THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 305 



of terror upon seeing Livingstone, whom they no doubt regarded 

 as some mysterious being. 



The numbers of large game above Libonta are prodigious, and 

 they proved remarkably tame. Eighty-one buffaloes defiled in 

 slow procession before the camp-fire one evening, within gun- 

 shot ; and herds of splendid elands stood by day, without fear, 

 at t\vo hundred yards distance. They were all of the striped 

 variety, and with their forearm markings, large dewlaps, and 

 sleek skins, were a beautiful sight to see. The lions here roar 

 much more than in the country near the lake. One evening 

 they had a good opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the 

 animal can make in that line. They had made their beds on a 

 large sand-bank, and could be easily seen from all sides. A 

 lion on the opposite shore amused himself for hours by roaring 

 as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual in such cases, his 

 mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate. The 

 river was too broad for a ball to reach him, so they let him enjoy 

 himself, certain that he durst not have been guilty of the im- 

 pertinence in the Bushman country. Wherever the game abounds, 

 these animals exist in proportionate numbers. Here they were 

 very frequently seen, and two of the largest seemed about as 

 tall as common donkeys ; but the mane made their bodies appear 

 rather larger. 



SINGULAR BIRDS, REPTILES AND ANIMALS. 



ROWING along the river, there were always interesting sights 

 of birds, reptiles, and animals. Fish-hawks sailed through the 

 air, or attacked the full-pouched pelican ; the alligator-bird, the 

 tinc-tinc-tinc, or iron-beating bird, the great ibis, the rhinoceros- 

 bird, and a thousand other singular species. Numbers of iguanos 

 sat sunning themselves on overhanging branches of trees. They 

 are highly esteemed as an article of food, so the chief boatman 

 sits at the bow of his canoe armed with a javelin to spear those 

 that are not too quickly out of sight. 



The rapids in the part of the river between Katima-molelo and 

 Nameta are relieved by several reaches of still, deep water, fifteen 

 or twenty miles long. In these very large herds of hippopotami 



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