A Breath from the Veldt 195 



these animals galloping along the side of the hill, followed by a pillar of dust. 

 A shot was out of the question, so I retraced my steps to the camp for breakfast, 

 before proceeding on our trek through the bush to the Nuanetsi. Burchell's 

 zebra,-^ the common zebra of South Africa, has this habit of galloping away 

 from the water after drinking. They are very cautious animals, and proceed 

 slowly to the pools before daybreak, stopping and neighing frequently, hoping 

 no doubt for an answer from others already there, to assure them that the coast 

 is clear. As they are a favourite prey of the lion, who lies in waiting for them 

 at the water-holes, they become very nervous and watchful at this hour of the 

 day, and immediately after drinking gallop oif for miles, apparently glad to 

 get away from the dangerous spot. An examination of the spoor showed that 

 this was almost invariably the case, whether in a disturbed country or otherwise, 

 as they consider the lion their chief foe. At times they show an almost stupid 

 disregard of man during the warm hours of the day. 



Some weeks after this the old man and I came on a troop of these pretty 

 creatures in quite open country. There were about seventy of them, which 

 would be a very big troop anywhere, and I must say they looked splendid. 

 Of course, as I did not want to shoot any, they trotted round us in a big 

 semicircle at about sixty yards, reminding me strongly of a spectacular scene 

 in a circus. They stopped frequently and surveyed us with curiosity, having 

 probably never seen a white man before. The hides of both the zebra and 

 the leopard, gaudy as they appear to us in our sombre climate, are amongst 

 the wonders of creation. Put a dead leopard or zebra under a tree in Africa, 

 and you will hardly notice him at fifteen yards' distance, the blendings of the 

 yellow and black, when suffused by the sun's glare, are so remarkably like the 

 dried grass and stemmed trees around. 



The habits of Burchell's zebra have been so often described that little 

 remains to be said of them. Like all the wild asses, they are full of curiosity, 

 and easily shot. They can also be readily captured by a good man on a good 

 horse, with the aid of a " fang-stock." The fang-stock is a stout stick about 

 5 feet long, furnished at the end with a running noose, which is dropped over 

 the animal's head as the rider ranges up alongside. When taken in this way, 

 they do not fight half so much as one would expect ; indeed, after being tied 

 up to a post in camp for a week, they often require no further taming, walking 



1 One of the best descriptions of a zebra was recently given by a small Scotch laddie in a Highland school, 

 when asked to describe the general appearance of the animal : " Weel," he replied, " it's just a cuddy (donkey) 

 wi' a footba' jersey on." 



