XXI 
AFRICAN ANTELOPES 
77 
highly inflammable, and is fired in all directions 
by the inhabitants. When a strong north wind 
is blowing, the sight is most impressive, as nothing 
appears to check the flames. The fire rushes 
onward with wild delight, crackling the hollow 
canes, licking the dried leaves off lofty branches, 
and roaring like a heavy gale as it drives forward 
in its destructive course, leaving the blackened 
ground behind as clean as a velvet pall. 
An immense extent of country may be cleared 
within a few days, if the grass is carefully ignited 
to windward, and it is a mystery how the wild 
animals arrange their retreat before the annual 
conflagration. I imagine that they are well aware 
of certain places of refuge in the dry beds of 
rivers, where the experience of the past has assured 
them of security. At any rate, they save them¬ 
selves, and reappear upon the scene within a very 
few days after the fire has destroyed all pasturage. 
This is the time for the hunter, as all animals 
are driven to the broad beds of streams, where 
green herbage is always to be found throughout 
the driest months. The borders of such rivers 
are generally fringed with nabbuk, and the 
antelopes are attracted by the small fruit, like 
miniature apples, which fall to the ground in 
quantities. 
By degrees the wind cleans the ashes from 
the surface, and although the jungles are in a 
leafless condition, as bare as our English woods 
in winter, a change takes place. The different 
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