THE PLAINS. 99 



In this matter of scent the plain-dwellers are very lacking when compared 

 to the bush-dwellers. The latter can wind human beings and animals at 

 extraordinary distances, often in spite of the intervening bush, which holds the 

 breeze to a certain extent. Inferior as are the buck of the plains in this sense 

 of smell, still they could hardly fail, with a fair breeze, to wind anything over the 

 open plains for a distance of one or two hundred yards, quite sufficient to safe- 

 guard them against most carnivora. To make up for this slight inferiority in 

 scent they are gifted with very long sight and great quickness at picking up moving 

 objects. With a stationary object, however, they are less perceptive than the 

 bush-dweller. The difficulty of picking up any object perfectly stationary is 

 well known, especially when this object is in shadow. It is wonderful how near 

 some of the plain animals will approach without seeing you if you remain quite 

 still, even if sitting in the open. 



They rely on locating an enemy as a moving object in the distance more 

 than as a stationary object close at hand. Any movement would attract their 

 notice, but once they get close to a stationary object they seem to look every- 

 where past and beyond it. These grass-feeders of the plains lead too easy and 

 sumptuous an existence, very unconducive to the development of any great 

 intelligence. As with mankind, the well-fed, fat-liver, who feels neither want nor 

 care, seldom makes his mark in the world. The qualities of a man are called out by 

 want, adversity, and poverty. So it is with animals, the well-fed, easy liver is 

 reduced almost to the level of a domestic animal fattened for the table. He 

 experiences no great joys or sorrows, and scarcely any divertisements from the 

 usual round of grazing and courting. 



The zebra, however, is a little more intelligent than the remainder of the 

 grass-feeders. He is also less callous than the others and occasionally shows 

 a little anxiety for a stricken comrade. 



A thing that always strikes one in watching these grass-feeders, is the 

 immense amount of time devoted entirely to eating. An animal that spends 

 twenty hours out of the twenty-four in doing nothing but eat has little leisure 

 or opportunity to do anything else. Beasts of prey are both higher in the scale 

 of intelligence and have more leisure at their disposal, they also often show very 

 real sorrow at the death or misfortune of a comrade. It is this which probably 

 accounts for the fact that so often a lion is not shot singly, but usually two or 

 three are shot together. With game, as a rule, the herd stampedes at the first 

 shot, but with Hons, if one member of the troop is bowled over at the first shot, 

 the remainder generally stay with the body for a little while, or at least return 



