1440 The Zoologist — November, 1868. 



one person's special duty to protect the strips of flesh when an animal 

 is being cut up, at which time mauy scores collect, and swoop down 

 upon their prey, clutching a piece of meat with their claws, if left 

 unguarded for a momeat. Upon one occasion, the cook had just 

 cleaned a fish of about a pound and a half weight, which he laid 

 upon the ground while he stooped to blow up the fire ; in an instant 

 a large buzzard darted upon it, and carried it off." — p. 235. 



" One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and thirst brings 

 together the most incongruous elements of the animal world wherever 

 there appears the opportunity of allaying it. Thus, when the desert 

 is reduced to a state of glowing, shifting sand, and the only chance of 

 obtaining water is from those pools which at long intervals occur in 

 the bed of what was latehy a majestic river, all living creatures seem 

 to throng to these oases in the desert ; and one cannot help envying 

 the man who has enjoyed the opportunity of watching the scene so 

 closely : he might have taken a census of the species thus collected, 

 or at least informed us what are the families and tribes of birds which 

 inhabit these desert wastes. 



'• The banks of the Atbara are now swarming with small birds that 

 throng the bushes (a species of willow) growing by the water's edge ; 

 the weight of a large flock bends down the slender boughs until they 

 touch the water : this is their opportunity for drinking, as their beaks 

 for an instant kiss the stream. These unfortunate little birds get no 

 rest ; the large fish and the crocodiles grab at them when they 

 attempt to drink, while the falcons and hawks pursue them at all 

 times and in every direction." — p. 238. 



One more extract and I have done : it is impossible to quit the 

 banks of rivers teeming with crocodiles without giving to these huge 

 reptiles the honour of a passing notice, and the one I select doubtless 

 conveys a correct idea of their fearful peculiarities. 



" This evening I took a walk, accompanied by my wife, and 

 Bacheet with a spare gun, to try for a shot at guinea-fowl. We were 

 strolling along the margin of the river, when we heard a great 

 shrieking of women on the opposite side, in the spot from which the 

 people of Sofi fetch their water. About a dozen women had been 

 filling their water-skins, when suddenky they were attacked by a large 

 crocodile, who attempted to seize a woman, but she, springing back, 

 avoided it, and the animal swallowed her girba (water-skin), that, 



