THE STEPPES OF INNER AFRICA. 195 



gait they hobble and jump about in search of food, progressing 

 chiefly by means of their powerful hind-limbs, resting on the great 

 burrowing claws of their fore-limbs and on their heavy tail. Their 

 food consists exclusively of small creatures of all kinds, but especially 

 of the larvae of ants and termites, and of worms. Continually jerking 

 its depressed nose and snuffing about, the ant-eater trots along, and, 

 having discovered a pathway of the ants or termites, follows this 

 home. Without much difficulty it makes an opening for its long 

 snout, pushes this into the hole, and feels about with its tongue for 

 the passages along which the insects hurry and scurry. Having 

 stretched the tongue, which is viscid and thread-like, along one of 

 the chief passages, it waits until it is covered with ants or termites, 

 and then retracts it into the narrow mouth. So minute are the 

 individual morsels that this may seem a somewhat miserable mode 

 of making a meal, but the tongue is, in its way, just as effective as 

 the powerful claws, and the ant-eater makes its way through life 

 very comfortably. Nor are the animals by any means so helpless 

 as they seem. The weak pangolin is protected more effectively by 

 his armour, which is strong enough to turn a sword, than by the 

 weapons on its feet; the aard-vark is able to use its claws most 

 effectively, and can also give such smart side-blows with its heavy 

 tail that it readily gets rid of an antagonist who is not of superior 

 strength. But if a really formidable enemy draws near and is 

 detected in time, the aard-vark burrows with the utmost rapidity, 

 throwing out sand and dust with such force and in such quantities 

 that an almost impenetrable, because blinding, veil saves it from 

 attack until it is at a safe depth underground. Only to man with 

 his far-reaching weapons does it fall an easy prey, for he stabs it 

 asleep in its burrow, and kills it almost infallibly if the entrance 

 to the hole be fairly straight and not too long. Thus, fate is too 

 strong for even this old-world creature, and will sooner or later 

 wipe out its name from the book of the living. 



Among the steppe beasts of prey one of the best known and 

 most distinctive is a dog. A connecting link between the dogs and 

 the hyaenas, not only in form but to a certain extent in its mark- 

 ings, this animal the hyaena-dog or Cape hunting-dog is one of 



