Oiap. XXVIII. REDUCED SIZE OF WILD ANIMALS. 371 



of the animals, that those in the districts north of 20° are 

 smaller than the same races existing southward of that latitude. 

 The full-grown male elephants on the river Zouga seemed 

 no larger than the females on the Limpopo, while here they 

 are even smaller than on the Zouga. There is, however, an 

 increase in the size of the tusks as we approach the equator. 

 The koodoos again were so much smaller than those we had 

 been accustomed to in the south, that we doubted whether 

 they were not a new kind of antelope ; and the leche is 

 succeeded to the north of 20° by the poku, a smaller species 

 of the same antelope. A similar 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 much smaller than the aboriginal cattle in the 

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

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

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

 of the sea air, 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 very small, and so also are the 

 native dogs, with the exception of the Barotse breed, which 

 are large savage-looking animals. 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. In estimating the 

 amount of food necessary for 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, such as 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 shake oft 

 the seeds; he then picks them up singly and eats them. Or 

 he may be seen standing by the masuka and other fruit trees, 

 patiently picking off the sweet fruits one by one. The 

 selection of these kinds of food accounts for the fact that 

 herds of elephants produce but small effect upon the vegeta- 

 tion of a country — quality being more requisite to them thai- 

 quantity. 



