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APPENDIX E 
instance, made no effort whatever to escape observation; they 
usually went to some drinking-place as clear of reeds as possible; 
but sometimes they were forced to come down to drink where 
there was rather thick cover, in which case they always seemed 
more nervous, more on the alert, and quicker in their movements. 
They came down in herds, and they would usually move forward 
by fits and starts—that is, travel a few hundred yards, and then 
stop and stand motionless for some time, looking around. They 
were always very conspicuous, and it was quite impossible for any 
watcher to fail to make them out. As they came nearer to the 
water they seemed to grow more cautious. They would move 
forward some distance, halt, perhaps wheel and dash off for a 
hundred yards, and then after a little while return. As they got 
near the water they would again wait, and then march boldly 
down to drink—except in one case where, after numerous false 
starts, they finally seemed to suspect that there was something in 
the neighbourhood, and went off for good without drinking. 
Never in any case did I see a zebra come down to drink under 
conditions which would have rendered it possible for the most 
dull-sighted beast to avoid seeing it. Of course, I usually watched 
the pools and rivers when there was daylight; but after nightfall 
the zebra's stripes would be entirely invisible, so that their only 
effect at the drinking-place must be in the daytime; and in the 
daytime there was absolutely no effect, and the zebras that I saw 
could by no possibility have escaped observation from a lion, for 
they made no effort whatever thus to escape observation, but 
moved about continually, and, after drinking, retired to the open 
ground. 
The zebra's coloration is certainly never of use to him in helping 
him escape observation at a drinking-place. But neither is it of 
use to him in escaping observation anywhere else. As I have said 
before, there are, of course, circumstances under which any pattern 
or coloration will harmonize with the environment. Once I came 
upon zebras standing in partially burned grass, some of the yellow 
stalks still erect, and here the zebras were undoubtedly less con¬ 
spicuous than the red-coated hartebeests with which they were 
associated; but as against the one or two occasions where I have 
seen the zebra's coat make it less conspicuous than most other 
animals, there have been scores where it has been more conspicuous. 
I think it would be a safe estimate to say that for one occasion on 
which the coloration of the zebra serves it for purposes of conceal¬ 
ment from any enemy, there are scores, or more likely hundreds, 
of occasions when it reveals it to an enemy; while in the great 
majority of instances it has no effect one way or the other. The 
different effects of light and shade make different patterns of 
coloration more or less visible on different occasions. There have 
