226 After Big Game in Central Africa 



I was obliged at first to suspend my inarches because 

 of the thorns which pierced my feet through the thin 

 india-rubber soles of my shoes. The thorn breaks 

 in the wound, inflammation sets in, a gathering 

 forms, and your only means of healing yourself is 

 to extract the thorn and rest. That was the reason 

 why I was obliged to accustom myself, like the 

 natives, to looking where I was walking, and now, 

 after years of practice, I do it quite unconsciously. 

 How many times have we not seen motionless snakes, 

 looking like dead branches in the grass or on the 

 ground heated by the sun, and how many times 

 have we not narrowly escaped stepping on them ! 

 But, ever on the watch, we saw the danger, and the 

 reptile was killed or allowed to escape. 



In addition to reptiles there is a swarm of strange 

 or noxious insects in the African bush, especially 

 on the vegetation, which would require a volume 

 to describe. In the case of birds, for instance, 

 the nomenclature of those which are truly curious 

 for their habits, song, and plumage would be inter- 

 minable. I will only say a few words en passant 

 on the subject of insectivorous birds, those which 

 we often saw on our game, and which perch 

 on the backs of buffaloes, elands, old koodoos, 

 wart-hogs, and rhinoceroses, searching for parasites. 

 These birds looked black or uniformly brown, but, 

 having had the good fortune to see them closely, I 

 was surprised to find they were brilliant in colour, 

 some light-brown with pearl-gray beaks and red 

 eyes, others gray with bright -red heads. It is 



