30 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



feels the air, but its freshness is as the freshness 

 of the tender green blades which are springing up 

 amidst the burnt stubble of the " dambo," wet 

 with dew. Presently the shafts of light dissipate 

 before the flush of the whole sky, the first blush 

 of the rising sun. Now the huge seed-vessels of 

 the kigelia trees stand out boldly against the 

 fast-brightening background, the bushes throw 

 off their phantom-like shrouds, and there beyond 

 them is a great herd of roan antelope peacefully 

 grazing the tender blades of green, slowly wend- 

 ing their way down to the little river to drink 

 their fill before the sun is high and they retire 

 to the friendly shade and cover of the bush. 

 In the yet dim light their salmon-tinted coats 

 look half white, half delicate pink ; but presently 

 the horns of an old bull are clearly distinguishable 

 as he raises his stately, maned neck and, ever 

 suspicious of the light of day, turns his black- 

 and-white muzzle round sharply and gazes for 

 the first time that day on his enemy, man. 



Whether it be that the eyes of wild game are 

 of poor value to them in the dim light of dawn, 

 or whether the night has lulled them into some 

 sense of security (unless, indeed, the prowling, 

 hungry lion has made their darkness a night of 

 terror), I do not know, but the fact remains that at 

 early dawn it is often a matter of ease to approach 

 a herd of buck in the open so closely and so 

 openly that one wonders whether some strange 

 paralysis has not come over them. 



Presently the old bull roan snorts loudly and 

 sharply, and then he raises a foreleg and stamps 

 the ground, actions born of curiosity and fear, 

 combined with, perhaps, in the case of the sable 

 and roan antelopes, a certain mingling of anger. 

 Suddenly he wheels round and moves off at a 



