IN BRITISH EAST AFEICA 



113 



when ill a few more minutes tlie sun will have drunk 

 up every drop of moisture ? This hour — that of breaking- 

 day — and those which succeed it, say till 10 a.m., are 

 those which we Northerners, we of the thin white skin, 

 can enjoy to the full. Cool, delicious breezes recall a 

 summer's day at home ; but here one may see a hundred 



There so the creatures 



sights one cannot see at home 

 of nio-ht, retreatino- 



before the 



commo' 



day— perky 



AARD-WOLF. 



jackals trotting along in pairs, or a grim hyena slouch- 

 ing off to his lair. This is the hour when (if ever) you 

 may encounter some of the "unseen world" — the 

 otocyon and aard-wolf, the ratel and mongoose, great 

 and small. Beyond, on the open veld, are antelopes 

 and gazelles, zebras, and perhaps giraffes, scattered, 

 feeding, far and wide. Later on, in the hot hours, these 

 assemble into troops, resting during the noontide heat, 

 and less conspicuous. 



True, during those hot hours, the game, even the 

 sentries, may be less intensely vigilant — more easy of 



