Chap. XXVm. WHERE FOOD MOST ABUNDANT. 565 



lope, with a more reddish colour. A great difference in size 

 prevails 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 

 disposition. 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, AmbrLz, and along 

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

 horns and standing 6 feet high, probably come from the same 

 quarter. The goats are also small, and domestic fowls throughout 

 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 cattle 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 unfavourable 

 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 arrangement 

 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 we killed yester- 

 day 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, and 

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

 chooses the mohonono, the mimosa, and other trees which con- 

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

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



