238 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



The idea that colour helps any animal to escape an 

 enemy that is seeking to kill it is absurd, as all carnivorous 

 beasts hunt by scent, hearing, and speed, so the hunted 

 animal has to depend on its own scent, hearing, and speed 

 if it is to escape. 



A lion probably hardly raises his head many inches from 

 the ground when he is on the tracks of a zebra or an 

 antelope ; and as he doubtless sees better in the dark than 

 can human beings, he probably makes his last rush by 

 eyesight. In the dark it would be impossible to see more 

 than an animal's faint outline, so it matters not what its 

 colour is. After insects, reptiles are more protectively 

 coloured than any creatures, and it certainly requires very 

 quick and acute eyesight to see a slumbering puff adder, 

 but this is more a matter of habit than keen sight. The 

 puff adder's skin is a wonderful imitation of dead leaves 

 and vegetation ; but the leaves and vegetation are not 

 coloured the same in all the seasons of the year. 



If animals are supposed to be protectively coloured, why 

 do not they all change with the seasons ? I know that 

 certain animals and birds in the colder regions of the 

 world do change their covering in winter, but this can 

 be of little avail, as their enemies hunt by scent ; although 

 in the case of birds of prey their hunting is done by sight, 

 It would seem that climate has more to do with the 

 colouration than anything else, except that animals living 

 in the same climate exhibit many contrasts of colour. 



Naturalists may be convinced that certain reptiles and 

 insects are protectively coloured ; but they will never 

 convince big game hunters that colouration is of any use to 

 any animal, as it is fully proved that such is not the case. 



There is too strong a tendency to try reasoning the 

 subject from the human standpoint, whereas man, not 

 being implicated in the scheme of Nature, as it applies 

 to wild creatures, is out in the cold, so to speak. The 

 intelligence of man is capable of many wonderful things ; 

 but I do not think he will ever know much more about 

 Nature's colour scheme than he does at present. 



