44© 
oxen. 
during the night, revived my hopes ; but, heavy 
it was, it appeared to me, at the time, as if it could 
be of no service to my cattle ; for what relief were 
they likely to derive from water which disappeared 
as soon as it fell, and was instantly lost in the sand ? 
They nevertheless found means to drink of this rain, 
which I thought would be useless to them, by a 
method, the possibility of which I could never have 
suspected, and which afforded me a new opportu- 
nity of admiring the sagacity of animal instinct. 
The water, as it fell upon them, formed itself into 
drops, which, uniting, ran down their sides in small 
streams. On the commencement of the storm they 
had assembled in groups ; and, in this position, 
thronged one against the other, licked and collected 
each from the body of its neighbour the streamlets ot 
rain as it trickled down. My cattle, by this unexpec- 
ted supply, having quenched their thirst, and being 
at the same time refreshed, recovered their strength : 
but what increased my astonishment was, that the 
two I had left on the road, worn out and expiring, 
had been also revived, and doubtless in the same 
manner ; for they both joined my camp in the night ; 
and Klaas, who always took delight in being the 
first' to communicate agreeable intelligence, came to 
me at day-break, elated with joy, to inform me of the 
circumstance. 
The same author, who had abundant opportunities 
to obtain information upon the subject, assures us 
from experience, that there is no cloven-footed animal 
in which (he vital powers are more slowly renovated 
than in the ox. Having no cutting teeth in the 
upper jaw, it can pluck up the grass only with its 
lips, which, being, thick, will not allow it to crop the 
short and succulent blades of the young shoots. If 
fatigue does not leave it sufficient strengthtoruminate, 
when it meets with forage of indifferent quality, its 
stomach, for want of this second and necessary mas- 
