230 
THE LION. 
immense plains, not to mention the stately 
and beautiful giraffes, and the young of the 
elephant, hippopotamus and rhinoceros. 
Thousands and thousands of these animals 
may sometimes be seen from some eminence, 
scattered over the country in close and 
friendly neighbourhood. The antelopes and 
zebras eat the grass of the plains; the giraffes 
crop the tops of the acacia or camel-thorn 
trees; the lechees or water-bucks seek the 
rivers and marshes, where, if you should 
follow them, you might chance to stumble 
upon a white rhinoceros, hiding his un¬ 
gainly bulk in the long grass, rising from 
the bottom of the river, where he has been 
walking at his ease till the want of air 
forced him to come to the surface to take a 
long breath. A herd of springboks is dis¬ 
turbed, and the beautiful animals move off 
in magnificent bounds, rising every time 
higher than a tall man’s head and clearing 
twelve or fifteen feet at a leap. A dozen or 
more of elephants are standing lazily under 
a shade, suckling their quaint little calves 
or fanning themselves with boughs. Pre¬ 
sently the cracking of whips, the creaking 
of wheels and the shouts of drivers are 
