Chap. XXIY. 
FROGS AND TOADS. 
487 
on tlie dry leaves with stealthy steps, that, for anything we knew, 
we might next moment be charged by one of the most dangerous 
beasts of the forest. We threaded out their doublings for hours, 
drawn on by a keen craving for animal food, as we had been 
entirely without salt for upwards of two months, but never could 
get a shot. 
In passing along the side of water everywhere, except in 
Londa, green frogs spring out at your feet, and light in the 
water, as if taking a header and on the Leeambye and Chobe 
we have great numbers of small green frogs {liana fasciata, 
Boie), which light on blades of grass with remarkable precision; 
but on coming along the Leeba, I was struck by the sight of a 
light green toad about an inch long. The leaf might be nearly 
perpendicular, but it stuck to it like a fly. It was of the same 
size as the Brachymerus hi-faseiatus (Smith),^ which I saw only 
once in the Bakwain country. Though small, it was hideous, 
being coloured jet-black, with vermilion spots. 
Before reaching the Makondo rivulet, latitude 13° 23' 12" S., 
we came upon the tsetse in such numbers, that many bites were 
inflicted on my poor ox, in spite of a man with a branch warding 
them off. The bite of this insect does not affect the donkey as it 
* The discovery of this last species is thus mentioned by that accomplished 
naturalist, Dr. Smith: “ On the banks of the Limpopo river, close to the 
tropic of Capricorn, a massive tree was cut down to obtain wood to repair a 
waggon. The workman, while sawing the trunk longitudinally nearly along 
its centre, remarked, on reaching a certain point, ‘ It is hollow, and will not 
answer the purpose for which it is wanted.’ He persevered, however, and 
when a division into equal halves was effected, it was discovered that the saw 
in its course had crossed a large hole in which were five specimens of the 
species just described, each about an inch in length. Every exertion was 
made to discover a means of communication between the external air and the 
cavity, but without success. Every part of the latter was probed with the 
utmost care, and water was kept in each half for a considerable time, without 
any passing into the wood. The inner surface of the cavity was black, as if 
charred, and so was likewise the adjoining wood for half an inch from the 
cavity. The tree, at the part where the latter existed, was 19 inches in 
diameter, the length of the trunk was 18 feet. The age, which was observed 
at the time, I regret to say does not appear to be noted. When the Batrachia 
above mentioned were discovered, they appeared inanimate, but the influence 
of a warm sun to which they were subjected, soon imparted to them a moderate 
degree of vigour. In a few hours from the time they were liberated, they were 
tolerably active, and able to move from place to place apparently with great 
