A STUDY IN PROTECTIVE MIMICRY 



XIII 

 A Vanishing Feature of the Velt 



WHEN men and beasts first emerged from the 

 tree called ' Omumborombongo,' all was dark. 

 Then a Damara lit a fire, and zebras, gnus, and giraffes 

 sprang frightened away, whilst oxen, sheep, and dogs 

 clustered fearlessly together." So Fritsch told us forty 

 years ago, from the ancient folk-lore of the Ova-Herero, 

 one of the most interesting tribes of South- West Africa. 

 If the photographing of wild life is only to be achieved 

 when conditions are favourable, and is beset with peculiar 

 difficulties in the wilderness of Equatorial Africa, one 

 might at least suppose that such huge creatures as elephants, 

 rhinoceroses, and giraffes could be got successfully upon 

 the " plate." But they '' spring frightened away " ! The 

 cunning, the caution, and the shyness of these animals 

 make all attempts at photographing them very troublesome 



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