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Ch. XXXIX.] 



OF QUADEUPEDS. 



359 



Sontliern Africa to the vicinity 



Duiiiig 



their 

 r them 



migrations 



of the Malaleveen Eiver. 

 they are followed by lions, who 



The migratory swarms of the springbok, or Cape antelope, 

 afford another illustration of the rapidity with which a species 

 under certain circumstances may be diffused over a continent. 

 When the stagnant pools of the immense deserts south of the 

 Orange Eiver dry up, which often happens after intervals of 

 three or four years, myriads of these animals desert the parched 

 soil, and pour down like a deluge on the cultivated regions 

 near the Cape. The havoc committed by them resembles that 

 of the African locusts ; and so crowded are the herds, that 



midst 



victims 



immediately 



t 



Dr. Horsfield mentions a singular fact in regard to the 

 geographical distribution of the Mydaus meliceps^ an animal 



intermediate 



It inhabits 



Java, and is ^ confined exclusively to those mountains 

 which have an elevation of more than 7,000 feet above the 

 level of the ocean ; and there it occurs with the same reo-u- 

 larity as many plants. The long-extended surface of Java, 



Pig. 131. 



Myda^as meliceps, or badger-headed Mydaus. Length, including the tail, 16 inches- 



abounding with isolated volcanos with conical points wliicli 

 exceed this elevation, affords many places favourable for its 

 resort. On ascending these mountains, the traveller scarcely 

 fails to meet with this animal, which, from its peculiarities, 



. _^- On the authority of Mr. Campbell. f Cuvier's Animal Kingdom by Grif- 



Library of Entert. Know., Menageries, fiths, vol. ii. p. 109. Library of Entert. 



vol. i. p. 152. 



Know., Menageries, vol. i. p. 3G6. 



I'- 



