410 THE TROnCAL WORLD. 



green thing in their -course, and ruin in a single night the 

 fruits of the farmer's toil. The course they adopt is generally 

 such as to bring them back to their own country by a route 

 different from that by which they set out, but this march is 

 not effected with impunity. The lion, the hyaena, the panther, 

 and, above all, man, make great havoc in their ranks ; many 

 also perish from want of food, the country to which they have 

 migrated being unable to support them, and comparatively few 

 return to their native haunts. 



While the springbok prefers the level plains with short grass, 

 where it may be able to watch the approach of an enemy, the 

 Eeedbok {Eleotragos arundinaceus) ; selects for its favourite 

 haunts the low groimds covered with a dense growth of reeds. 

 It generally remains concealed until the hunter approaches, 

 then suddenly starts up and flies to a short distance, when it 

 stops and turns round to have a look at its pursuer. At the 

 same time it utters a peculiar sneezing cry, evidently meant as 

 a warning signal to its comrades, but which frequently proves 

 the cause of its own destruction by attracting the enemy's 

 attention. 



The dense bush-forests of Africa harbour several kinds of 

 antelopes, among others the Duiker [Gephalophus mergens), 

 who at the approach of man plunges or dives, as it were, into 

 the thicket, and glides so quietly through the bushes that he 

 seems to have vanished, and the neat little Atro or Ben Israel 

 of Abyssinia (Gejphalojphus hemprichii), w^hich even the sharpest 

 eye is scarce able to detect in its flight, so nearly does its 

 colour resemble that of the dim underwood through which it 

 makes its escape. In thickets which would be utterly impas- 

 sable by the larger big-horned antelopes, the Atro finds an 

 admirable refuge, particularly in the green forest borders of the 

 water-courses, where it enjoys the shade under a thick canopy 

 of leaves. 



The Gremsbok [A. Oryx) is supposed to have given rise to the 

 fable of the unicorn, from its long straight horns when seen in 

 profile, so exactly covering one another as to give it the 

 appearance of having but one. This robust and noble antelope, 

 which when adult measures little less than four feet in height 

 at the shoulder, possesses the erect mane, long sweeping black 

 tail, and general appearance of the horse, with the head and 



