THE ZooLoGist—Maxcu, 1875. 4349 
Notes on the Natural History of South Africa. 
By R. B. and J. D. S. Woopwarp, of Natal. 
A LEARNED writer, speaking of Biography, says that if any one 
were only to describe faithfully the smallest events of his life, they 
could not fail to interest the reader. Cannot the same be said of 
Natural History—that every honest student of Nature must learn 
something worth noting? Why are White and Waterton always 
esteemed such delightful naturalists? Not so much from any 
great scientific knowledge of Natural History as from the reliable 
accounts they give of the habits of the animals they loved to 
watch and note. We think that if the humblest amongst us were 
only to take them as examples, and strive to add some little to 
our knowledge of animal life, at home or abroad, a great fund of 
valuable information could be obtained and preserved. 
Perhaps less is known of the Natural History of Africa than 
of any other quarter of the globe. Having lived some years in 
Natal, and being lovers of Nature in all her aspects, but more par- 
ticularly of Zoology, we hope to be able to interest the readers of 
the ‘ Zoologist’ with a few notes and gleanings on the habits of the 
animals that have come under our notice. 
The Leopard.—This animal, the “tiger” of Africa, is still plentiful 
in the wooded parts of Natal, and preys largely on the small ante- 
lopes with which the bush abounds. The Kafirs, and even the Dutch, 
eat its flesh, which they say is by no means bad—something like 
beef, although it has a coarser fibre. ‘The leopard, unless wounded, 
is generally harmless, although when hard pressed for food it has 
been known to attack and kill an unarmed native passing through 
the woods at night. Calves and sometimes full-grown cattle are 
abstracted from their “kraals” or pens, and devoured by these 
animals at their leisure; but this generally happens in the winter, 
when game is more difficult of approach—the undergrowth of 
the bush (mostly annual) being dead, the leopard finds it less 
‘easy to steal upon them. Yet this animal is very useful to the 
planter in destroying large numbers of cane-rats, the pest of the 
cane and maize fields, and on some estates it is preserved on this 
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