16 THE PLEISTOCENE AGE [ch. i 
waterbuck cows, their big ears thrown forward, stared 
at us without moving until we had passed. Hartebeests 
were everywhere ; one herd was on the track, and when 
the engine whistled they bucked and sprang with un¬ 
gainly agility and galloped clear of the danger. A 
long-tailed, straw-coloured monkey ran from one tree to 
another. Huge black ostriches appeared from time to 
time. Once a troop of impalla, close by the track, took 
fright; and as the beautiful creatures fled we saw now 
one and now another bound clear over the high bushes. 
A herd of zebra clattered across a cutting of the line 
not a hundred yards ahead of the train; the whistle 
hurried their progress, but only for a moment, and as 
we passed they were already turning round to gaze. 
The wild creatures were in their sanctuary, and they 
knew it. Some of the settlers have at times grumbled 
at this game reserve being kept of such size, but surely 
it is one of the most valuable possessions the country 
could have. The lack of water in parts, the prevalence 
in other parts of diseases harmful to both civilized man 
and domestic cattle, render this great tract of country 
the home of all homes for the creatures of the waste. 
The protection given these wild creatures is genuine, 
not nominal; they are preserved, not for the pleasure of 
the few, but for the good of all who choose to see this 
strange and attractive spectacle; and from this nursery 
and breeding-ground the overflow keeps up the stock of 
game in the adjacent land, to the benefit of the settler 
to whom the game gives fresh meat, and to the benefit 
of the whole country because of the attraction it furnishes 
to all who desire to visit a veritable happy hunting- 
ground. 
Soon after lunch we drew up at the little station of 
Kapiti Plains, where our safari was awaiting us, “ safari ” 
