THE STEPPES OF INNER AFRICA. 195 



gait they hobble and jump about in search of food, progressing 



chiefly by means of their powerful hind-limbs, resting on the great 



burrowing claws of their fore-limbs and on their heavy tail. Their 



food consists exclusively of small creatures of all kinds, but especially 



of the larvae of ants and termites, and of worms. Continually jerking 



its depressed nose and snuffing about, the ant-eater trots along, and, 



having discovered a pathway of the ants or termites, follows this 



home. Without much difficulty it makes an opening for its long 



snout, pushes this into the hole, and feels about with its tongue for 



the passages along which the insects hurry and scurry. Having 



stretched the tongue, which is viscid and thread-like, along one of 



the chief passages, it waits until it is covered with ants or termites, 



and then retracts it into the narrow mouth. So minute are the 



individual morsels that this may seem a somewhat miserable mode 



of making a meal, but the tongue is, in its way, just as effective as 



the powerful claws, and the ant-eater makes its way through life 



very comfortably. Nor are the animals by any means so helpless 



as they seem. The weak pangolin is protected more effectively by 



his armour, which is strong enough to turn a sword, than by the 



weapons on its feet; the aard-vark is able to use its claws most 



effectively, and can also give such smart side-blows with its heavy 



tail that it readily gets rid of an antagonist who is not of superior 



strength. But if a really formidable enemy draws near and is 



detected in time, the aard-vark burrows with the utmost rapidity, 



throwing out sand and dust with such force and in such quantities 



that an almost impenetrable, because blinding, veil saves it from 



attack until it is at a safe depth underground. Only to man with 



his far-reaching weapons does it fall an easy prey, for he stabs it 



asleep in its burrow, and kills it almost infallibly if the entrance 



to the hole be fairly straight and not too long. Thus, fate is too 



strong for even this old-world creature, and will sooner or later 



wipe out its name from the book of the living. 



Among the steppe beasts of prey one of the best known and 

 most distinctive is a dog. A connecting link between the dogs and 

 the hyenas, not only in form but to a certain extent in its mark- 

 ings, this animal — the hysena-dog or Cape hunting-dog — is one of 



