THE PRIMEVAL FORESTS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 201 



blood ; and the lion succumbs to the terror which has conquered the 

 others. Only those which live in burrows are undismayed, for they 

 betake themselves to their safe retreats and let the sea of fire roll 

 over them. Otherwise it fares hardly with everything that creeps 

 or is fettered to the ground. Few snakes and hardly the most agile 

 of the lizards are able to outrun the fire. Scorpions, tarantulas, and 

 centipedes either fall victims to the flames, or become, like the 

 affrighted swarms of insects, the prey of enemies which are able to 

 defy the conflagration. For as soon as a cloud of smoke ascends to 

 the sky and gradually grows in volume, the birds of prey hasten 

 thither from all quarters, especially serpent-eagles, chanting gos; 

 hawks, harriers, kestrels, storks, bee-eaters, and swifts. They come to 

 capture the lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, beetles, and locusts, 

 which are startled into flight before the flames. In front of the 

 line the storks and the secretary-birds stalk about undaunted; 

 above them amid the clouds of smoke sweep the light-winged fal- 

 cons, bee-eaters, and swifts; and for all there is booty enough. 

 These birds continue the chase as long as the steppe burns, and the 

 flames find food as long as they are fanned by the storms. Only 

 when the winds die down do the flames cease. 



It is thus that the nomad clears his pasture of weeds and vermin, 

 and prepares it for fresh growth. The ashes remain as manure, the 

 life-giving rains carry this into the soil, and after the first thunder- 

 storm all is covered with fresh green. All the former tenants, 

 driven away in fear, return to their old haunts, to enjoy, after the 

 hardships of winter and the recent panic, the pleasures of ease and 

 comfort. 



THE PRIMEVAL FORESTS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Rich as the African steppe really is, incomparably rich as it 

 seems when compared with the desert, it nowhere exhibits the full 

 luxuriance of tropical vegetation. It indeed receives everywhere 

 the blessing of life-giving water; but this lasts too short a time 

 to have a permanent influence. With the cessation of the rains 



