ANIMAL LIFE OF THE COUNTRY. 31 



for them to wander backwards and forwards between these countries. Thus, 

 bushbuck may live in bush country, and may also, equally well, inhabit forest. A 

 hippo or lechwe, however, spends part of its time in swamps or water and part in 

 open or grass country. The Lichtenstein's hartebeest spends part of the day in 

 bush and part in the open. 



In East Africa are found all the kinds of country mentioned. I will take the 

 first, the bare mountains. 



At any altitude above 11, 000ft. the forest and bamboo generally gives way to 

 bare and rocky mountain. There are, however, no game animals like the ibex or 

 the markhor, which make these rocky solitudes their habitat, or, to speak more 

 correctly, no game animal of this sort has up to the present been discovered in them. 

 In fact, Africa is very poorly represented by members of the sheep and goat tribes, 

 the only two representatives being as before mentioned, the ibex and the Barbary 

 sheep. 



By the way, it might also be of interest to mention that the only representative 

 of the deer tribe in Africa is the Barbary deer, inhabiting the same part of the 

 continent as does the sheep, viz., the Barbary States. 



These high, bare mountain summits in East Africa are almost devoid of game 

 life, except for the occasional visits of rhino and elephant coming up from the 

 bamboo and forest levels, and a few small buck which also appear to be visitors. 

 The rocky and stony kopjes of lower levels are the abodes of the little klipspringer, 

 an animal specialised to this kind of country. This little buck is, perhaps, the most 

 widely distributed buck in Africa, as he is found almost throughout the length and 

 breadth of the continent, wherever the conformation of the hills suits his particular 

 requirements. The mountain, or Chanler's, reedbuck is also often found on such 

 hills, but he cannot be said to be specialised to the kind of country, as he is also 

 found on lower and flatter grounds. 



The characteristics of mountain animals are generally hardiness, long sight, 

 sureness of foot, and the power of moving short distances over bad country at a 

 rapid pace. The sides of stony hills form also the habitat of the greater kudu, 

 and he possesses to a marked degree the last-mentioned characteristic, namely, the 

 ability to move rapidly over bad country. He is, however, a bush-feeder, and so is 

 hardly ever found on bare slopes, his favourite haunts being well-wooded, stony 

 slopes. He is occasionally found in flatter bush country, but seldom far from 

 steep hills. 



To return to the mountain animals. They are generally of sturdy and compact 

 build, and are not, as a rule, used to travelling long distances ; when disturbed they 



