AFRICAN BULL-FROG. TomopteriM adspersu.. 



Having been once benighted in a district of the Kalahari, where there was no prospect 

 of getting water for our cattle for a day or two, I was surprised to hear in the fine still 

 evening the croaking of Frogs. Walking out until I was certain that the musicians were 

 between me and our fire, I found that they could be merry on nothing else but a prospect 

 of rain. 



From the bushmen I afterwards learned that the Matlame'tlo makes a hole at the root 

 of certain bushes, and there ensconces himself during the months of drought. As he 

 seldom emerges, a large variety of spider takes advantage of the hole, and makes its web 

 across the orifice. He is thus furnished with a window and screen gratis, and no one but 

 a bushman would think of searching beneath a spider's web for a Frog. They completely 

 eluded any search on the occasion referred to ; and as they rush forth into the hollows 

 filled by the thunder-showers when the rain is actually falling, and the Bechuanas are 

 cowering under their skin garments, the sudden chorus struck up simultaneously from all 

 sides seems to indicate a descent from the clouds. 



The presence of these Matlame'tlo in the desert in a time of drought was rather a 

 disappointment, for I had been accustomed to suppose that the note was always emitted by 

 them when they were chin-deep in water. Their music was always regarded in other 

 spots as the most pleasant sound that met the ear after crossing portions of the sandy 

 desert ; and I could fully appreciate the sympathy for these animals shown by ^Esop, 

 himself an African." 



It is a large and handsome species, but becomes duller in colour as it increases in age. 

 The young, however, are very lightly tinted. The general colour is greenish brown above, 

 with a decided rusty wash, variegated with mottlings of reddish brown, and streaked and 

 spotted with yellow. The green takes a brighter and purer hue along the sides of the head 

 and legs. The abdomen is yellow, mottled with orange, and the chin is striped and splashed 

 with brown. The eyes are very curious and beautiful, being of a rich chestnut hue, covered 

 with a profusion of little golden white dots, which shine with a metallic lustre. 



"When young, the yellow lines on the body are edged with jetty black, and the legs are 

 covered with bold black bars. The head is stout and rather flat, and the skin of the body 



