- 

 tion. 



I have often met with families of Bushmen all 

 the members of which were in such a terrible state 

 of emaciation that it seemed a marvel that they 

 were still alive. In such cases the flesh appeared 

 to have almost completely wasted away from their 

 legs and arms, leaving nothing but the bones en- 

 cased in dry yellow-brown skin, whilst their faces 

 looked like skulls covered with parchment, though 

 the small black eyes still glittered from the depths 

 of their sockets. 



Whenever I have encountered Bushmen in this 

 condition, they were never actually without food, 

 but, in default of anything better, seemed to have 

 been living for a long time past on certain kinds of 

 berries, which were, so innutritious that very large 

 quantities had to be eaten to support life at all. 

 The consequence was that the bellies of these slowly 

 starving savages were always enormously distended, 

 giving them a most grotesque though pitiable 

 appearance. 



If some large animal such as a giraffe or elephant 

 be killed and given to a starving Bushman family 

 they will all manage to get to the carcase, though 



