WOUNDED BUFFALO AND COMPANIONS. 509 



the part of the country which, by gentle undulations, 

 leads one insensibly up to an altitude of 5000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, I nave adopted the agricultural term 

 ridges, for they partake very much of the character of the 

 oblong mounds with which we are all familiar. And we 

 shall yet see that the mountains which are met with 

 outside these ridges, are only a low fringe, many of which 

 are not of much greater altitude than even the bottom of 

 the great central valley. If we leave out of view the 

 greater breadth of the central basin at other parts, and 

 vSpeak only of the comparatively narrow j>art formed by 

 the bend to the westward of the eastern ridge, we might 

 say that the form of this region is a broad furrow in the 

 middle, with an elevated ridge about 200 miles broad on 

 either side, the land sloping thence, on both sides, to the 

 sea. If I am right in believing the granite to be the cause 

 of the elevation of this ridge, the direction in which the 

 strike of the rocks trends to the N.N.E. may indicate that 

 the same geological structure prevails farther north, and 

 two or three lakes which exist in that direction, may 

 be of exactly the same nature with lake Ngami 

 having been diminished to their present size by the 

 same kind of agency as that which formed the falls of 

 Victoria. 



We met an elephant on the Kalomo which had no tusks. 

 This is as rare a thing in Africa, as it is to find them with 

 tusks in Ceylon. As soon as she saw us she made off. It 

 is remarkable to see the fear of man operating even on this 

 huge beast. Buffaloes abound, and we see large herds of 

 them feeding in all directions by day. When much dis- 

 turbed by man, they retire into the densest parts of the 

 forest, and feed by night only. We secured a fine large 

 bull by crawling close to a herd : when shot, he fell down, 

 and the rest, not seeing their enemy, gazed about, won- 

 dering where the danger lay. The others came back to 

 it, and, when we showed ourselves, much to the amuse- 

 ment of my companions, they lifted him up with their 

 horns, and, half supporting him in the crowd, bore him 

 away. All these wild animals usually gore a wounded 

 companion and expel him from the herd ; even zebras 

 bite and kick an unfortunate or a diseased one. It is 

 intended by this instinct, that none but the perfect and 

 healthy ones should propagate the species. In this case 

 they manifested their usual propensity to gore the 



