606 ANIMALS SMALLEST WHERE FOOD MOST ABUNDANT. 



lope, with a more reddish color. A great difference in size pre- 

 vails also among domestic animals ; but the influence of locality 

 on them is not so well marked. The cattle of the Batoka, for 

 instance, are exceedingly small and very beautiful, possessing 

 generally great breadth between the eyes and a very playful dis- 

 position. They are much smaller than the aboriginal cattle in 

 the south ; but it must be added that those of the Barotse valley, 

 in the same latitudes as the Batoka, are large. The breed may 

 have come from the west, as the cattle within the influence of 

 the sea air, as at Little Fish Bay, Benguela, Ambriz, and along 

 that coast, are very large. Those found at Lake Ngami, with large 

 horns and standing six feet high, probably come from the same 

 quarter. The goats are also small, and domestic fowls through- 

 out this country are of a very small size, and even dogs, except 

 where the inhabitants have had an opportunity of improving the 

 breed by importation from the Portuguese. As the Barotse cat- 

 tle are an exception to this general rule, so are the Barotse dogs, 

 for they are large, savage-looking animals, though in reality very 

 cowardly. It is a little remarkable that a decrease in size should 

 occur where food is the most abundant ; but tropical climates seem 

 unfavorable for the full development of either animals or man. It 

 is not from want of care in the breeding, for the natives always 

 choose the larger and stronger males for stock, and the same ar- 

 rangement prevails in nature, for it is only by overcoming their 

 weaker rivals that the wild males obtain possession of the herd. 

 Invariably they show the scars received in battle. The elephant 

 Ave killed yesterday had an umbilical hernia as large as a child's 

 head, probably caused by the charge of a rival. The cow showed 

 scars received from men ; two of the wounds in her side were still 

 unhealed, and there was an orifice six inches long, and open, in her 

 proboscis, and, as it was about a foot from the point, it must have 

 interfered with her power of lifting water. 



In estimating the amount of food necessary for these and other 

 large animals, sufficient attention has not been paid to the kinds 

 chosen. The elephant, for instance, is a most dainty feeder, an^ 

 particularly fond of certain sweet-tasted trees and fruits. Hr 

 chooses the mohonono, the mimosa, and other trees which contain 

 much saccharine matter, mucilage, and gum. He may be seen 

 putting his head to a lofty palmyra, and swaying it to and fro to 



