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diff --git a/old/54922-0.txt b/old/54922-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8ca910e..0000000 --- a/old/54922-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6040 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's In Wildest Africa, vol 1 (of 2), by Carl Georg Schillings - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: In Wildest Africa, vol 1 (of 2) - -Author: Carl Georg Schillings - -Translator: Federic Whyte - -Release Date: June 16, 2017 [EBook #54922] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN WILDEST AFRICA, VOL 1 (OF 2) *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Kim, Wayne Hammond and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -IN WILDEST AFRICA - - -[Illustration: - - _From a Photograph by Nicola Perscheid, Berlin._ - -_C. G. Schillings_] - - - - - IN WILDEST AFRICA - - BY - C. G. SCHILLINGS - AUTHOR OF “WITH FLASHLIGHT AND RIFLE IN EQUATORIAL EAST AFRICA” - - TRANSLATED BY - FREDERIC WHYTE - - WITH OVER 300 PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES DIRECT FROM THE AUTHOR’S - NEGATIVES, TAKEN BY DAY AND NIGHT; AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS - - VOL. I - - LONDON - HUTCHINSON & CO. - PATERNOSTER ROW - 1907 - - - - -[Illustration: LION STUDY.] - -Preface - - -I never dreamed that my book _With Flashlight and Rifle_--alike in its -German and its English and American editions--would receive everywhere -so kind a welcome, or that it would make for me so many new friends, -both at home and abroad. - -I have been encouraged by this success to give a fresh series of my -studies of African wild life and of my “Nature Documents,” as Dr. -Ludwig Heck has designated my photographs, in the present work. - -I should like to express my gratitude once again to all those who, in -one way or another, have furthered my labours in connection with these -two books, especially to Dr. Heck himself and the other men of eminence -and learning whose names I mentioned in my preface to _With Flashlight -and Rifle_. A complete list of all my kind helpers and well-wishers -would be too long to print here. I am deeply indebted, too, to the -many correspondents--men of note and young schoolboys alike--who -have written to me to express their appreciation of my achievements. -Their praises have gone to my heart. I owe a special word of thanks to -President Roosevelt, who smoothed the way for my book in the United -States by his reference to me in his own volume _Outdoor Pastimes of an -American Hunter_. I take the more pleasure in discharging this debt in -that I had long derived intense enjoyment from President Roosevelt’s -masterly descriptions of wild life and sport in America. President -Roosevelt has always been one of the foremost pioneers in the movement -for the preservation of nature in all its forms, and has made every -possible use of the resources placed at his disposal by his high -position to further this end. - -This new book of mine is in form a series of impressions and sketches, -loosely strung together; but it will serve, I hope, indirectly to win -over my readers to the one underlying idea--the idea upon which I harp -so often--of the importance of taking active steps to prevent the -complete extermination of wild life. - -Like _With Flashlight and Rifle_, this supplementary work can claim to -stand out from the ranks of all other volumes of the kind as regards -the character of its illustrations. All those photographs which I -have taken myself are reproduced from the original negatives without -retouching of any kind. Every single one, therefore, is an absolutely -trustworthy record of a scene visible at a given hour upon the African -velt by day or by night. I insist upon this point because herein lie -both the value and the fascination of my pictures. - -In his introduction to the English edition of _With Flashlight and -Rifle_ Sir Harry Johnston declares that that work was “bound to produce -nostalgia in the lines of returned veterans”; I trust that _In Wildest -Africa_ will bring also to such readers a breath from the wilderness -awaking in them memories of exciting experiences on the velt. Above -all, I trust that its appeal will be not to grown readers alone, but -that it will have still stronger attractions for the coming generation. - -A preface should not be too long. I shall conclude with the expression -of the hope that I may be able presently to secure a new collection of -“Nature Documents.” - - C. G. SCHILLINGS. - -[Illustration: YOUNG DWARF ANTELOPE.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._] - - - - -[Illustration: BLACK-HOOFED ANTELOPES.] - -Contents of Vol. I - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. THE SPELL OF THE ELELESCHO 1 - - II. FROM THE CAVE-DWELLER’S SKETCH TO THE FLASHLIGHT PHOTOGRAPH 88 - - III. NEW LIGHT ON THE TRAGEDY OF CIVILISATION 107 - - IV. THE SURVIVORS 139 - - V. SPORT AND NATURE IN GERMANY 179 - - VI. THE LONELY WONDER-WORLD OF THE NYÍKA 204 - - VII. THE VOICES OF THE WILDERNESS 283 - - - - -[Illustration: GULLS.] - -List of Illustrations in Vol. I - - - PAGE - - _Frontispiece_--Portrait of the Author. - - Lion Study v - - Young Dwarf Antelope vii - - Armed Natives ix - - Black-hoofed Antelopes xi - - Gulls xiii - - A Giraffe Photograph 1 - - My “Boys” organising a “Goma” 2 - - Bearers indulging in a Bath 3 - - A Masai _ol’ moruan_ (old man) 4 - - Group of Masai 5 - - A _memento mori_ of the Velt 9 - - Dwarf Gazelles on the Velt 11 - - Masai Herdsmen 13 - - Young Masai Dancing and Singing 17 - - Bearers on the March 21 - - Transport Bearers in Difficulties 21 - - The Author being Carried across a Swamp 23 - - How Mules and Asses are got across a River 24 - - Two of my Wandorobo Guides _facing_ 24 - - A Halt of my Caravan on the Velt 25 - - Masai Warriors 29 - - Group of Masai 33 - - A Party of my trusty Companions 37 - - Bearers making their way through high grass 41 - - The Caravan on the March 45 - - A Herd of Zebras taking Refuge from the Heat of the Midday - Sun _facing_ 48 - - Flamingoes on the margin of a Lake 49 - - Flamingoes flying down to the Lake margin 53 - - Alfred Kaiser in Arab costume 55 - - Group of Gnus 58 - - Nile Geese on the Natron Lake 58 - - A Herd of Grant’s Gazelles 59 - - Crested Cranes and Zebras 59 - - A Camp on the Velt 63 - - Native Settlement on the Pangani River 67 - - Group of Eland Antelopes 72 - - A Herd of White-bearded Gnus 73 - - A Masai Dance 77 - - A Herd of White-bearded Gnus - (i) at close quarters; - (ii) a more distant view; - (iii) they show their disquiet; - (iv) they decide to retreat _facing_ 80 - - Effects of Heat and Mirage 81 - - A Hot Day in the Great Rift Valley 85 - - Group of Masai 87 - - Prehistoric Sketch on a Fragment of Ivory 88 - - Old Picture of a female Hippopotamus 91 - - An old German Picture of the Giraffe 93 - - Hottentot Hunters: a sketch of two hundred years ago 95 - - Ancient Egyptian representations of Giraffes and other animals 97 - - Sketches of Animals made by the Bushmen 99 - - Black-tailed Antelopes running through high grass 101 - - Bearers on the March 103 - - A Rhinoceros moving through velt grass 107 - - Three large Gorillas shot by Captain Dominick 115 - - Troop of Lions in broad daylight 121 - - Herd of Elephants in South Africa, by Harris 127 - - Group of Wild Animals at Hagenbeck’s zoological gardens 133 - - Young Grant’s Gazelles 139 - - ’Mbega Monkeys 140 - - A ’Mbega _facing_ 142 - - East African Wild Buffaloes 143 - - Modern Methods of Taxidermy: Setting up a Giraffe 146-149 - - Male Giraffe Gazelle 150 - - Dwarf Antelope 152 - - Giraffe Gazelles 152 - - Snow-white Black-hoofed Antelope 153 - - New Species of Hyena (_Hyena schillingsi_) 153 - - Dwarf Musk Deer 158 - - A Pair of Guerezas 159 - - Black-hoofed Antelope 164 - - Giraffe Gazelle and Dwarf Antelope 165 - - Head of an African Wart-hog 168 - - Nest of Ostrich’s Eggs 169 - - Drying Ornithological specimens 174 - - Group of Author’s Trophies 175 - - Women of the Rahe Oasis 177 - - Egyptian Geese in a Swamp 179 - - The Nyíka: a Bird’s-eye View _facing_ 200 - - Oryx Antelopes 204 - - A Velt Hillock 205 - - The Summit of Mount ’Ngaptuk 207 - - A Look-out Place 211 - - Black-hoofed Antelopes 216, 217 - - Black-tailed Antelopes 222, 223 - - Masai Hartebeests 230 - - Giraffe Gazelle 231 - - Grant’s Gazelles _facing_ 234 - - Grant’s Gazelles 237 - - White-bearded Gnus and Zebras taking Refuge - from the Midday Sun _facing_ 240 - - An old Acacia 244 - - A typical Landscape 245 - - Hungry Vultures 249 - - Flamingoes in Flight 252, 253 - - Storks on the Wing 258 - - Storks gathering for Migration 259 - - Remains of Rhinoceroses 261 - - Crested Cranes in Flight 264 - - Vultures and Marabous 265 - - Herd of Waterbuck 270 - - Oryx Antelopes 271 - - Grant’s Gazelles 276 - - Hartebeests near the Western ’Ndjiri Swamps 277 - - Map of a Day’s Movements and Observations 279 - - Flamingoes on the Margin of the Natron Lake 281 - - A Francolin perched on a Thorn-bush 283 - - Flight of Sandfowl 287 - - Zebras and Gnus _facing_ 292 - - An Alarum-turaco 295 - - Nest of Weaver-birds 301 - - A Shrike on the Look-out 309 - - Brook with an Underground Channel 315 - - - - -[Illustration: A GIRAFFE PHOTOGRAPH, TAKEN IN THE SHIMMERING LIGHT OF -THE VELT.] - -I - -The Spell of the Elelescho - - -On the afternoon of January 14, 1897, a small caravan of native -bearers, some fifty strong, was wearily making its way across the wide -plain towards its long-wished-for goal, Lake Nakuro, which was at last -coming, into sight in the far distance. The appearance of the bearers -and their worn-out clothing showed plainly that the caravan had made -a long journey. And so it was. Weakened by fever, I was coming from -the Victoria Nyanza in the hope of making a quicker recovery in this -more elevated district. As is the way when one is convalescent, life -seemed to me something doubly beautiful and desirable now that, after -lying seriously ill for weeks, I was recovering from the fever. I -had been all but despaired of by the English officers who had kindly -taken care of me, Mr. C. W. Hobley and Mr. Tompkins, to whom I owe -a debt of gratitude. I had caught the disease in the marshes of the -Nyanza and in my tramp through the wild Sotik and Nandi country, then -unexplored or very little known. During the last few days our march had -once more been imperilled by hostile tribes, the rebel Wakamassia, but -this danger was all but past now that we were entering the uninhabited -region of the Nakuro, Elmenteita and Naiwasha Lakes, in the district -known to the Masai as En’aiposha. - -[Illustration: MY “BOYS”--BODY-SERVANTS AS DISTINGUISHED FROM -BEARERS--AMUSED THEMSELVES AT MOSCHI BY ORGANISING WHAT IS CALLED A -“GOMA.”] - -Endless undulating, expanses of grassy country, unadorned by a single -tree, had made our last days of marching not too pleasant. Now there -was a marked downward incline of the grass-covered plateau; it -gradually changed to a barren plain of volcanic origin, and the view -extended over the wide glittering lake. - -Filling a far-stretching hollow, and lost to view on the horizon, it -lay at our feet, a welcome sight. - -[Illustration: MY BEARERS LOST NO OPPORTUNITY OF INDULGING IN THE -ENJOYMENT OF A BATH.] - -The camp was pitched beside a parched-looking ’msuaki tree on the banks -of a brook which at this time of the year was a turbid torrent pouring -itself down towards the lake. Some time before, bush and grass fires -had raged in the neighbourhood and destroyed the old grass, and here, -it would seem, a heavy rainfall had conjured forth for us a new carpet -of grass that was fresh and luxuriant. The remarkable luxuriance of the -grass lands in the district had already been specially noticed, and -compared to the richest pastures of the Swiss Alps, by the discoverer -of, and first traveller in, this region, Dr. G. A. Fischer, an explorer -who, alas! so soon fell a victim to the climate. - -Fischer--in 1883--was the first to visit the neighbouring Lake -Naiwasha. How the situation has changed since then! At that time, and -thus only twelve years before I first camped there, the warlike Masai -still held these wide uplands as absolute masters. - -[Illustration: A MASAI _ol’ moruan_ (_i.e._ OLD MAN) ANSWERING MY -QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ELELESCHO PLANT.] - -Oscar Baumann, an explorer who did good service, was one of the first -to traverse their inhospitable dominions. It was some years after -Fischer’s journey that Baumann made his way into the region of the -Nile sources, during his famous expedition to legend-haunted Ruanda -(now better known to us through Dr. Richard Kandt’s researches). I -made his acquaintance at the Austrian Consulate at Zanzibar. He, also, -was snatched away in his early years by the Sphinx of Africa, the -treacherous climate. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - MASAI _ol’ morani_ AND TWO YOUNGER MASAI IN MY CAMP. THE - TYPICAL COSTUME OF THE WARRIOR DIFFERS CONSIDERABLY FROM THAT - SHOWN IN THE ILLUSTRATION AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, WHICH - REPRESENTS A MASAI ALREADY INFLUENCED BY CIVILISATION.] - -His journey, only a few years before my stay here, cost his numerous -and strongly armed caravan hard fighting with the natives. And now I am -camping here with a few men in an unfortified camp! - -Fischer was quite convinced that he could not venture upon his -exploring journey without the support of the Mohammedan trading -caravans, but he had finally to start alone with 230 bearers. Yet, -notwithstanding all difficulties, he successfully accomplished his -task. But how different from those of to-day were the circumstances -under which a journey was made into unknown Masailand at that time! -The Masai warrior was then still sovereign master in his own land; he -was still “Ol open l en gob” (“Lord of the land”) in the full sense of -the word. And all the chivalrous poetry that has been so pathetically -brought home to us by the fate of the North American Indians, was also -not alien to his warlike character. Then came the moment when he had to -face the firearms of the Europeans. His fate was sealed, like that of -the lion and the leopard. - -Then, too, tribute had to be arranged for on all sides. Not only some -of the petty chiefs in the neighbourhood of the coast, but the Masai -too, must receive costly payments. Thus, for example, Dr. Fischer had -to hand over to the chief Sedenga at ‘Mkaramo on the Pagani River, to -obtain permission for the passage of his caravan, 100 pieces of cloth, -each six yards long, an axe, 100 leaden bullets, one ten-pound keg of -gunpowder, two large coils of brass wire, and eight pounds’ weight of -artificial pearls! - -Only two kinds of caravans were known to the Masai, slave caravans and -trading caravans, which busied themselves with collecting the coveted -ivory tusks. The Arab traders knew how to combine the two objects: the -slaves, the “black ivory” of the trade, were forced to carry the white -ivory down to the coast. - -The strength of these trading caravans, well equipped with firearms, -always amounted to several hundred men; but under certain circumstances -these numbers were considerably increased, so that caravans of a -thousand men or even more were not rare. It took Fischer long months -to recruit his caravan. The bearers did not like to undertake the -dangerous journey with the first white man who started for that region. -The jealousy of the Arab traders was also at work. They feared that the -channels of the ivory traffic, which they carefully kept secret, might -be revealed. - -The German explorer carried through his expedition under the greatest -difficulties. He returned home only to succumb soon after to the -extraordinary hardships he had endured. - -Fischer’s researches were of special importance in connection with -the ornithology of Masailand.[1] His journey gave to science some -thirty-six hitherto unknown species of birds. Such a result must -indeed command our respect, when we consider the difficulties with -which the traveller had to contend, and especially when we remember -that his available resources were comparatively trifling, beside, for -instance, the abundant help that was at the disposal of the English -explorers of the same period. The Geographical Society of Hamburg -rendered him the service of making the execution of his plans possible, -and for the same object Fischer expended all the money he had earned -in the active practice of his profession as a doctor on the island -of Zanzibar. He saw the activity he had devoted to the service of -scientific ideals richly rewarded by the results he obtained. And then -he had soon to succumb to the treacherous climate. But if his life was -cut short, how quickly the power of the Masai warriors was broken, the -very power that had so harassed him, and made his journey so difficult -and dangerous. That terrible scourge, the cattle plague, probably -introduced from India, suddenly destroyed the greater part of the herds -of the Masai, and at the same time blotted out vast numbers of the -Masai themselves from the list of the living. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A _memento mori_ OF THE AFRICAN VELT.] - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: DWARF GAZELLES ON THE VELT. IN THE EDDYING WAVES OF -DAZZLING LIGHT ONE COULD NOT KEEP ONE’S EYES OPEN FOR MORE THAN A -SECOND AT A TIME.] - -The fates of these pastoral people and of their property (the countless -herds of cattle) were so closely bound together, and these warlike -herdsmen had become so dependent on their droves of cattle, that once -these were ruined they could not survive, but died in a few days of -famine. - -In the lapse of little more than a year the cattle plague and the -Black Death had swept over the Masai uplands. Hungry vultures hovered -over scenes of horror. The herds of cattle fell under the strange -pestilence. Agonised by slow starvation, the herdsmen followed them -to death. I have often found lying together, in one narrow space, the -countless white bleached bones of the cattle and the skull of their -former owner. It would be an old camping-ground, with its fence of -thorns (zereba) long rotted away, and it was now a strangely impressive -Golgotha. These heaps of bones, still to be seen in 1897, were soon -after dissolved in dust and scattered by the winds. - -Where are the Masai of those days? - -Suddenly they stand boldly before me, as if they had sprung up out of -the ground! It is no illusion. But why do my bearers show no fear? -Why does no uproar break out in the camp? - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -MASAI HERDSMEN.] - -It is plain enough that no one troubles himself about the appearance of -these figures, for they come, not threatening and demanding tribute, -but conscious of the overpowering might of the European. True, a few -months ago, not so far from my camp, their warriors surprised and -destroyed a caravan of nearly a thousand coast folk. But, generally -speaking, they do not care to have to reckon with the superior weapons -of Europe. They even accept some food from me. And in this matter -they are not so dainty as they used to be in former times, when the -warriors--obedient to strict dietary laws--lived only on the meat and -milk of their herds. Of course, here we have to deal with only a small -number of them. Yonder, on the wild uplands, there still live a not -inconsiderable number of Masai, who having saved their herds, or got -them together again, keep as far away as may be from the Europeans and -their uncanny weapons. - -The Masai warriors, with their wives, children, and herds, seem to -me to be fit accessories for this desert landscape. In the evening, -dances amuse us till late in the night, and many a wordy skirmish -breaks out as some of my bearers who, thanks to former journeys, -have some knowledge of the Masai tongue, gossip with these nomads of -the wilderness. The coast folk think themselves high as the heavens -above the “savage” Masai. The Masai warriors, in return, despise the -burden-bearing coast folk, count them as “barbarians,” and scornfully -call them “il’meek.” - -But the times have changed, and so it comes to pass that my people -too join in the dance, which lasts late into the night: that songs -of the warriors and the women--“‘Singolioitin loo-‘l-muran” and -“Loo-‘ngoroyok”--ring out through the darkness, the chorus finding a -manifold echo with its oft-repeated “Ho! He! Ho! Na! He! Hoo!” It is a -“Leather Stocking” kind of poetry, and indeed the redskins of the New -World and the Masai here in Dark Africa seem to me alike. The former -had to yield to civilisation, the same fate awaits the latter. - -No one had the least anxiety about the night. We quietly allowed the -Moran[2] to bivouac near the camp. Our march through the wild highlands -of the Wasotiko and the Wanandi had deadened our sense of such dangers. -We could have no forebodings of the fierce struggle lasting for years -that was yet to come between the English troops and those peoples, or -imagine how warlike and skilled in self-defence they were. The presence -of hundreds of spear- and club-armed warriors in the camp had become -an almost daily experience, and great was the surprise of the English -officers, later on, when they heard that the great caravan, which I -had joined, had had the good fortune to pass through these districts -without any fighting. - -For me my serious illness had all at once interrupted the austere and -wild delights of this life of the march and the caravan. But I had now -become doubly responsive to the joys of travel amid light and air, -freedom and endless space; doubly responsive also to the changing -impressions derived from my week of marching through lonely primeval -forests, bamboo thickets, and grassy plains--scenes in which, as my -friend Richard Kandt, the discoverer of the source of the Nile, so -strikingly remarks,[3] every plant, every stone, seems to cry out again -to one in the vast solitude but one word: “The desert! the desert!” - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -YOUNG MASAI DANCING AND SINGING NEAR MY CAMP.] - -In the early morning hours of January 15 there was a light continuous -rainfall. A short march of only two hours brought us to our camping -place on the shore of Lake Nakuro. - -Far away extended the panorama of the lake, which lay before us filling -its hollow bed, with its banks at this season of the year yielding -fresh pastures to numberless herds of wild animals, and its waters -affording rest and food to countless members of the feathered tribe. -I had hardly ever seen greater numbers of the pretty little dwarf -gazelles (_Gazella thomsoni_, Gthr.). Thousands and thousands more -of these graceful creatures showed themselves on the fresh, green, -grassy meadows of the lake margin, or scattered over its pebble beds of -obsidian, augite, and pumice-stone. Wherever one turned one’s gaze it -fell again and again upon these beautiful gazelles, which in many ways -reminded one of wild goats at pasture, and were so strangely trustful -that they often allowed the spectator to come quite close to them. -Marked as are the colours of its hairy covering, the dwarf gazelle -does not stand out boldly from the background, whether this be a plain -blackened by bush-fires, or the mere bare ground, dun-coloured and -brown, or land covered with soft green grass. But how clearly defined -are its brown, black, and white, when we look closely at the hide of a -specimen we have secured, or see it in a museum. - -Darker spots in the distance far away from us we take to be larger wild -animals. The field-glass shows that they are hartebeests, and a great -number of waterbuck; and still farther off there is a moving mass that -shimmers and is half lost in the glare of the morning sun. There are -zebras, and yet more zebras, moving like living walls! Strange effects -of light actually give us the impression of something like a wall or -rampart, made up of the living forms of the zebras--the deep shadows -they throw come out black, their flanks are lighted up in the dazzling -sunshine, and they shimmer with all colours and with ever-changing -effect. - -Here by the lake we have the characteristic mark of the wilderness: -dwarf gazelles and zebras, zebras and dwarf gazelles in greater and -greater multitudes! Wherever the eye glances it falls upon these -two species, and the numerous waterbuck and Grant’s gazelles, and -the hundreds of hartebeests, are in a sense mere points of relief -for the sight amidst these vast crowds. Bathed in the shimmering -light this multitude of animals mingles together. Wherever I make my -appearance there is for awhile movement in the mass of wild creatures, -which otherwise are grazing quietly. I have long since left the -camp a considerable distance behind me. I am following One of the -rhinoceros--or hippopotamus--tracks leading to the lake margin, -lost, so to speak, in this multitudinous animal life, and once more -I have the feeling of finding myself, as it were, in the midst of a -vast flock of sheep, and the impression that all the creatures about -me are not “wild beasts,” but rather tame domestic animals that have -been driven out here to graze on the pastures under the supervision of -a herdsman. - -[Illustration: - - BEARERS ON THE MARCH. THE FIGURE ON THE RIGHT IS AN - ILLUSTRATION OF THE WAY IN WHICH THEY SOMETIMES RELIEVE THE - STRAIN ON THEIR SHOULDERS BY CARRYING THEIR LOAD AT ARMS’ - LENGTH OVER THEIR HEAD. A HUNDRED PACES A MINUTE IS AN AVERAGE - RATE FOR A HEAVILY LADEN BEARER.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -TRANSPORT BEARERS IN DIFFICULTIES.] - -[Illustration: THE AUTHOR BEING CARRIED ACROSS A SWAMP.] - -The mass of animals surges and undulates to and fro. Some old bulls -of the heavily horned hartebeest species seem to have undertaken the -duty of sentinels. They stand apart fixed and motionless, watching -attentively the strange appearance of the approaching man, and then -make away in a long striding gallop, with heads bent well down, to -increase the distance between themselves and the suspicious object, -ready all the while to give the alarm signal for a general stampede -by loud snorting. In this district we do not find the flat-horned -hartebeest of the Kilimanjaro (_Bubalis cokei_, Gthr.), but the species -named after its discoverer, Jackson (_Bubalis jacksoni_). Long and -stately horns distinguish this variety of a remarkably formed species -of antelope, which is widely distributed throughout Darkest Africa. -To my great delight I succeeded in bringing down a specimen of a much -more interesting species, Neumann’s hartebeest[4] (_Bubalis neumanni_, -Rothsch.), then only known by one or two examples. - -[Illustration: HOW MULES AND ASSES ARE GOT ACROSS A RIVER.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -TWO OF MY WANDOROBO GUIDES.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - A HALT OF MY CARAVAN ON THE VELT. ON THE LEFT CAPTAIN MERKER, - THE EXPLORER OF THE MASAI COUNTRY AND THE GREAT AUTHORITY ON - THE RACE; NEAR HIM, WEARING A TROPICAL HELMET, STAFF-SURGEON - KÜNSTER, WHO LATER SERVED IN THE SOUTH-WEST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.] - -Overwhelming in its vastness, its rich variety of colour, form, and -movement is the picture of animal life thus displayed. - -Moving along the hollows of the plateau hour after hour, looking out -from its ridges, now with the field-glass, now with unaided sight, -I find the whole grassy expanse covered with these wild creatures. -Hundreds and hundreds more of zebras alternate with larger or smaller -herds of Grant’s gazelles. Near them, but keeping apart, and all around -them the dwarf gazelles are swarming. Here and there one sees the -proudly uplifted head of a stately waterbuck, adorned with splendid -branching horns, and not far off his hornless doe, both of them in -form and action greatly reminding one of the stag, of our northern -lands. Occasionally the eye catches sight of splendid black-plumed -cock ostriches here and there on the plateau. They watch the traveller -carefully, and are accompanied by their mates, which are very much more -difficult for the eye to make out owing to their plain grey plumage. On -all sides there are whole herds of brown hartebeests grazing, resting, -or making for some more distant spot with their characteristic long -striding gallop. And now one suddenly comes upon a herd of giant eland -antelopes, brownish yellow, and adorned with white cross-stripes. -Conscious of their mighty strength, there is not much shyness about -them; but they know not the danger they run from the long-range weapon -of the European. - -Think of all this animal life, bathed in the fulness of the tropical -sunlight! All depths and shades of colour play before our eyes. -Strongly cast shadows, ever changing with the position of the sun, -alter again and again the whole appearance of this world of life, and -from minute to minute it presents new riddles to any one who has not -had years of experience in the wilderness. When the glittering light -of the midday hours is tiring and confusing the sight, one often can -hardly tell for certain whether it be a living multitude stretching -out in the distance before one, or whether the play of the sunlight is -imparting a semblance of life to scattered clumps of thorn bushes. - -Four rhinoceroses which I now descry moving across the plain in the -distance, and a flock of ostriches which I can plainly make out -with the field-glass, change shape and colour so often that it is -astonishing to see them. According to their movements and position with -respect to the sun they appear to be of a blending blue and grey, or -intensely black, and then again almost invisible and the colour of the -earth, but always changing, always different from what they were the -moment before. - -To realise all this one must in fancy place oneself in the condition -of exaggerated susceptibility to nervous excitement that results from -the intensity of the light, together with the climate, and the unusual -degree of hardship. All this produces the greater effect because one -has to do one’s work in solitude and loneliness, and is cut off from -all interchange of ideas with one’s fellows. - -Here, where the flora makes so poor a display, the fauna is abundant. -What a sight it affords for the ornithologists! - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -MASAI WARRIORS, ARMED WITH THE LONG SPEARS WHICH HAVE COME INTO USE -WITH THEM DURING THE LAST GENERATION OR TWO. IN FORMER DAYS, ACCORDING -TO HOLLIS, THEY USED SPEARS WITH SHORTER BLADES.] - -Amongst the herds of zebras our European stork together with its -smaller African cousin, the Abdim stork, is stalking in hundreds -over the plain hunting for locusts. In company with the storks I -saw also great flocks of the handsome crested crane engaged in the -same occupation. Or they rose in heavy flocks over the valleys with -loud and strangely discordant cries. Under the scanty shadows of the -mimosas the splendid giant bustards take their stand at midday, erect, -solemn, stiff-necked. At this time they are not very wary, but in the -coolness of the morning and in the evening hours they soon get away -to a safe distance, either running with their quick mincing step, or -spreading their strong pinions for a short flight along the ground. -Their smaller relative, _Otis gindiana_, Oust., rose before me in the -air, often throwing somersaults on the wing like a tumbler pigeon. -There is hardly any other bird of its size that has such a mastery of -flight. Sea-eagles circled by the margin of the lake uttering their -beautiful clear-sounding cries. Heedless of their presence thousands -of splendid rose-red flamingoes soared up into the deep blue dome -of the sky, or lined the margin of Nakuro, like a garland of living -lake-roses, in company with great flocks of ducks, geese, and waterside -birds of many kinds. Out of the clumps of acacias, and from between -the thickets of ‘msuaki bush by the lake, guinea fowl and francolins -rise, strung out in clattering flying lines, and in the morning hours -handsome sandfowl that have come from far-off regions of the plateau -sail by the margin of the lake. Altogether an overwhelmingly rich -picture of warmly pulsating life and activity! The sight of it all is -indeed quite capable of impressing one with the idea of flocks of -wild creatures that have been completely tamed; and once this idea has -suggested itself, the impression is so strong that for many minutes one -can believe in it! - -Amidst all this wealth of “wild” life, which here seems hardly to -deserve the name of “wild,” it is much easier to understand how -primitive man in other continents gradually secured domestic animals -for his use, from the vast range of choice thus presented to him. - -But a strange feeling comes over the observer when he remembers that -out of all this wealth of animal life the African has never been able -to link one single creature permanently to himself. He obtained his -cattle and also his goats and sheep from Asia. The camel may be left -out of account, for its connection with the human race is lost in the -mystery of primitive times. We may say that the fauna of Africa has not -given a single species to the group of our domestic animals. It is sad -and humiliating to reflect that the men of to-day cannot accomplish -what was done in the dim past--granted that it took endless ages in the -doing. - -There were times, as I have said, when I could not get rid of this -impression of _tame_ herds of animals. And this was all in a land, and -a district, that left one nothing to desire in the way of primitive -wildness. What, then, must it have been in early days when man was -not yet waylaying the beasts of the wilderness, or at least had not -yet employed the poisoned dart and spear, the pitfall and the snare? -It must have been a veritable Garden of Eden. But here, far and wide, -there is nothing to be seen of man, only something that evokes -conjectures as to his former presence. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -GROUP OF MASAI, SHOWING THE HEAVY IRON ORNAMENTS WORN BY THE MARRIED -WOMEN. IN THE BACKGROUND, ONE OF THEIR HUTS, PLASTERED OVER WITH EARTH.] - -For suddenly from a height I notice a number of large mounds, formed -of stones, such as only the hand of man could have built up. Under the -secure protection of these masses of rock--rough hillocks of heaped up -stones--men, who were once chiefs and elders of the Masai, sleep their -everlasting sleep. Their resting-places have been so placed that they -are not visible from any considerable distance, but are hidden away -in the hollows of the ground. Out there in the wilderness, beneath -the bright blue sky, these simple old monuments speak to me most -impressively of the mighty harmony of everlasting change. As chance -will have it, I find not far from the graves a human skull shining -brightly in the sunlight and resting on a projecting rock. It must -have lain here very long, as if keeping a look out on the old tomb of -ol ‘loiboni, the departed “wizards” of the Masai. The empty eye-holes -stare at the ancient grave. - -But this symbol of the least is not obedient to the spell of death -that whispers here all night long, for it has had to give shelter and -protection to the rearing up of new life. As my hand grasps the skull, -now brittle with decay, a family of mice takes to flight from inside -of it. They had set up their home in this bony palace, and built their -nest there. - -And as if the Masai, resting probably for centuries under these heaps -of stone, had left their herds to me, once more there surges around me -this sea of animals. Near at hand they are sharply defined against the -ground, but farther off in the glittering light they grow indefinite. -How the whole flood of life contrasts with the grim volcanic barrenness -of the landscape! - -At this moment my impression of vast shepherd-guarded herds is deepened -by the sudden appearance of some spotted hyenas, scattering among the -volcanic pebble beds, and then running away over the plain, and seeming -to play the part of the shepherds’ dogs. - -But where are the herdsmen of all these herds? Immediately there comes -an answer to my question. Yonder, by the margin of the lake, in the -distance, I see little wreaths of smoke rising. The idea they give me -of herdsmen on the watch is to be quickly dissipated by a report, not -a loud one, followed by puffs of powder-smoke that vanish quickly in -the air. The shooting does not disturb the animals that surround me. -But then the report is hardly audible, the little puffs of smoke barely -perceptible to the eye. I must find out who is disturbing the peace. It -is perhaps a caravan making for the Victoria Nyanza. For we are upon -the new “road” to the lake--a road which is indeed still in the region -of projects, but which soon will be plainly marked with railway metal. - -The smoke puffs appear at markedly regular intervals and as quickly -disappear. I cannot understand it. For a long time I keep my attention -anxiously fixed on these proceedings, all the while hurrying towards -this remarkable apparition. At last my field-glasses enable me to -descry a man, who from time to time drops on one knee to take aim. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A PARTY OF MY TRUSTY COMPANIONS.] - -What in the world is he after? - -As we draw closer, I am extremely surprised at seeing that the man does -not allow himself to be in the least disturbed in his proceedings. Now -his bullets begin to whistle unpleasantly near me. I fire in the air, -once, twice.... Now his attention is attracted, and simultaneously I -perceive a number of dark objects near the marksman. They seem to be -his companions, black men, and squatting on the ground. - -From the background there emerge now great numbers of such objects--it -must be a large caravan. - -The distance between us is diminished so that one can see plainly.... -Now we can shout to each other.... At last I learn that the hunter is -marching with his long caravan of bearers to the great lake. He has -been putting out all his exertions to shoot some wild animals. But -although he has many surprisingly interesting hunting adventures to -tell of as the result of his three months’ march from the coast to -this point, that task seems to have been beyond his powers! With a -well-aimed shot he has stretched on the ground just one single dwarf -gazelle!! - -After shaking hands, he bewails the fact that he has a rifle that -shoots so baldly. He says its system is absolutely worthless, -especially against wild animals. - -Our fleeting acquaintance is broken off in a few minutes. He is the -first newly arrived European that I have met for a long time, but I -have not too much sympathy for this class of sportsmen. So my new -acquaintance goes off, still blazing away freely. He has been urged on -by my information that his camping and watering, place for the day -is a long way off, and that the borders of the lake seem to me to be -fever-haunted. - -A queer kind of shepherd, in truth, for these wild herds! I fear -he would be very like a wolf, or rather--to be zoologically and -geographically precise--a leopard, in sheep’s clothing! - -Again I was alone; the disturber of my peace had not frightened away -the animals. So, as I was regaining strength rapidly, I decided to -halt here for a few days. This meant having to provide for oneself in -the most primitive way, for I was short of some of the most necessary -provisions and supplies. But in such conditions the decision was not -difficult to take. I shall not easily forget the days I spent there. - -The plateau of the volcanic lakes Naiwasha, Elementeita and Nakuro, -standing nearly 6,000 feet above the sea, presents to the spectator all -the austere, stern, and strange charm peculiar to the Masai uplands. - -Some ten years have gone by since that expedition of mine, and all -is now changed. Up to that time only the natives had lived in these -districts. Few Europeans had penetrated into these solitudes; but now -a track of iron rails links the Indian Ocean with the Central African -Lake basin, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive sounds in the -equatorial wilderness. Wherever the influence of the railway extends, -the Masai, whom I then learned to know, have disappeared. Reservations -have been assigned to them, like the Indians of North America. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -BEARERS MAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH HIGH GRASS.] - -My former companion on my travels, Alfred Kaiser, describes, not -without a certain feeling of sadness, how he saw them once more, -not long, ago, under these new conditions, already to a great extent -changed by European influence--and changed in a way that was not at all -to their advantage. Using, instead of the beautiful Masai dialects, -some mangled fragments of English, they scornfully refused objects of -barter that were eagerly coveted ten years ago, and insisted on coined -money. They no longer wore their native ornaments, but were dressed in -European second-hand clothes. In a word they were stripped of all the -wild and primitive beauty that had once distinguished them. - -It is a hard fate, when a rude aboriginal people is all of a sudden -brought into touch with those of a high degree of civilisation. - -As the former lord of the land[5] was deprived of his rights, so the -same fate, more or less, befalls the splendid animal world that lends -its charm to these solitudes. - -But then--ten years ago! I had been given back to life after sharp -suffering, and all that I was now allowed to see in such rich abundance -spoke to me in a more than ordinarily impressive language, a language -that seemed to me to have an enduring charm. - -And how clearly must this language have sounded in the times of the -primitive past! - -So we may here attempt a picture of the wild life of the lake margin -in former days, on the lines of the sketches I have already traced out -of the life and activity of the wild herds of the plateau, as I still -could see them.... - -Out of the many memories of those days, that still work on me like -magic, there is one above all that has a special meaning, for me: -“Elelescho!” - -But what is “Elelescho”? the reader will ask. “Elelescho”[6] is the -name of a peculiar plant, perhaps it would be more correct to say a -bush, that has in many ways set its mark on the flora in the very -heart of the Masai region. Ranges of hills covered with silvery-leafed -Elelescho, the spicy smell of Elelescho, the water at the camping place -redolent of Elelescho--and also, in consequence, tea, coffee, cocoa -tasting of Elelescho--that is a memory that remains fixed firmly in -one’s thoughts of this home of the wild herds and of the Masai. It Was -these disappearing nomads who gave the bush its beautiful name. - -Possibly the musical sound of the name has not a little to do with -reconciling us in memory to the plant. For the bush itself has in -process of time monotonous effect not very to the senses, but for -this very reason all the stronger and more enduring. Its character is -connected by strong links of memory with our experiences of those days, -and the sound of its name awakes rose-coloured recollections. For just -as it is not given to man to remember exactly the nature of intense -bodily pains, so fancy, looking backwards, kindly blots out much that -was hard and little that was pleasant in the life we have led. Thus -it is that this strange bush, with its silver-grey leaves and aromatic -odour, is capable, as hardly anything else is, of awakening in the mind -of the traveller a kind of nostalgia--nostalgia for the wilderness, to -which he is drawn by so much of beauty and of hardship. We have gained -very little by learning that botanists recognise our plant as one of -the Compositæ, and name it _Tarchonantus camphoratus_, L. It is to be -found also in other parts of Africa; and Professor Fritsch reported, -as early as 1863, that he found it growing in Griqualand, then still -an unsettled country, where it was called the “Mohatla.” It would be -a pity if its beautifully sounding Masai name were not preserved for -future times, and I must do my best to save “Elelescho” from such -oblivion. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -THE CARAVAN ON THE MARCH.] - -One must have learned the word with its sweet-sounding pronunciation -from the lips of a proud, handsome, slender Masai warrior in order to -understand how so seemingly slight a thing can imbue one’s impression -of a whole land. - -The Elelescho is as prominent in those regions as the oak and beech -or fir in Germany, or as the juniper, the heath, and the broom, and -has the same influence on the landscape. But it has a greater and -deeper influence upon the imagination, because it so dominates those -solitudes, that to him who has long travelled in them the mere memory -of it evokes a vivid picture of their once familiar aspect. The strong -scent of the Elelescho plant leads the Masai to wear the leaves of the -bush as a decoration round their ears for the sake of its perfume. It -belongs thus to the plants that because of their scent are used as -ornaments by warriors and maidens: “Il-käk ooitaa ‘l muran oo ‘n---- -doiye ‘l---- orôpili.”[7] So there pass before us Masai maidens, and -Masai warriors decked with Elelescho leaves and Elelescho branches, -and received with sympathetic smiles by the caravan leaders--who, -however, unlike the Masai, think very little of it. Very simple and -naïve are the relations of these natives with nature around them. Only -the obvious, the actually useful, comes into their thoughts, and for -my black companions the Elelescho always recalls only memories of poor -desert regions of the waste--regions in which they must often endure -hunger and suffer many hardships. Far different is the influence of -the Elelescho region on my feelings. For me this bush is symbolically -linked with the plunge into uninhabited solitudes, with self-liberation -from the pressure of the civilisation of modern men and all its haste -and hurry. - -We wish to feel once more, and to give ourselves up fully to, the spell -of the Elelescho--the charm of the Elelescho thickets, that are also in -South Africa in the lands about the Cape the characteristic mark of the -velt, now so lonely, but once alive with hundreds of thousands of wild -herds. - -A wonderful night has come on. - -The moon--in a few days it will be at the full--sheds its beams in -glittering splendour over Lake Nakuro. - -The little camp is soon wrapped in silence. The weary bearers sink into -deep and well-earned slumber. Only the sentries, pushed far out, are -on the alert. It was but a few days since the rebel Wakamassia -hillmen were a source of danger to us, and nightly precautions are -not yet forgotten. The moonbeams flicker ghost-like over the lake. -Night-jars give forth their songs close to the camp all round us. -Strange sounds and cries ring out from the throats of the waterfowl -on the lake margins, and not far away one hears the snorting of the -hippopotami. Jackals and spotted hyenas prowl round the camp, betraying -themselves by their voices. The hyena’s howl and jackal’s wailing bark -mingle strangely with the deep bass note of a bull-hippopotamus. Here -in the wilderness there is hardly any sound that is louder than the -mighty voice of these giants of the water.[8] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A HERD OF ZEBRAS TAKING REFUGE FROM THE HEAT OF THE MIDDAY SUN.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -FLAMINGOES ON THE MARGIN OF A LAKE. THEY MUST BE VERY LONG-LIVED BIRDS, -SOME OF THEM NOW LIVING IN THE COLOGNE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS HAVE BEEN -THERE THIRTY YEARS.] - -A strange feeling came over me. Amid all the ever-varying sensations of -the last year my capacity for enjoyment, my sensitiveness to outside -impressions, had been developed and enhanced. A short time since I was -between life and death, struggling with the treacherous infection of -fever. Now I was well. I was breathing the air some three thousand feet -higher than the place where I lay ill near Victoria Nyanza. I was again -in a region whose vast volcanic solitudes contrasted strongly with its -abundance of highly developed organic life, and exercised a strange -influence upon me. - -Is there such a place as Europe? Is it possible that thousands of miles -away there is a centre of civilisation whose teeming millions would -fain imprint their image on the whole earth, and even lay covetous -hands on this far-off wilderness, and that in time this must happen? - -A world of which I myself am a unit! How strange that I can delight -so deeply in all this wild charm! And how quickly the wishes of men -change! A while ago, in the long nights of fever, I had but one -desire--that my heart, my heart alone, should not be buried in a -foreign soil, but be taken back to the Fatherland. - -And now, only a few weeks after my recovery, how different seems to me -all I may hope for from Fate, and how much more complex, how much more -difficult to accomplish! - -I yield myself up entirely to the spell of the wilderness, to the mood -of the night. - -That was ten years ago, before the Europeans had banished it--when it -ached on the senses like the nocturne of some great tone-poet. But I -know well that to-day it is no longer in existence; Lake Nakuro is now -only a lake like any other, and the railway whistle wakes its echoes. - -That night the spell must have been exceptionally strong. It seemed to -me as though I were under some charm, as if I were carried back into -the far-off times. There came before my mind much of what the lake -had seen in the long vanished past. The lands around me heaved and -quaked. Mighty earth-shaping forces were doing their work. I seemed to -see before my eyes what happened here in primeval times--how volcanic -forces, strange, boundless, and terrible, had built up and given -form to the country around me here, destroying all living things, and -yet at the same time preparing the conditions for the hotly pulsating -waves of life of later days. In my mind I saw pass before me wondrous -mighty forms of the animal world of the past, long since extinct. -Then--suddenly I started up. What was that? - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -FLAMINGOES FLYING DOWN TO THE LAKE MARGIN.] - -[Illustration: ALFRED KAISER (IN ARAB COSTUME).] - -A loud trumpeting ran in my ears! Elephants! Were there still extant -such herds of elephants as those that I saw coming down there to the -lake to drink, rolling themselves in the mud of its banks, and openly -making friends with the hippopotami? Just as in the daytime I had -noticed the different kinds of antelopes and the zebras, so here I saw -again the elephants and hippopotami living their life close together, -moving round or beside each other without fear or hesitation. The -herd, numbering many hundred heads, was guided to its drinking-place -silently and slowly by its aged leader, a female elephant of most -exceptional size. Many young elephants were there in company with their -mothers. Some very little ones, only a few weeks old, played with their -comrades, or knowingly imitated the movements of the older animals in -the water, while the old ones took care to prevent the tender young -creatures from taking any harm. - -But it all seemed somehow impossible! Veterans among the most -experienced black elephant-hunters had assured me that such huge -herds were not to be met with. And if I saw aright in the shimmering -moonlight, what a great mass of hippopotami were moving about there -before me! And now, paying, no attention to the elephants that were -peacefully bathing farther out in the muddy water, they clambered on -to the land, and began to graze like cows on the bank among some more -of the elephants. It was exactly the same friendly relation that -I had seen between the dwarf gazelles and the zebras during the day. -Could I be only dreaming? Such a multitude of huge creatures here close -to my camp--it could hardly be a reality! - -[Illustration: GROUP OF GNUS. HARTEBEESTS IN THE BACKGROUND.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -NILE GEESE ON THE LOW BANK OF THE NATRON LAKE (LAKE NAKURO). DWARF -GAZELLES IN THE BACKGROUND.] - -[Illustration: A HERD OF GRANT’S GAZELLES.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -CRESTED CRANES AND ZEBRAS.] - -And now I perceived that a second herd of elephants, some hundreds -strong, was approaching the water. In a straight line these still more -giant-like colossi came down to the lake margin--all of them, as I -now clearly perceived, bulls with mighty tusks, and amongst them some -quite enormous tuskers, obviously patriarchs of the herd, and carrying -some hundreds of pounds’ weight of ivory that glittered afar in the -moonlight. - -The two herds greeted each other with their curious cries, difficult to -describe, and then the newcomers began to bathe and drink. - -My attention was especially arrested by some of the elephants, clearly -visible in the moonlight, keeping apart from the rest. Standing -together in pairs they caressed each other with their trunks, while -the enormous ears which are such an imposing decoration of the African -elephant stood out from their heads, so as to make them look larger -than ever. - -My wonder increases! Numerous herds of giraffes, hundreds strong, -come down to the lake, and this, too, not far from the elephants, and -without any fear. - -And now there is again a new picture! A herd of innumerable buffaloes. -With their great formidable heads turned watchfully towards the -rest of the crowd, they too are coming for a refreshing bath. Their -numbers still increase. It is a sight recalling, surpassing even, the -descriptions given by the first travellers over the velt regions of -Cape Colony. - -How did all this accord with the reports I had received of the scarcity -of elephants? with the destruction of the buffalo by the cattle -plague? With my own previous experiences? The most authoritative of my -informants had assured me that in this district the elephant was to be -found very rarely, the buffalo hardly ever! - -Suddenly with mysterious swiftness the night is gone, and the day -breaks. I search for and find the tracks of my giant guests of the -night. I had made no mistake. Monstrous footprints are sharply -impressed in the mud, the ground looks as it had been ploughed up, -and in the midst of the plain, not very far from the lake, there are -actually hundreds of mighty elephants standing near some ol-girigiri -acacias. As I begin to watch them, they suddenly become restless. In -their noiseless way they make off at an extremely quick rate, and soon -disappear behind the nearest ridge. - -Round about me I see herds of zebras, hartebeests, and wild animals of -all kinds in vaster numbers even than those yesterday. The deep bellow -of the wild buffalo breaks upon my ear. I can see long-necked towering -giraffes in the acacia thickets. The snorting of numerous hippopotami -sounds from the lake. Some of these burly fellows are sunning -themselves on its margin; and quite close to them several rhinoceroses -are grazing peacefully in the midst of their uncouth cousins. - -I am surprised, too, at seeing a troop of lions disappearing into the -bush, after having made a visit to the water. They are so close to -me that I can plainly see by the shape of their bodies that they are -going home after having had an abundant repast. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A CAMP ON THE VELT.] - -The behaviour of my people puzzles me. I had no opportunity for -questioning them as to why they were not more impressed by this -unexpected spectacle, for my attention was suddenly arrested by the -appearance of a lengthy caravan of bearers, that seemed as if it had -emerged before my eyes from the trampled ground. There is new life -and movement among the herds of wild animals. Slowly, defiantly, or -in swift-footed fear, each according to its kind, all these wonderful -creatures seek safety from the approaching crowd. - -A robust negro marches at the head of the caravan. He carries a white -flag inscribed all over with texts from the Koran. Hundreds of bearers -come steadily in. Each carries a load of nearly ninety pounds’ weight, -besides his cooking gear, sleeping-mat, gun and powder-horn. At regular -intervals grave-looking, bearded Arabs march among the bearers. Two -stately figures, riding upon asses and surrounded by an armed escort, -are evidently the chiefs, and a great drove of asses with pack-saddles -laden with elephant tusks brings up the rear. Very quickly the numerous -party establish their camp, and I now remark that hundreds of the -bearers are also laden with ivory. It is clearly a caravan of Arab -ivory-traders. - -After the usual greetings--“Sabal kher” (“God bless thee”), and “Salaam -aleikum,” questions are asked in the Swahili language: “Habari ghani?” -(“What news?”) I now learn that the party of travellers set out some -two years ago from Pangani on the coast to trade for ivory in the -Masai country. I am surprised to hear the Arabs tell how, although -theirs is one of the first caravans that have made the attempt, they -have penetrated far into the inhospitable and perilous lands of the -Masai. Their journey has been greatly delayed, for they have had to -fight many battles with the Wachenzi, the aborigines of the districts -through which they marched. “But Allah was with us, and the Unbelievers -had the worst of it! Allah is great, and Mohammed is his prophet!” - -Every one set busily to work. In the turn of a hand the camp was -surrounded with a thorny zereba hedge, and made secure. - -And now I had personal experience of what has passed, times without -number, in the broad lands of the Masai;--armed detachments from the -caravan started on raids for far-off districts. The timid Wandorobo, -that strange subject tribe of the Masai, brought more and more ivory -to the camp to sell it to the traders, after long and obstinate -bargaining. It was remarkable how clever were the people of the caravan -in dealing with these timid wild folk, and how well they knew how to -gain their confidence.[9] This confidence, however, was not made use of -in trade and barter for the advantage of the natives. But thanks to the -methods and ways of managing the natives, as the traders understood -them, we saw that the wild folk were quite satisfied, and this was the -main point. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -NATIVE SETTLEMENT WITH PALISADE AND ZEREBA (HEDGE) ON THE MIDDLE COURSE -OF THE PANGANI RIVER. (PROTECTIVE CHARMS ARE PLACED OVER THE GATEWAY -AND IN FRONT OF IT, IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE PICTURE.)] - -But what patience is required in trade of this kind! A white man could -never develop such Oriental patience. Again and again a tusk would be -endlessly bargained over, till at last, often after days of chaffering, -it passed into the possession of the caravan. The natives were of -course bent on getting the tusks, sooner or later, into the camp. At -the very outset they had sent in a most exact description of them, and -then envoys from the caravan had to go and inspect them, often at a -distance of several days’ march from the camp. - -Every day a great number of Masai warriors appeared in the camp. Men -belonging to many kraals, owners of great herds of cattle, camped near -the lake. There were not infrequent skirmishes, especially at night -time. The young warriors, the Moran, made attempts at plunder, and were -beaten off with broken heads. But, on the whole, this hardly disturbed -the good understanding. “It is their testuri (custom),” thought the -experienced and fatalistic coast folk, and they accepted it as an -unavoidable incident of the trade. But festivals were also arranged, -with dance and song. In the still moonlit nights the strange chant -rang out in a high treble far over the plain, and sounded in the rocky -hills, and festivity and rejoicing reigned among the warriors, the -girls, and the women. - -But by day one saw their busy life displayed, all the bucolic poetry -of grazing herds of cattle with their spear-armed herdsmen. There was -a great deal to be done, and in each and every task the Masai girls -and women showed themselves, like the men, excellent guardians and -attendants of their herds. - -In the neighbourhood of the Masai kraals the wild animals of the plain -mingled freely with the tame cattle of the Masai, knowing well that the -Masai folk would not shoot them. The wild animals were exposed only to -the attacks of the Wandorobo. But these latter bore themselves very -shyly in the presence of their over-lords, the Masai, and went off to -far distant hunting grounds, so that the wild animals were hardly ever -disturbed by a hunter. - -The young Masai warriors also began to devote themselves to hunting -for ivory. With great courage, and often with no small display of -dexterity, they killed a large number of elephants, allured by the -high prices offered by the caravans. But they kept the beautiful -tusks carefully hidden, buried in the earth till the moment when they -had successfully arranged a sale. The buried treasure was easy to -conceal. At the place where the tusks were put away the grass was set -on fire and burned up over a considerable area, and then no eye could -distinguish the slightest indication of the buried treasure. - -The Elmoran also made use of a method of hunting which is employed in -other parts of Africa, namely, to slip quietly up to an elephant, and -with a single powerfully delivered sword-cut sever the tendon Achilles. -But few indeed were daring enough to attempt this, and these were -strong, brave, and well-trained warriors. Such an exploit won for them -high respect among their comrades of the clan. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -ELAND-ANTELOPES RALLIED IN A GROUP BEFORE TAKING TO FLIGHT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A HERD OF WHITE-BEARDED GNUS. IN THE BACKGROUND ONE OF THE -CHARACTERISTIC HILLS OF THE MASAI UPLANDS.] - -While the Masai warriors thus took their share in elephant-killing, and -the Wandorobo stuck to their long, trusted poisoned darts and poisoned -spears, the caravan folk attacked the elephants with powder and iron -bullets,[10] and slew whole hecatombs of them. - -“Nowadays,” the leader of the caravan told me, “the chase is easier -and less dangerous, and your firearms also give the man from the coast -the power of hunting and killing the Fihl (elephant). For example, you -know, sir, that my half-brother, Seliman bin Omari, is not a practised -hunter. And yet, believe me, he and his people have brought down many, -many elephants.” - -But his banker on the coast, the Hindoo Radda Damja, certainly never -hears one word of any elephant being killed by Seliman’s people: - -“No one is so clever as he is at knowing nothing about elephants when -questions are asked. The ivory is always something traded for with the -natives, far, far away in the interior,” he adds, with a cunning wink. -“The main point is that we all get pembe (ivory), and he gets plenty of -it! I would like to work the business as he does, but, sir, I am not so -clever in preparing amulets, and moreover, I don’t know as much as he -does of the ways of the elephant. - -“But it’s a pity that in all parts of the country the ivory is becoming -very scarce, so one has to be going always farther into the interior, -and one must try to find new ivory districts.” - -Thus my Arab informant talked a long time with me. He told me much that -was interesting and much that was new to me. He told me of caravans -that had been massacred, cut off to the last man by the natives in -remote districts: and again of caravans that had been not one or -two,--no, as long as six years on the march, that had buried a lot of -ivory and gradually got it down to the coast. Time counts for nothing -here, for the people--that is to say, those who are not slaves--receive -only the one lump sum agreed upon for the journey, no matter how -long it lasts. His friends, with caravans mustering many hundreds, -had carried hundreds and hundreds of barrels of gunpowder into the -interior, they had sought everywhere for new districts abounding in -ivory, and the result had been the slaughter of the elephants on all -sides. Nevertheless he had not much to tell me of men having enriched -themselves by this trade. However, this did not apply to the traders -on the coast, who advanced the money. These lent money to the caravan -leaders, who went into the interior, at the high rate of interest usual -in the East, and thus became rich men. They had, of course, also many -losses. It happened not seldom that one of their debtors was “lost” in -the interior, which means that he simply did not come back, but chose -to pass the rest of his life in exile. And in that case it would be a -difficult matter for the creditor to take proceedings against him. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - A MASAI DANCE--THE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THE PLAITED QUEUE WORN BY - THE YOUNG WARRIORS (EL MORAN), WHO LEAP AS HIGH IN THE AIR AS - THEY CAN. THE YOUNG WOMEN, WHOSE HEADS ARE CLIPPED COMPLETELY - BARE, SING AND DANCE ROUND THEM.] - -Then my informant told me how many of the elephant hunters still living -had been carrying on their business already for a long time before any -Europeans whatever thought of making a prolonged stay in the country. -He told me also much that was interesting about the old trade routes -extending far through Africa, and even to the Congo. He had friends -and relatives who had already traversed these routes many times, and -journeyed from the east coast even to the Congo, long before any -European traveller. Many of the people of his caravan were able to tell -from memory each day’s journey as far as the Congo, and give exact -information about the chiefs who held sway in each district, and the -possibility of getting supplies of various kinds of provisions, such as -maize, millet, bananas, or other products of the country. - -I cannot exactly say how long he had talked with me about elephants -and elephant-hunting, about the ivory trade, and many other things. -I only know one thing--that after some time his talk became more and -more difficult for me to understand, that I strove in vain against an -ever-increasing weariness, and that at last I saw neither the Arab nor -the caravan--in a word, saw nothing more, felt nothing more. - -I fell into a deep sleep in which, in my dreams, I had a lively -argument with some Europeans, who would not believe so many elephants, -buffaloes, and other wild animals had formerly been here, and who kept -on objecting strongly that it was impossible that all this could have -been the case so short a time ago. - -When I woke up again I found myself in my lounging-chair, a primitive -piece of furniture of my own construction. My black servant stood -before me, and asked me if I would not rather go to bed. - -I rubbed my eyes--it had all been a dream, then; the spell of Elelescho -must have inspired me with it. How foolish to yield to this spell! But -men will perhaps so yield to it when all this has become “historical” -and the Masai and their lives and deeds have, like the Redskins of -America, found their Fenimore Cooper. - -Then may the spell of the Elelescho exert its rightful power; then may -it make famous the slender, sinewy, noble Masai ol-morani as, amidst -his fair ones, his “doiye,”[11] he leads the song-accompanied dance -as he goes out to war, and reigns the free lord of the wilderness! -But to-day he bears on his brow the significant mark of an inexorable -fate--that of the last of the Mohicans. - -The spell of the Elelescho has departed from Lake Nakuro, once so -remote from the world. - -The lake is no longer remote. - -Iron railway lines link it with the Indian Ocean. Vanished from it is -the spell that I once felt both waking and sleeping; gone is the poetry -of the elephant herds, the Masai, the Wandorobo, and the caravan life -in all its aspects; gone all that I saw there. The traveller, if he -would learn to know the primitive life and ways, whether of men or of -the animal world, if he would know the primeval harmony that speaks -to him in an overpowering language peculiar to itself, must press on -into the wilderness farther away from these tracks. This harmony, -whose special character is day by day disappearing, day by day is in -an ever increasing measure destroyed, cannot be recalled under the -new, the coming system, the system that abandons itself to -restlessness--that, in a word, which we call modern industry, modern -civilisation. - -[Illustration: A HERD OF WHITE-BEARDED GNUS AT CLOSE QUARTERS.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A MORE DISTANT VIEW OF THEM.] - -[Illustration: THEY SHOW THEIR DISQUIET BY SWINGING THEIR TAILS.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -FINALLY THEY DECIDE TO BEAT A RETREAT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -EFFECTS OF HEAT AND MIRAGE.] - -To-day one may perhaps read in the _East African Gazette_ that Mr. -Smith, the railway engineer, favoured by extraordinary luck on a -hunting expedition, has seen one solitary bull elephant not far from -Lake Nakuro! This is something quite out of the ordinary, and Mr. -Smith is to be congratulated. Unfortunately his efforts during many -years to have even one young East African elephant sent to London have -been without any result. A young animal is no longer to be found. In -the same number of this newspaper, under another heading, we read the -report that the export of ivory this year by the Uganda Railway has -been utterly disappointing; the quantity carried has been terribly -small, hardly worth mentioning! - -I had a talk lately with a travelling companion who had spent some time -with me in the wilderness ten years ago, and who had just revisited -those distant lands, availing himself of the railway. Alfred Kaiser, a -widely travelled man, recalled to me the life we had lived together, -when there was yet hardly a trace of European influence among the -people of the interior by Lake Victoria. In memory we saw again the -inhabitants of then hardly known Sotikoland receiving us mistrustfully -on their frontier, thousands strong. Their glittering spears sparkle in -the morning sun; chiefs, ministers, and court ladies of the Wakawiróndo -appear in camp in most primitive costume; club-armed warriors regard us -with the most open distrust; cowry shells and artificial pearls form -their costume and are used as their money; sudden attacks and fighting -are quite in the order of the day. - -And now, only ten years later, Kaiser has seen the Masai at Lake -Nakuro, English-speaking caricatures of civilisation. - -A feeling of something like resentment comes upon the traveller who has -had to pay toll for his journey with the ceaseless sweat of his brow, -when he thinks that now any one can reach Lake Nakuro in a few days -from the coast. It is true that the over-anxious globe-trotter is kept -in check by only too well justified fears of the treacherous malaria -and the sleeping-sickness that has made such terrible progress of late. -Otherwise the railway journey from Mombassa to the Victoria Nyanza, and -then down the Nile to Cairo, would be a much-travelled route. - -I have tried to describe, in brief outline, the rapid, unwelcome change -of our time, the result of European civilisation forcing its way in. As -I describe things, so they were half a century ago, and even yet ten -years ago, when I stayed by the shores of Nakuro, and no railway had -yet been made there. - -To-day one can no longer find the old spell of the Elelescho there, or -anywhere else where the white man has penetrated. - -The traveller probably sees only a shrubby plant. - -It covers many a ridge, and the lonely plains of the uplands, and -sends afar its spicy perfume. The botanists call it _Tarchonantus -camphoratus_, L. They class it among the Compositæ. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A HOT DAY IN THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY.] - -But here it can no longer exercise any spell. - -That has flown far, far away, into the interior. There, where the white -man has not yet come, it still prolongs its existence. - -How long, yet will it be before it has entirely departed? - -[Illustration: GROUP OF MASAI--THE WARRIOR ON THE LEFT DRESSED IN A -COSTUME IMPROVISED OUT OF A COLOURED BED QUILT.] - - - - -[Illustration: ONE OF THE OLDEST “NATURE DOCUMENTS” FROM THE HAND OF -MAN. PREHISTORIC SKETCH OF A MAMMOTH ON A FRAGMENT OF IVORY. - - (From L. Reinhardt’s work _Der Mensch zur Eiszeit in Europa_.)] - -II - -From the Cave-dweller’s Sketch to the Flashlight Photograph - - -The mysterious charm of wild nature, undisturbed, almost untouched, by -the hand of man,--the charm inherent in all that I have in mind when I -talk of “the spell of the Elelescho”--explains the keen and profound -interest with which my pictures of animal life were received at home. - -In these days, when even electricity has been harnessed by men, there -is a feeling that the knell has been sounded of all that is wild, -be it man or beast. And however unpretending and inadequate the -little pictures might be that I had won from the wilderness, yet all -nature-lovers felt that they had here before them authentic, first-hand -records revealing secrets which the eye of man had never before looked -upon, or had had but scant opportunity for studying. - -These pictures were the first to show really wild animals in full -freedom, just as they actually live their life on velt and marsh-land, -in bush, forest, air, and water. They showed nature in its unalloyed -reality, and therefore a peculiar stamp of truth and beauty must have -imprinted itself upon them. They came, too, as a surprise, for in many -points the hitherto accepted representations of the animal world and -those given by my photographs did not agree. - -Mere subject counts for so much in a picture with most people that -it takes them a long time to appreciate a work of art the subject -of which does not at the first glance appeal to them. This applies -peculiarly to my African photographs. It is not a very easy matter -for the eye to grasp the movements of the varying forms of animal -life in their natural freedom. Often their appearance is so blended -with their surroundings that it requires long practice to distinguish -the individual characteristics of each, the fleeting graces of their -momentary aspects. - -I could not, therefore, help feeling a certain apprehension that every -one would not at once be able to understand and decipher my pictures in -my book, _With Flashlight and Rifle_. It is necessary when one looks -at them to understand, in some degree, how to read between the lines; -one must make an effort to grasp their more elusive features; in short, -one must devote oneself to the study of them with a certain gusto, a -certain intelligence. There was a further difficulty arising from the -fact that the illustrations could be reproduced only by a process in -which unfortunately much of the finer detail of the originals is lost. -The use of the process, however, was necessary for various reasons. - -There can be only two ways of securing the best possible result in -the execution of pictures of such subjects. The ideal method would be -for heaven-sent artists, after years of study, to give us works of -this class, and combine in these masterpieces the strictest truth with -the finest craftsmanship. But this requires a thorough study of each -separate species of animal seen from afar and at close quarters--and -how is this possible, seeing that one gets only momentary glimpses? -The other method is that of photography, the picture on the negative, -which can claim the advantage of documentary accuracy, and at the same -time leaves a certain scope for the artistic sense of the operator. So -the greatly improved photographic methods of to-day can step in, at -least as a substitute and makeshift, in the absence of works of art -such as the genius of one man may give us. Considering the extreme -difficulty of taking portraits of living animals in their wild, timid -state, such pictures can only in a few instances lay claim to technical -photographic perfection. But at least so far as my own taste goes, a -certain lack of sharp definition in the picture (often deliberately -sought for in taking other objects) is not only no disadvantage, but is -even desirable. As a confirmation of this idea of mine, I may mention -the opinion of an American journalist, who declares that my picture of -a herd of wild animals given on page 327 of _With Flashlight and Rifle_ -to be the most perfect thing of the kind he has seen, and the most -pleasing to him, and compares it to the work of a Corot. - -[Illustration: PICTURE OF A FEMALE HIPPOPOTAMUS FROM LE VAILLANT’S BOOK -OF TRAVELS, PUBLISHED MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.] - -It must be noted that _if the animals are drawn so as to stand out -separated from the landscape which is a needful accessory of the -picture, and brought forward into the foreground in an obviously -selected pose, they must appear unnatural to the eye of the expert_. -Such pictures cannot fail to give an unnatural impression, for in the -freedom of the wilderness the animal world never presents itself in -this way to the eyes of man. In their full significance as masterpieces -of nature, all the various aspects of the animal world are first -manifested to us in close connection with their environment. It has -been a keen satisfaction to me to find that many world-renowned artists -have appreciated warmly the beauty of these photographs, and have -given expression to this feeling. I have been told, for instance--what -I myself had already noticed--that numbers of the pictures, especially, -those showing birds on the wing, bear a great resemblance to certain -famous works of Japanese painters[12] of animal life, works that seem -to dive into the secrets of nature. It has been brought home to me, -indeed, both by hundreds of letters and thousands of opinions expressed -in conversation, that the pictures have excited almost universal -interest, and that my labours have not been in vain. - -Fully to enjoy the peculiar beauty of such photographs of living wild -animals, the best way is undoubtedly to see the pictures considerably -magnified by means of the magic lantern. On account of the special -character and strangeness of most of the objects shown, I have the -lantern slides lightly tinted. This colouring can be done without -in the least altering the picture in its details, and its object is -merely to secure greater effectiveness. Approval from all sides, -both from artistic circles and from the public, satisfies me as to -the correctness of this proceeding. Only in this way do photographic -pictures shown by transmitted light produce the full impression of -beauty and naturalness; they seem to transport the spectator directly -to the far-off wilderness. - -There must be some good reason for the widespread interest manifested -in these pictures of the life and ways of animals, some of them still -so little known, and all of them living in remote solitudes. It seems -to me that the cause is deep-seated--that deep down in the heart of -the highly-cultured civilised man there are involuntary yearnings after -the sensations of wild, healthy, primeval nature. The progress of -mankind from the so-called barbaric stage to the highest civilisation -has been accomplished in so short a time, in comparison with the whole -period of man’s existence, that it is easy to understand how such a -longing may survive. In every man there must be something of this -craving for light and air and primeval conditions. - -[Illustration: - - _Camelo-pardus feu Giraffe._ - -A GERMAN PICTURE OF THE GIRAFFE DATING FROM ABOUT TWO HUNDRED YEARS -AGO.] - -“The conflict of man with the animal world,” says Wilhelm Bölsche, -“has passed away unsung and uncelebrated. The civilised man of to-day -has hardly a recollection of the endless lapse of time during which -mankind had to struggle with the beasts of the earth for mastery.” -Let us for a few moments turn our gaze backwards to that far past. -In epochs that the learned date back by hundreds of thousands of -years, we find attempts made by the cave-dwellers to execute artistic -representations of nature as they saw it. The artist of prehistoric -times set to work with his rude instruments to draw in merest outline -on a smooth rock-face, on a tusk taken in the chase, or on some such -material, the things that had particularly attracted his thoughts or -stimulated his efforts. Specimens of these primitive works of art -have been handed down to us. In the first place there are pictures of -animals, scratched upon ivory, and notwithstanding all their crudeness, -sketched with sufficient ability to enable us to-day to recognise with -certainty the objects which the artist tried to depict. Such sketches -scratched on ivory, showing various kinds of animals (some of them now -extinct) and forming the oldest documents of the animal-sketcher’s art, -have been found in the caves of the south-west of France, in the old -dwelling-places of the so-called “Madeleine” hunters of La Madeleine -and Laugerie Basse. The museum at Zurich also possesses similar -primitive documents from the Kesslerloch cave, near Thaingen, in the -canton of Schaffhausen. - -[Illustration: HOTTENTOT HUNTERS--A SKETCH DATING FROM 200 YEARS AGO. - - (Some South African tribes actually hunt the lion on foot with - javelins, and I have myself more than once observed the courage - of the East African natives in similar circumstances.)] - -It is indeed not surprising that the cave-dweller of those days took -his models from the ranks of the animal creation. All his thoughts -and efforts were directed to the chase; he had no resources but in -this pursuit, and he had to carry on, day and night perhaps, a -fierce struggle for existence with wild beasts. One can thus follow -the development of the human race through the course of time from the -primitive sketches of beasts down to our own days, in which it has -been reserved for the hand of man to execute masterpieces inspired -by genius, and in which man makes the sun to serve him in depicting -and preserving representations of all that lives and moves, creeps -and flies. By means of the sketches of animals laboriously scratched -on pieces of ivory by the Cave men of Southern Europe, we make the -acquaintance of the long-haired prototypes of the living elephants -of to-day. These animals were the most coveted big game in Europe. -Clearly recognisable sketches of reindeer tell us that a climate like -that of the northern steppes prevailed at the time; others of horses -show that the wild horse was then to be found in Europe; those of the -aurochs prove the existence of that animal. There is a remarkably close -resemblance between the style of all these drawings and that of the -rude sketches made by the Esquimaux of our own day. Some such Esquimaux -sketches of animals on walrus tusks, at the most a hundred years old, -are to be found in the Berlin Ethnographical Museum. Interesting, -too, are the sketches of giraffes from the hands of ancient Egyptian -artists. They show us that the artist of those days in drawing animals -allowed a loose rein to his fancy and imagination. Thousands of years -must separate these representations of animals from the sketches of -Asiatic wild life which Sven Hedin discovered at Togri-sai-Tale near -Lôb-nor. They are scratched on bright green slate, and depict yaks, -wild asses and tigers, and the hunting of them with bow and arrow. -They appear to be of the same kind as the animal-sketches made by the -South African Bushmen, discovered by Fritsch in the year 1863. These -cave pictures show us various members of the fauna of Cape Colony, -which has already been to so great an extent exterminated. During -the period of the Middle Ages a more perfect style of representing -animals was gradually evolved, but even about the year 1720 we find -representations that are inaccurate to an incredible extent, and, -indeed, so recently as the early part of last century, one sees in -the travels of the French naturalist Le Vaillant, in the picture of a -female hippopotamus, a proof that the development of animal-drawing had -as yet made little progress. - -[Illustration: - - ANCIENT EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATIONS OF GIRAFFES AND OTHER ANIMALS. - (THE BIRD AT THE TOP ON THE LEFT IS PLAINLY RECOGNISABLE - AS THE SHOE-BILLED STORK--_BALAENICEPS REX_. NOW IT SEEMS - ONLY TO BE FOUND IN THE MARSHES OF THE UPPER NILE. I HAVE TO - THANK PROFESSOR HOMMEL OF MUNICH FOR THESE ILLUSTRATIONS, - WHICH ARE TAKEN FROM “MONUMENTS ET MÉMOIRES DE L’ACADÉMIE DES - INSCRIPTIONS ET BELLES LETTRES.”)] - -[Illustration: - - SKETCHES OF ANIMALS MADE BY THE BUSHMEN. (DISCOVERED IN SOUTH - AFRICA BY PROFESSOR G. FRITSCH IN THE ‘SIXTIES, AND REPRODUCED - BY HIS KIND PERMISSION.)] - -But what a difference in drawing and technique has come about in less -than a hundred years! One need only compare the pictures of those -times with the works of our own days, to be convinced that, besides -artistic execution, there is now an increasingly exacting demand for -the precise truth. Indeed, one of the first points to be insisted on -is that photographic pictures _shall not be altered, worked up--in -word, in any way “retouched.”_ Only on this condition can they really -claim to be--that which in a special sense they ought to be--_true to -nature, absolutely trustworthy “nature-documents.”_ This distinguishes -the photograph from works of art executed by the hand of man, which -must conform to each individual conception of the artist. - -It is a hard saying that the modern cultured man is becoming, -continually more and more estranged from nature. But in this matter -let us take the standpoint of the optimist, who says to himself that -there must be a reaction--a conscious, deliberate return, which indeed -will represent the result of the highest stage of culture. There is -an increasing perception of the existence in our home landscape of an -ideal worth, that we have not yet been able sufficiently to estimate. -To-day already there is a movement on all sides, and the demand is -heard, ever stronger and clearer, for the protection of the beauties -of nature. We must protect Nature in the widest sense of the word. And -even if, in the stern progress of evolving civilisation, much that -remains in the treasury of primitive nature must be destroyed, we shall -be able long to preserve and rejoice in much else. - -[Illustration: A SMALL HERD OF FEMALE BLACK-TAILED ANTELOPES RUNNING -AWAY THROUGH HIGH GRASS.] - -And here come into play the healthy desire of man in his primitive -state, the cry for light and air, and all the beauty of nature. It -is hardly a hundred years since we in Europe learned to value the -landscape beauties of unspoilt nature. English writers of travels a -century ago still spoke of Switzerland with aversion; it was for them -a horrible, dismal mountain country. And it is easy to understand how -man in his hard struggle for the necessaries of life regarded, and was -forced to regard, nature around him as on the whole unfriendly and -menacing. But since those times there has been a change for the better, -even though it cannot be denied that many men require very specially -adjusted spectacles to enable them to enjoy this or that beauty of the -nature around them! Thus the landowner feels a pleasing satisfaction -at the sight of his cornfields. And yet these cornfields are hardly -anything else but an artificially formed bit of bare velt, on which at -certain times a short-lived vegetation grows up, whilst at other times -the naked soil presents itself to the eye--uninviting, stripped of all -adornment, arid and empty. Thus, too, the man who loves wine feels -that well-cultivated vineyards are a beautiful sight; but it may be -doubted whether he would do so if, say, only cotton-pods grew on the -vines! In ancient times, as Humboldt shows, with the Greeks and Romans, -as a rule, only country that was “comfortable to live in” was called -beautiful, not what was wild and romantic. Yet Propertius[13] and many -others praise the beauty of nature left to itself, in contrast with -that which is embellished by art. Then we have a long way to travel -through the Middle Ages, when the Alps are described to us as “dismal” -and “horrible,” till we come to the nature-studies of Rousseau, Kant, -and Goethe. At first there were very few to sympathise with them. -Their view gradually prevailed, in spite of many backward eddies. Thus -Hegel had only one impression of the Swiss Alps, that of a performance -tiresome on account of its length--a judgment not far removed from that -of the Savoyard peasant who declared that people who took any interest -in snow-covered mountains must be insane. - -On the other hand, we find in Eastern Asia, and especially among the -Japanese, from the earliest times, the most ardent love for nature, and -there even the poorest knows how to adorn his home with flowers, and to -turn the beauty of the landscape to similar account. - -A great part of the interest felt in natural beauty is perhaps to -be traced to extraneous considerations. On the other hand, here in -Germany we see most of our people full of feeling for our glorious -forests and for our German scenery in general. We have to face the -prospect, however, of a silenced countryside--a countryside without -song or music.[14] That is a matter for anxiety. Insects, birds, -quadrupeds, life and movement should be a part of the landscape. This -idea should continue to attract more and more adherents. German thought -and feeling are altogether in unison on this subject, and it is to -be hoped that the cry for the protection of the beauties of nature, -for the preservation of the plant and animal worlds, and all that is -picturesque in our native landscape, may continue to find expression. -The League for the Preservation of the Homeland in Germany gains daily -new supporters. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -BEARERS ON THE MARCH.] - -Men like Professor Conwentz and many others have been working for years -in this direction, and carrying on a most successful propaganda. This -action for the preservation of the Homeland, taken in the highest and -broadest sense of the word, must tend to evoke and foster the love of -nature and its beauties in ever wider circles. - -In other countries, too, steady progress is being made towards the -same goal, and the importance of these considerations has long been -recognised. In England and in America a way has recently been found to -give practical effect to the idea of the protection of the beauties of -nature by measures well calculated for this end. In this connection, -too, a refined æsthetic culture is gaining ground. I do not at all -close my eyes to the difficulty of regulating the conditions bearing on -this matter. But in this connection we must not shrink from decisive -measures. Those who come after us will be the first to prize and esteem -these measures at their full value. - -What I have here described as something to be desired and worth -striving for at home must also hold good for the whole world--the -preservation of all that is characteristic, all that belongs to -primitive nature, wherever it is to be found. - -The beauties of nature are most abundant, and in our time they are -all--all--threatened with destruction and in need of protection. Where -we can save and preserve any of them, our hands should not remain idle. - -But where this is not possible, let us secure “nature-documents,” -paintings, representations of all kinds as true to life as may be. - -In this way we shall, at least, save for future ages memorials of -enduring worth, for which our children’s children will give us thanks. - - - - -[Illustration: - - A RHINOCEROS MOVING SLOWLY THROUGH THE GRASS OF THE VELT--TAKEN - WITH THE TELEPHOTO-LENS AT A DISTANCE OF 120 METRES, AND - WHERE THERE WAS NO COVER. THE ANIMAL LOOKED REMARKABLY - LIKE AN ANT-HILL. ON ITS BACK ONE SEES A BIRD--(_BUPHAGUS - ERYTHRORHYNCUS_, Stanl.)--HUNTING FOR TICKS.]] - -III - -New Light on the Tragedy of Civilisation - - -Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, says in -his lately published work, _Out-door Pastimes of an American Hunter_: -“The most striking and melancholy feature in connection with American -big game is the rapidity with which it has vanished.” - -He makes a critical investigation of this disturbing fact, and he -most strongly advocates restrictive laws and the establishment of -reservations for wild animals. He puts himself at the head of every -effort directed towards the protection, as far as may be, of the animal -world and of wild nature, and shows by word and deed how even in a -brief period remarkable results can be obtained in this direction. -At the same time, on every page of his striking work, the President -shows that he is in favour of the practice of the chase within proper -limits, and thus he by no means takes the side of extreme partisans in -this matter. His efforts are of the greatest service to the cause, and -will no doubt have extremely valuable results in the United States, -where, owing to its peculiar circumstances, the natural treasures of -the country were, till very lately, recklessly wasted. - -The establishment of the Yellowstone National Park was largely the -President’s work. In this vast territory no shot may be fired. It forms -an inviolable national sanctuary, within whose boundaries life of all -kinds is safe. Several similar reservations are already established, -or their establishment is projected. Strict protective laws have been -some of them brought into operation throughout the States, and some -of them gradually extended to various districts according to their -circumstances. Whole tracts (as, for instance, Alaska) have been closed -for years by law against the hunter. In short, a period of thoughtless -ravage has been followed by an era of self-control with a swiftness -that no one would ever have expected under the conditions prevailing in -America. - -The facts I have noted give one something to think about. When in -such vast regions of the world measures of this kind are found to be -necessary, there must have been strong grounds for them. And, in fact, -primitive nature and all its glories were in as serious peril in the -United States as in many other parts of the world. The cutting down -of enormous stretches of forest, and the destruction of the stately -representatives of the animal world, went on at giant speed in the -United States. The almost complete extinction of the splendid American -bison, that once roamed in millions over the prairies of the United -States, is one of the most startling facts illustrating the destruction -of wild animals through the introduction of civilisation. This fact had -no slight influence in procuring the enactment of severe measures. - -In a land like the United States such measures are possible, -advantageous, and practicable. In other countries, too, which are in -a settled condition, similar regulations have everywhere come into -force of late years. Thus, for instance, the remnants of the fauna of -Australia are now protected by stringent laws. But quite different, -and much more difficult, are the conditions of the problem with regard -to Africa. There, more than anywhere else, the time has come for -protective regulations. But how can these measures be enforced, however -well they may be thought out? We must keep before our eyes the terrible -example of the disappearance of the animal world of South Africa, as -the result of the extremely rapid spread of civilised life. We can now, -with the help of statements made by trustworthy writers, survey the -various phases of this utter destruction of animal life during the last -century, and so form an idea of what awaits other parts of the Dark -Continent. - -Powerful voices have been raised of late in favour of the preservation -of African wild life, and this especially in England. In this respect, -Mr. Edward North Buxton is most prominent in pressing for thorough -measures of protection for the African fauna, throughout the wide -possessions or spheres of interest of the British Empire. In England, -too, many strong pleas have been made in support of the view that -even relatively speaking noxious animals should not be deprived by -man of the right to a certain amount of protection. Thus Sir H. H. -Johnston, the former Governor of the Uganda Province in Central -Africa, says in his preface to the English edition of my book _With -Flashlight and Rifle_, that in his opinion the weasel, the owl, and -the primitive British badger of the existing fauna ought not to be -entirely sacrificed to the pheasant--a beautiful enough bird, but, -after all, one that must always remain an “interloper”; that the egret, -the bird of paradise, the chinchilla, the sea-otter,[15] and such-like -creatures are “æsthetically as important,” and have the same right -to existence, as a woman beautifully dressed in the spoils of these -animals. Good pioneer work in this direction must result from the -noble-hearted resolve of the Queen of England to put herself at the -head of the “Anti-Osprey Movement,” organised to save the royal heron -from threatened extinction. - -There can be no doubt that the complete extermination of any species of -animal must excite in the mind of a reflecting man a sense of injustice -and wrong; and that this complete destruction of certain species can -only be to the interest of all men in general when such animals, of -whatever kind they may be, are entirely noxious and quite useless. -No epoch in the world’s history can be set in comparison with ours in -so far as it has been the witness, in the course of a few decades, of -almost daily progress and improvement in connection with industry, -culture, and the whole field of human knowledge. And, moreover, no -epoch has been so penetrated with the great thoughts of progressive -humanity. The continual employment--in ways that are ever more adroit, -ever more complex--of all the resources offered by nature to man, -seems at the same time to blind him to certain grave misdeeds that he -is actually perpetrating every day. These great crimes against the -harmony and order with which nature surrounds us--crimes that it is not -easy to make any amends for--are the disfigurement and poisoning of -watercourses, the pollution of the air, the laying waste of a portion -of the plant world (namely, the forests), and the extinction of some of -the animals that live with us. - -We do not shrink from the most _reckless_ exploitation of those forests -that have come down to us from the primeval past--the vast stores -of coal buried deep in the bosom of the earth. The expert can now -calculate with certainty that in a few hundred, at the very farthest -in a thousand, years these stores will be exhausted. When it comes to -this, the triumphant progress of industrial science will no doubt give -us some substitute, perhaps even something better; but no technical -knowledge, no science, can ever give us back anew those highly -developed organisms of the plant and animal world which man to-day -is recklessly sweeping out of the list of living things. They cannot -restore to us the green woods and their animal life. We preserve with -punctilious precision every vestige of the art of the past. The older -the documents of earlier historic times are, the more eagerly they -are coveted, the more highly they are valued. Our collectors gladly -pay the largest sums for an old papyrus, an old picture, an object of -decorative art, or a marble statue. And, as has been rightly remarked, -what warrant have we that some new Phidias, some new Michael Angelo, -some new Praxiteles will not arise, and give us something of as high -value as these, or even much more perfect? Unreservedly to deny this -would be the same thing as to give the lie to the progress of the human -race. - -But the same man who, in this respect, acts so reverently, so -conservatively, looks on with folded arms while treasures are -destroyed that ought to be guarded with special affection and care, in -these times when the great value of all natural science is so fully -recognised.[16] - -We organise, at an extremely high cost, expeditions to survey and -explore far-off regions. We sink into the greatest depths of the sea -our cunningly devised trawl-nets, and study with ceaseless diligence -the smallest organisms that they bring up into the light of day. We -consider the course of the stars, and calculate with precision their -remote orbits. We daily discover new secrets, and have almost ceased -to feel surprised at each day bringing us something new, something yet -unheard of. Much that is thus done to secure the treasures of the past -_might equally well be done in coming years. But much that we neglect -to do can never be made good_, for we are permitting the slaughter, -up to the point of extinction, of the most remarkable, the most -interesting, and the least known forms among the most highly organised -of the creatures that dwell with us on our earth! - -An example that appeals to us with terrible force is that of South -Africa (taking the country in its widest limits), a region now so -largely peopled by Europeans. There has been an almost complete -disappearance of the larger animals that once lived in their millions -on its wide plains. If one studies the trustworthy narratives of the -earlier explorers, one reads that, hardly a century ago, it was not a -rare sight to see in one day a hundred, or even a hundred and fifty -rhinoceroses, hundreds of elephants that showed little fear of man, -and countless antelopes; and one asks oneself, How can it be possible -that all this abundance of life has vanished in so short a time? A -specimen of the “white” rhinoceros, which in those times was still -living in large numbers, is in our day worth a small fortune; it is to -be found _in no museum in Germany_, and is simply almost impossible to -obtain. This former abundance is now known only to few, and these only -specialists engaged in studies of this kind. But to them it is also -plain and terribly certain that, where the like conditions come into -being, the same process that was at work in South Africa will produce -the same results. - -There can be no doubt about it. In a hundred years from now wide -regions of what once was Darkest Africa will have been more or less -civilised, and all that delightful animal world, which to-day still -lives its life there, will have succumbed to the might of civilised -man. That will be the time when the fortunate possessors of horns and -hides of extinct African antelopes, and the owners of elephant tusks, -skulls, and specimens of all kinds will be selling all this for its -weight in gold. And no one will be able to understand how it was that -in our day so little thought was given to preserving as far as possible -all this valuable material in abundant quantities at least for _the -sake of science_, instead of sacrificing it wholesale to the interests -of trade, and to the recklessness of the new settlers in those lands. -For these men, who have to struggle hard with the new conditions of -life and its necessities, can scarcely act otherwise than heedlessly -and short-sightedly. They will always take possession of a district -before settled conditions are introduced, and before the Government is -in a position to enforce the observance of its regulations, however -well-intentioned these may be. So it will come to pass that it will -suddenly be found no longer possible to provide European collections -with even a pair of specimens of the mighty elephant, or to procure -other large animals for exhibition in these establishments. And this -will be the case not only with regard to the larger species, but the -same thing will happen to all others. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A SCENE IN THE CAMEROONS (GERMAN WEST AFRICA), SHOWING THREE LARGE -GORILLAS SHOT BY CAPTAIN DOMINICK. (PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED BY CAPTAIN -DOMINICK.)] - -The Queen of England has lately expressed the wish that no lady shall -come into her presence wearing osprey plumes in her hat. This act of -hers should be most heartily welcomed, for the bird world is being -destroyed in a way of which only a few experts have any idea. If our -ladies only knew that whole species of birds have become extinct, -thanks to the fashion of wearing hats trimmed with birds’ feathers, -doubtless they would no longer pay allegiance to this destructive -fashion. The massacre of birds is carried on in some such way as -this. The leading firms agree to make this or that bird fashionable. -It is thus that the death-sentence of many rare species of birds is -pronounced. The traders scattered all over the world give the hunters -who engage in this kind of business directions, for instance, to bring -in osprey feathers. And how are they obtained? The royal heron, a -timid and beautiful bird, is not easy to stalk. But the businesslike -hunter knows what to do. He simply kills the herons in thousands and -thousands _at their nesting-places_. Love for its offspring brings -the beautiful creature within range of the gun-barrel of the lurking -hunter, who kills thousands of the birds in cold blood when they are -gathered together in the breeding season. Countless thousands must be -killed, countless thousands more of young helpless nestlings, bereft -of the parent birds, must starve to death before enough of these -little plumes has been collected to make a load heavy enough to be put -on the bearers’ shoulders. And now the dealers of the whole civilised -world lay in a stock, so that full provision may be made for a form -of fashion-mania that may probably last only a few months. Even in -the farthest swamps of America, in the lands beyond the Caspian, and -wherever the royal heron breeds, one can follow the bird hunter, and -see him at his horrible and murderous work. The end is everlasting -silence. A rare species is soon utterly destroyed. In the last -century alone about two dozen species of birds became extinct. And in -these days nearly a dozen more species of birds are threatened with -extinction! According to the Reports of the Smithsonian Institute this -is notably the case in America with regard to quite as many species. -The wonderful birds of paradise are going; the latest “trimming” for -the hats of American ladies, these dwellers in remote islands of the -Southern Seas are to be threatened in a more serious degree, and -probably to a great extent exterminated. Everywhere we have the same -lamentable facts! It is certainly high time to interfere effectively. -I myself think that the best results would follow from appeal to all -noble-minded women. - -In Africa I have already observed an example of the disappearance of -one species of bird[17]--every European takes a lot of trouble to get -possession of some of the much-prized marabou feathers. Now, as long -ago as the year 1900, at London, as a member of the International -Conference for the Protection of Wild Animals, I did my best to obtain, -at least on paper, some measure of protection for the marabou. This -bird had not only quite won my heart by its extraordinary sagacity, -but for the same reason it was a general favourite even in the times -of classical antiquity. My efforts were in vain. And this will mean -nothing more or less than the extermination of a large and handsome -bird, which is comparatively easy to hunt down, and the rate of -increase of which is exceptionally small. - -From all these points of view the support of the “League for the -Protection of Bird Life in Germany” is to be warmly recommended. In -England these reasons have brought about the formation of the -“Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire,” which -devotes itself to the protection of animal life in general throughout -the world-wide British dominions. - -[Illustration: - -XXIX. FELIS LEO, THE LION. - - ONE OF CORNWALLIS HARRIS’S SKETCHES, SHOWING HOW HALF A CENTURY - AGO NUMBERS OF LIONS WERE TO BE FOUND TOGETHER IN BROAD - DAYLIGHT IN SOUTH AFRICA. I HAVE SEEN SIMILAR GATHERINGS IN - EAST AFRICA, NOTABLY ON JANUARY 25, 1897. HARRIS’S SKETCH SHOWS - THE GREAT DEVELOPMENT OF THE MANE IN THE NOW NEARLY EXTINCT - SOUTH AFRICAN LION, A CONTRAST TO THE ALL BUT MANELESS LIONS OF - EAST AFRICA.] - -Let us now follow a little more closely, under the guidance of English -writers, the process of the extermination of the South African animal -world. This lamentable work was completed very rapidly in the course of -only something like a hundred years. From numerous English authorities, -as well as from the publications of the Society already named, I -have been able to ascertain that the last “blaauwbok” was killed by -the Boers in Cape Colony about the year 1800. From extant sketches -of this wild animal, it appears that it was a smaller species of the -splendid horse-antelopes still to be found in other parts of Africa. -During the following seventy-five years the extermination of several -other kinds of animals was systematically carried out; and exactly -eighty years later the last quagga, a kind of zebra (_Equus quagga_) -was killed by the Boers. In England there is only one single specimen -preserved, and that in a very poor condition. It is to be found in the -British Museum. A further sacrifice to the advancing Europeans was the -giant, wide-mouthed, “white” rhinoceros (_Rhinoceros simus_, Burch.), -a mighty creature, that formerly ranged in thousands over the grassy -plains of South Africa. The length of a horn taken from one of them is -given as 6 ft. 9 in., English measurement! Even as late as the year -1884, a single trader was able to pile up huge masses, small hills, -of these rhinoceros horns by equipping some four hundred tribesmen -of the Matabele race with guns and ammunition and sending them out -rhinoceros-hunting. Now it is difficult to get even a few specimens of -this animal for the museums, and they are almost worth their weight in -gold. Information lately obtained seems to indicate that a very small -number of these mighty beasts, probably not more than thirty-five in -all, are still living their life in the midst of inaccessible swamps -in Zululand and Mashonaland, in a district that, on account of its -deadly climate, is almost closed to Europeans. However, the Government -of Natal has, I am pleased to say, made the killing any animal of this -species, without legal permission, a crime to be punished by a fine of -£300. - -An English officer, Captain (afterwards Sir) William Cornwallis Harris, -is an authoritative witness as to the extermination of wild animals in -South Africa in 1836, though it must have been going on for a long time -before that without any written record. The Boers must have slaughtered -hecatombs of wild animals, though up to that date we have no first-hand -written evidence on the subject.[18] Their proceedings were precisely -of the same character as the events that have occurred in our own day -in connection with the destruction of the elephant, the rhinoceros, -and other animals throughout Africa. This destruction goes on silently, -and only a few men who have a special knowledge of the circumstances -bring some information about it to the world at large. The rest keep -silence, and mostly have good grounds for so doing. - -The descriptions given by Harris, Oswell, Vardon, C. J. Anderson and -their contemporaries give some idea of what enormous multitudes of -wild creatures then wandered over the plains of South Africa. We are -inclined to underestimate the abundance of the fauna of earlier epochs. -The process of animal-destruction by the hand of man has been going on -from immemorial times. For thousands of years man has been continually -pressing the animal world back more and more, and it has had to give -way in the unequal struggle. This process has been going on so slowly -and so imperceptibly that it is only by the scanty remnants left -from earlier times that we can form some estimate of the wealth that -has disappeared. These are no empty fancies. All the lonely far-off -islands of the world’s seas, the little visited Polar lands, and all -the uninhabited steppes and wildernesses give us evidence of this. Not -only from the lips of Cornwallis Harris, but also from some of his -contemporaries, we have descriptions of the former abundance of wild -life in the Cape districts of South Africa. At that time the country -was, in the literal sense of the word, covered with countless herds -of Cape buffaloes, white-tailed gnus, blessbock, bontebock, zebras, -quaggas, hill-zebras, hartebeests, eland-antelopes, horse-antelopes, -oryx-antelopes, waterbuck, impallah-antelopes, springbocks, and -ostriches. Herds of hundreds of elephants were to be seen. Every marsh, -every river-bed, was literally overcrowded with hippopotami. All other -kinds of animals that are now so scarce, such as the large and handsome -kudu, and all the different kinds of small wild animals, were to be -met with in vast numbers. Although since the year 1652 South Africa -had been to a continually increasing extent occupied by the Boers, -all these wonderful things had managed to survive in rich profusion -up to the moment when, about a hundred years ago, the great war of -extermination began. Various causes contributed to bring this about: -the increasing numbers of the settlers, their continual penetration -farther and farther into the interior, and, above all things, the -improvement of firearms. - -The natives, although very numerous in South Africa, had, as happens -everywhere, left the animal life of the country in its abundance to -the Europeans, who were overrunning the land in increasing numbers. It -was reserved for these to bring the war of extermination to an end in -a short time. Truly a melancholy spectacle! - -Wilhelm Bölsche describes all this in fitting words:[19] “In Africa,” -he says, “a wonderful drama is to-day unfolding itself before our eyes. -It is the downfall of the whole of a mighty animal world. What is being -destroyed is the main remnant of the great mammalian development of -the Tertiary period. Once it spread in the same fulness over Europe, -Asia, and North America. Now in its last refuge this most wonderful -wave of life is rapidly ebbing away. Everything contributes to this -result--human progress, human folly, and even disease among the animals -themselves.” - -[Illustration: - - SKETCH OF A HERD OF ELEPHANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA, BY HARRIS. - IT GIVES AN IDEA OF THE ABUNDANCE OF ELEPHANTS IN THE CAPE - DISTRICTS SIXTY YEARS AGO. THIS EXPLORER’S SKETCHES GIVE A TRUE - PICTURE OF THE LANDSCAPE AS WELL AS OF THE ANIMALS.] - -To give an example: Through the trifling fact that we have ivory balls -for billiards, the African elephant goes to destruction. The individual -cannot stop this; but what he can do is to secure more material for -each special branch of science before the door is closed, and to once -more observe in their primeval surroundings the last elephants, wild -buffaloes, giraffes--those last living vestiges of the Tertiary period. - -But above all, the sketches of Le Vaillant, a French explorer, who, -about 1780, set out from Cape Town on his travels into the interior, -are of great importance for our study of the former abundance of animal -life in South Africa. They are all the more interesting for German -readers because he traversed part of what is now German South-West -Africa, and gives in his book an account of its condition at that -time. He, too, tells of absolutely incredibly great multitudes of -wild animals; on the banks of the Orange River he comes upon great -herds of elephants and giraffes, and he cannot find enough to say -of the astonishing wealth of animal life. For those who know German -South-West Africa, his narrative is of special interest. He formed -collections which he brought back with him to his native country, and -to all appearance is a fairly trustworthy authority, though at the same -time, like many contemporary and later travellers, here and there he -makes assertions that are clearly unwarrantable. For instance, in one -place he tells how he once rode a zebra, that he had wounded, for a -considerable distance, back to his camp. - -Some fifty years later, at the period of the journeys of Captain -William Cornwallis Harris,[20] as I have already remarked, the same -conditions prevailed, with regard to the abundance of wild animals, -as in the days of Le Vaillant. It was almost a daily experience for -the traveller to be molested by lions. The Vaal River then teemed with -hippopotami. What is now the site of Pretoria was inhabited by a number -of rhinoceroses, that were absolutely an annoyance to the explorer: -“Out of every bush peeped the horrible head of one of these creatures.” -Of the neighbourhood of Mafeking he tells us that the gatherings of -zebras and white-tailed gnus literally covered the whole plain; that -with his own eyes he had at one time seen at least fifteen thousand -head of wild animals! In another place he tells us of an absolutely -overwhelming spectacle. He saw at the same time more than three hundred -elephants; to use his own expression, the plain looked like one -undulating mass. - -William Cotton Oswell, whom I have mentioned in my earlier work, and -who died as lately as 1893, knew the countries of South Africa in -the days of Livingstone, and gives the same account of them as his -predecessor Harris. He once came upon more than four hundred elephants -gathered together in one herd on the open velt. Unfortunately, like so -many others, he published very few sketches. - -Gordon Cumming, a traveller well known to the German public through -Brehms’ _Tierleben_, has also left us sketches of those days that -corroborate the descriptions given by his contemporaries. He tells -how, in the year 1860, a great drive was organised in the Orange -Free State in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh, afterwards Grand Duke -of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The number of wild animals driven together by -the natives, which included zebras, quaggas, gnus, cow-antelopes, -blessbock, springbocks, and ostriches, was estimated at five-and-twenty -thousand. The number killed on this one day was reckoned at about six -thousand animals, and a number of natives were trampled to death by the -herds of wild beasts. - -At this time there were still Europeans in South Africa who made -elephant-hunting their ordinary business. Now there are neither -elephants nor indeed any other kind of wild animal in numbers worth -mentioning in these once rich hunting grounds. They have all been -killed off in the course of a hundred years. Where once hundreds of -thousands of gnus lived their life, there are now only a few hundred -specimens carefully preserved and guarded. And the same is the case -with all other wild animals. Many species are gone completely and -for ever. _A similar process will go on slowly but surely throughout -the whole of Africa, wherever civilisation penetrates. There is only -one chance of the beautiful wild life of Africa being permanently -preserved, and that lies in the hunters themselves consenting to -protect and spare it._ - -It has been rightly remarked by such a competent authority as A. H. -Neumann (who is, moreover, one of the most experienced of English -elephant hunters) that the continued existence of many wild African -species is not incompatible with the progress of civilisation. He -points out that we can only reckon with some degree of certainty on the -effective preservation of wild animals, where not only reservations -have been established for them, but where also a considerable amount -of control can be exercised over both Europeans and natives. In his -opinion, for instance, a mere regulation forbidding the shooting of -female elephants is impracticable: “I should like,” he says, “to see -one of those who have drawn up such a regulation come into the African -bush, and there show us how we are to distinguish between female and -bull elephants in these impenetrable thickets.” - -In the British colonies in Africa reservations for wild animals have -been established with most successful results. Those of British East -Africa, the Sudan and Somaliland, and finally of British Central -Africa, taken together, have about five times the area of the Victoria -Nyanza. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Shillings, phot._ - - GROUP OF WILD ANIMALS AT HAGENBECK’S ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS AT - STETTINGEN, NEAR HAMBURG. THE ANIMALS LIVE IN OPEN SPACES - ARRANGED TO REPRESENT THEIR NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, AND THE - SPECTATORS ARE PROTECTED BY WIDE TRENCHES AND GRILLES. HERR - HAGENBECK IS SEEN ON THE LEFT.] - -By means of reports made as carefully as possible by the district -authorities, estimates have been obtained of the numbers of existing -wild animals. In the laying out of the reservations the very migratory -habits of the African fauna have been taken into consideration as far -as is practicable, and by strict protective regulations of various -kinds most satisfactory results have been secured. In the Transvaal -Colony, too, a reservation has been marked out in the Barberton -district between the Olifant River and the Portuguese frontier. Any -one shooting in this reservation without a permit is liable to a fine -of £100, or six months’ imprisonment. There is a very interesting -official report as to the wild inhabitants of this reservation. “It -contains one old rhinoceros (with shot-marks on its hide), a small herd -of elephants, a considerable supply of ostriches, from five to nine -giraffes, a satisfactory quantity of gnus, and also of ‘black-heeled’ -or impallah-antelopes, two or three small herds of buffaloes, several -herds of zebras, numerous waterbuck and kudus, and a small number of -horse-antelopes. On the other hand, whether oryx-antelopes and eland -are still to be found there appears to the author of the report in the -highest degree doubtful.” - -However, in the extensive reservations that have been established -in other British possessions in Africa, and especially in those of -the Sudan, a large number of the beautifully formed dwellers of the -wilderness still live their life, and this must be a delight to the -heart of every sportsman. - -It is to be hoped that through thus establishing “sanctuaries” (as the -English call them), with the consequent supervision, a means has been -found of protecting the indigenous wild life of Africa, as well of -America, for a long time to come. - -In German colonies, too, efforts are being made to preserve, as far -as possible, the native fauna. The more our views can be made clear, -the more complete the survey of this difficult subject can be made -by the combined experience of many experts being gradually brought -to bear together upon it, the sooner may we anticipate satisfactory -results from this co-operative action. For years I have been following -with close interest everything connected with this question, and my -wide correspondence with officers, officials, and private individuals -warrants me in concluding that on all sides there is an energetic -movement in progress. Of course, we have to face serious difficulties -in such a campaign. Thus it seems, according to numerous and -trustworthy reports, that the attempt to establish Boer settlements in -the Kilimanjaro district in East Africa has had, and still is having, -very fatal results for the once splendid wild life of that region. -And, indeed, it is no easy matter to reconcile a colony of Boers--the -people who have already made such a clean sweep of the wild life of -South Africa--to the preservation of the fauna of the country. One -can see how difficult the regulation of these matters is for the -authorities.[21] - -We must not forget also that, as a result of the wonderful improvements -in firearms, the problem of the protection of wild animals presents -itself to-day in quite a different fashion from that of the days of the -hunters of fifty, or even of twenty-five years ago. - -But it is not the individual hunter whose interest lies in sport -or science[22]; it is not the man who brings us the first knowledge -of many of the inhabitants of the wilderness, and first arouses our -interest in them; it is not such as these who should be regarded as -the destroyers of the fauna of a foreign land. Rather this is the work -of all those powerful influences that everywhere combine to this end -during the introduction of civilised life. It has indeed been already -proposed, in all seriousness, by some men of science to completely -extirpate the wild animals of East Africa, in order thus to circumvent -the tsetse fly and other minor pests that may perhaps communicate -disease from the wild to the tame cattle. And this, too, before it -can be said with any certainty whether these cases of infection do -not arise only from a number of very small animals which it would be -impossible to exterminate! - -Our most important task is now to obtain an accurate knowledge of the -fauna of foreign lands. For this purpose we must collect materials -which will render the study of this wild life of other lands possible -to our scientific institutions; which will place them in a position to -give to a wide public an idea of all these rich treasures, and thus -awaken an intelligent love for them in the hearts of the pioneers of -civilisation. - -And then we must devise practicable measures of protection. This -is a wide field of labour. The hunter himself must take in hand -the intelligent preservation of the wild animals. The measures of -protection must be suited to the varying conditions of the wide hunting -grounds of foreign lands, and must not be considered only from the -stay-at-home point of view. - -This is not to be done by mere laments over the extermination of wild -life, or even by merely putting limitations on the enjoyment of the -chase by the individual hunter. On the contrary, a beneficial result -can be obtained only by all European travellers in those countries -interchanging their experiences, collecting material, and exerting -themselves to the utmost and in concert to devise measures that will, -as far as may be, put a stop to the threatened extermination. - -This is a great and noble task. - - - - -[Illustration: YOUNG GRANT’S GAZELLES ON A BLACK-BURNED STRETCH OF -VELT.] - -IV - -The Survivors - - -To learn to know anything with precision, to devote oneself to it -and master it in its smallest details, one must generally make its -study a labour of love. So the spread of more exact knowledge of -the manifestations of nature around us must go hand in hand with -the awakening of love for them and for the splendours they present -to our view. And with this increasing impulse towards research and -knowledge must come the desire to prevent as far as possible the rapid -destruction of fauna and flora. Public opinion, in truth, has begun to -range itself on the side of these much menaced glories of nature. - -We have to observe and investigate. We have to get together some small -portion of the vast material that is often so uselessly squandered, -in order to employ it in the service of special branches of science, -and to make some closer knowledge of these things accessible to every -one. We have to establish great collections formed on a definite plan, -and everywhere to save as much material as possible for scientific and -educational purposes, so long as it can still be done. “If these ideas -could be brought home to the right quarters, millions would be made -available for this object,” writes one of the most learned specialists -in these matters. Our zoological gardens and museums are already doing -their best, but they are hampered by the want of pecuniary resources. -Whilst the largest sums are freely provided for the purchase of -antiquities, there is a dearth of means for doing what is necessary to -save the treasures of our vanishing fauna while there is still time! - -[Illustration: GROUP OF ’MBEGA MONKEYS, WITH THEIR WHITE-COATED YOUNG -(FIRST DISCOVERED BY THE AUTHOR).] - -[Illustration: LETTER FROM PROFESSOR P. MATSCHIE, THE LEADING AUTHORITY -ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MAMMALIA OF GERMAN EAST AFRICA.] - -Other countries, America for instance, set us a glorious example. There -you see public collections formed, affording panoramas of animal life -so splendid, so beautiful, and planned on such grand lines, that the -love of nature must be lighted up in the hearts of all who visit them. - -What can be saved of these disappearing treasures must suffice for all -time, and must in part at least be preserved in fire and thief-proof -“zoological treasuries,” for it will be impossible to obtain such -things again in the future, no matter what efforts may be made. Thus a -great and difficult task presents itself to our museums. We can rightly -require of them that they shall not merely exhibit the principal -species of the animal world, but that they shall also preserve -specimens of the most striking representatives of our still surviving -fauna that are likely soon to become extinct. And these specimens -must be guarded by all the resources of art and science against light -and any other influence that might injure them. For such a far-seeing -policy posterity will be grateful to us. - -It seems, however, as though some unlucky star presided over the -collecting of the larger species of the animal world. Let any one -devote himself to these special pursuits and objects, and even if he -win thereby the approval of experts and of wide circles of the public, -still a certain odium will seem to attach to him. Obviously he -must kill a certain number of animals, that are often _quite unknown_ -till then, and in almost every case have been _hardly studied_ at all, -in order that he may add them to the collections belonging to his -native country. He gains the gratitude of science and of the learned, -but he has to encounter the prejudices of others. People think that -they are justified in throwing upon him, the scientific collector, the -reproach of being an exterminator. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A ‘MBEGA (_COLOBUS CAUDATUS_, Thos.)] - -[Illustration: - - THREE NEW VARIETIES OF EAST AFRICAN WILD BUFFALOES: _BUBALUS - SCHILLINGSI_ Mtsch. spec. nov., FROM THE MIDDLE PANGANI, LAKE - DJIPE MOMBASA; _BUBALUS NUHAHENSIS_, Mtsch. spec. nov., FROM - UPOGORO, ’NDEMA, ’MBARAGANDU AND THE UPPER RUAHAIS; _BUBALUS - WEMBARENSIS_, Mtsch. spec. nov., FROM THE TSHAIA MARSHES IN THE - SOUTHERN WEMBERE STEPPE. THE ILLUSTRATIONS SHOW HOW GREATLY THE - FORM OF THE BUFFALO’S HORNS VARIES IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, AND - GIVE A PROOF OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS FOR - EACH SEPARATE REGION. - -I have to thank Professor Matschie for the two lower illustrations.] - -Those who speak thus completely forget that it was through the material -thus placed before their eyes that they themselves obtained their very -first knowledge of these beautiful creatures; that till then they -hardly took any interest in such things; and that it is only by means -of knowledge secured in this way that regulations for the preservation -of these beauties of nature can be devised. - -Let us suppose that every museum and scientific collection in the -world were provided with a series of specimens of all the varieties -of the animal world that are now most seriously threatened with -extinction; let us further suppose that each of these institutions -secured, besides, duplicate series of the hides and skeletons of each -species. To make a striking comparison, all this, beside the wholesale -destruction of the animal world of which we have to complain, would be -like a week-end sportsman perhaps killing one hare during his whole -life compared to the millions of hares killed every year in Germany. - -If a species is already reduced to such a state that the taking of a -few hundred, or even a few thousand, specimens for scientific purposes -will exterminate it, we may say generally that, even without this -proceeding, it is inevitably doomed to extinction. But the wretched -egg-collecting by youths, for instance, is quite a different matter. -Certainly there must be a great deficiency, when continually, year -after year, wood and meadow are searched for birds’ nests by thousands -of boys. This is obvious, and thus the rarer species are threatened in -their very existence. - -[Illustration: MODERN METHODS OF TAXIDERMY: SETTING UP.] - -[Illustration: ONE OF MY SPECIMENS IN THE MUNICH MUSEUM.] - -[Illustration: THE COMPLETED SPECIMEN IN THE MUNICH MUSEUM (_GIRAFFA -SCHILLINGSI_, Mtsch.).] - -[Illustration: ANOTHER OF MY SPECIMENS IN THE STUTTGART MUSEUM.] - -Great stress ought always to be laid upon the point to which I have -here called attention, and I can appeal to every expert on the subject -for confirmation of my opinion. - -[Illustration: - - PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF A MALE GIRAFFE GAZELLE (_LITHOCRANIUS - WALLERI_, Brocke) SHOT BY THE AUTHOR. AN EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL - AND RARE SPECIES, FIRST SEEN BY THE AUTHOR IN GERMAN EAST - AFRICA IN 1896.] - -I think that I have earned a special right to speak on this matter. -For the last fifteen years I have hardly ever carried a gun when -at home in Europe; I have refused the most pressing invitations to -shooting parties; and I have sought pleasure only in the sight of our -native wild animals, which I know so well, and in secretly watching -and observing them. But in the midst of a yet unstudied foreign fauna, -of which we still know little or nothing, where there is question of -first obtaining some scanty knowledge oneself, and forming collections -for definite scientific research--in the midst of an animal world of -this kind I would not hesitate to shoot even large numbers of each -species. For there would be good reason for not merely securing -well-developed male specimens, as the hunter does, but also females -and young animals in all the various stages of growth and colouring. -This must be obvious even to a child, and no one will deny to science -the right so to act, at least in those regions of Africa which--in -comparison with India and other countries--are still untouched by -civilisation, and which therefore, in their primitive unchanged -condition, afford us doubly interesting results. Now supposing one has -got together large collections, and has been so fortunate as to succeed -in bringing them down to the coast and home to Europe. A collection -of insects or of the lower animals may pass without remark; but woe -to the slayer of the larger species of wild animals! These come under -the description of “beasts of the chase,” and now a peculiar kind of -bacillus quickly develops--the bacillus of “hostility to the hunter,” -which, introduced into Europe from the tropics, finds here, too, a -fostering soil. Let me be allowed to endeavour to find a prophylactic -against this bacillus in these essays. I have already often laid stress -upon the facts that such great quantities of the skins and feathers -of birds are exported for the purposes of fashion, that by this trade -whole species are threatened with extinction; that every individual -European is allowed, without any hindrance, to send home his trophies -of the chase--trophies which, with only a few exceptions, can have -hardly any value for science; above all, that the extermination of the -elephant in Africa is being carried out before our very eyes for the -sake of his ivory; and that all this is held permissible. But let one -make collections for scientific purposes, and scrupulously hand over -every skin, every hide, with the horns and skull belonging to it, all -carefully labelled, to some museum at home, and, according to widely -expressed opinion, he is greatly to blame for the destruction of animal -life. - -[Illustration: DWARF ANTELOPE IN THE CARLSRUHE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.] - -[Illustration: - - GROUP OF GIRAFFE GAZELLES (IN THE AUTHOR’S POSSESSION) PREPARED - BY ROBERT BANZER OF OEHRINGEN. THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS SHOWN IN - ITS CHARACTERISTIC ATTITUDE WHEN BROWSING ON TREES OR BUSHES.] - -[Illustration: - - GROUP, ALSO PREPARED BY BANZER, SHOWING A SNOW-WHITE - “BLACK-HOOFED” ANTELOPE, ATTACKED BY A BLACK SERVAL AND TWO - OTHERS.] - -[Illustration: - - A SPECIMEN OF THE NEW SPECIES OF HYENA DISCOVERED BY THE - AUTHOR IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA (_HYENA SCHILLINGSI_, Mtsch., - NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON).] - -Happily in recent years our colonial collections have been considerably -augmented. An extraordinarily large quantity of material has been -forwarded to the Berlin Natural History Museum, amongst others, by -officials, private individuals, and members of the garrisons abroad. -Hence valuable results have been obtained for the zoology of these -regions. Amongst the satisfactory results of the ever increasing -activity in the zoological exploration of the Dark Continent are -surprising and repeated discoveries of unknown species of animals, -such as the Okapi (_Ocapia johnstoni_) and a black wild hog, till now -completely unknown (_Hylochœrus meinertzhageni_, Oldf. Thomas). With -the help of these collections, Professor Matschie, dealing with the -mammalia, and Professor Reichenow with the birds, have succeeded in -establishing the fact that each separate region of the Dark Continent -possesses its own characteristic fauna. And most important conclusions -with regard to the distribution of animals have thus been derived from -these great systematic collections. My friend Baron Carlo Erlanger, the -well-known African traveller, and the only one who has ever traversed -Somaliland from end to end, though unhappily cut off by an early death, -was able to confirm these theories, with reference to the countries -he explored, by the ample collections he systematically formed. The -whole science of zoology in relation to geography has been turned on to -new lines of research, and has given the most important and most -valuable results. Everything should be done to support efforts of this -kind. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - DWARF MUSK DEER, (_NESOTRAGUS MOSCHATUS_ VAN DUBEN) FROM THE - AUTHOR’S COLLECTION IN THE BERLIN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - A PAIR OF GUEREZAS (_COLOBUS CAUDATUS_, Thos.). THIS LIFELIKE - GROUP WAS PREPARED BY THE SKILLED TAXIDERMIST KERZ, OF THE - STUTTGART MUSEUM.] - -But in this department it is to all increasing extent the duty of our -German museums to promote a knowledge of and an interest in the animal -world of far-off lands by the display of ample collections, so arranged -as to convey instruction. There has already been gratifying progress in -this respect, but it is clear that for the development of these ideas -we need more extensive, up-to-date buildings for our collections and -museums. Other countries, especially England, and above all America, -are far in advance of us in this matter. Our zoological gardens have -the task of putting the _living_ animal world before us. Happily we are -doing this by far-sighted methods. To the Zoological Gardens of Berlin -belongs the credit of having, to a continually increasing extent, -arranged a display of the animal world in appropriate surroundings, -and with reference to systematic classification and to its relations -with geographical distribution and ethnological science, so far as -one can assume the connection or companionship of certain species -with man. There we see the disappearing species of wild cattle -housed, each according to its peculiar character, in enclosures that -are strictly true to nature, and artistically designed. Thus, for -instance, the American bison--now hardly to be obtained for its weight -in gold is shown in surroundings that remind us of the North American -Indians, these also a disappearing race. The ostrich-house takes us -back to the land of the Pharaohs, of which the ostrich was once a -characteristic inhabitant, as well as the ichneumon, the crocodile, -and the hippopotamus. Then the class of rodents is brought before -us in almost poetical surroundings, that seem quite to justify the -German animal stories of the Middle Ages, and that are calculated to -produce quite a different effect on the mind from that of a stiffly -arranged exhibition of the regulation type, especially in the case of -the rising generation. But on account of the difficulty of securing -and maintaining certain species, and their shortness of life in close -captivity, our zoological gardens can only properly carry out their -programme so long as it is possible for them to continually renew their -stock of animals. - -On the other hand, the museums are all the more responsible for setting -before our eyes the various species of animals even long after these -have become extinct, and they must do this by means of works of art -executed by the hand of man, masterpieces of taxidermy. - -And by masterpieces of taxidermy I mean artistic groups of “stuffed” -animals that will, as far as may be, show us their life and action, -their ways and habits. In former times this work was left to the -so-called “animal-stuffer.” He took a hide, filled it out with some -material or other, and then, so far as he could, gave it the appearance -of a quadruped or a bird. Thus one sees a stuffed hippopotamus of this -good old time which looks, not like such an animal, but like a gigantic -sausage. One sees stags or antelopes that somewhat resemble the wooden -toys associated with the Christmas boxes of my childhood, and not the -particular species of animals which they are intended to represent--in -short, wretched caricatures with neither beauty nor fidelity to -nature. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -BLACK-HOOFED ANTELOPE IN THE CARLSRUHE MUSEUM.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -GIRAFFE GAZELLE AND DWARF ANTELOPE IN THE CARLSRUHE MUSEUM.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -HEAD OF AN AFRICAN WART-HOG SHOT BY THE AUTHOR.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -PHOTOGRAPH OF AN OSTRICH’S NEST, JUST AS IT WAS FOUND. THE BIRD’S -TRACKS MAY BE SEEN IMPRINTED ON THE SAND. THE DARK SPOTS ON SOME OF THE -EGGS ARE PATCHES OF SAND.] - -Nowadays, however, more than this must be done--the best must be -insisted on. Instead of the “stuffer,” the artist must come upon the -scene. Using the methods of the sculptor, he can artistically fashion a -form that will be true to life, and clothe this form with the hide or -skin. Happily by these means we now find such works of art exhibited in -ever increasing numbers, not only in museums abroad, but also in the -public collections of our own country. But as yet this new department -of artistic activity is not generally as well understood as it should -be. It is still far too little valued. - -What labour has to be devoted to the artistically correct setting up -of even one single large mammal in a museum--for instance, a giraffe! -First the animal must be hunted down in the wilderness, and its -hide carefully prepared. Then, if it has been brought home in good -condition, there follows a second laborious preparation, and finally -the setting up. The difficult building up of the framework, and the -work upon the giant beast till all is complete, require the labour of -nearly a year. The very first conditions for the success of the whole -are great patience, knowledge, and an ideal that is both artistic and -true to nature. - -Our illustrations show, in its various stages, the progress of the -setting up of one of the giraffes I collected in Africa. It is easy to -understand that besides artistic and scientific ability for the correct -moulding of the form, various complex manipulations are required before -the giant beast again stands before us as if “reawakened to life.” - -I have further tried to show by illustrations of another giraffe, and -of a series of antelopes, down to the tiny dwarf antelope, how under -the hand of the artist the animal world can be made to rise up again, -as if waked anew to life. - -All our larger museums ought to exhibit the most important and most -prominent representatives of the animal kingdom modelled in attractive -groups in their natural surroundings. - -In America it has become the custom for private individuals to place at -the disposal of the zoological institutions extensive collections and -large sums of money. With this help they are able to produce artistic -work, true to nature, works of art, the consideration of which gives -the spectator an insight into the life and habits of the animal world -of his native land as well as of foreign countries. Unfortunately this -custom has hardly yet been introduced amongst us. - -My native city of Frankfurt[23] can claim the honour of possessing, -in the time-honoured Senckenberg Institute (now transferred to a new -home), a museum founded by private effort and private interests, where -one may see collections formed for exhibition, that may be pointed out -as models of their kind. - -The collector of such things can partake of no greater pleasure than -he experiences when, making a tour of the museums of various places -at home, he sees awakened to new life the wild creatures he formerly -observed and laid low in far-off lands. So I could not deny myself the -pleasure of adding to this book a number of pictures of animals and -groups of animals which I secured in the wastes of Africa, and -which are now set up in various museums. These are trophies that must -allure every sportsman. It is of course not so easy a matter to secure -them as it is to hack off without any trouble the antlers or horns of -some wild animal that one has shot. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -DRYING ORNITHOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOR MY COLLECTION. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - GROUP MAINLY COMPOSED OF THE AUTHOR’S TROPHIES IN THE CARLSRUHE - MUSEUM. IN FRONT, BELOW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, WATERBUCK, GRANT’S - GAZELLE, BOEHM’S ZEBRA, YOUNG ELAND; AND ON THE RIGHT A YOUNG - OKAPI (_OCAPIA JOHNSTONI_) FROM THE CONGO STATE, THE GIFT OF - THE KING OF THE BELGIANS.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -WOMEN OF THE RAHE OASIS IN A BANANA GROVE.] - -Paintings, true to life, from the hands of artists, photographs taken -directly from life, and finally these groups _awakened, as it were, to -a new life_, are the means that can, and should, exert an educating -and informing influence, so that all the beauty of this department -of created nature may not be accessible only to a few learned men, -but be open to all in general. If to an ever increasing degree this -object finds support in influential circles, we shall thus obtain what -must be somehow obtained. In the presence of the progress of industry -and civilisation no one can indeed permanently prevent by protective -measures the disappearance of certain species, even though we may hope -to still delay the process of extinction by suitable regulations. But -on this ground the duty that I have already indicated becomes more -clearly imperative upon us. Its fulfilment cannot fail to be rewarded, -in the case of all who take part in it, by the only true satisfaction -that is given to mortals, the feeling of having done all that was in -any way in our power to do. - - - - -[Illustration: EGYPTIAN GEESE IN A SWAMP.] - -V - -Sport and Nature in Germany - - -Not by far-away Lake Nakuro alone has “the Spell of the Elelescho” -lived. It has lived, and still lives, all over the world; only that it -goes by other names, and is linked with other symbols. - -In the brief summer of the Polar regions, battling with the snow -and ice and the long night, it lives in the few stunted willows and -the scanty reindeer-moss. It can only be fully understood where -the ungainly walrus, the mighty Polar bear, coloured like his own -snowfields, and the herds of fur-adorned musk oxen and reindeer give -life to the wilderness, and millions of sea-birds cover the cliffs, or -wheel shrieking through the air. To all these creatures the appearance -of man in these wide regions is so strange and unaccustomed that they -show no fear of him, and even come hurrying up from all sides to look -curiously at this strange new being. - -In the high mountain regions of Central Asia, too, this spell survives, -associated with the flocks of those timid creatures the primitive -wild sheep, with the graceful wild goats, with the stately ibex,[24] -and with the life and movement of the countless huge bears of the -mountains, and with a strange flora that I myself have never looked -upon, but of whose existence I am as persuaded as of that of the spell -itself. - -It is to be found in the jungles of India, whence the tolerant natives -have never driven it out. They have not expelled the animal world from -its paradise. There in the region of the lotus-flower the spell may -perhaps be recognised on still, moonlit nights. - -It survives everywhere: in the Australian bush, in the New and the -Old World, on all islands, in all rivers and waters, in the life and -movement of the waves and depths of the ocean, so full of secrets -everywhere; in a word, where man has not yet driven it away. - -Once it lived everywhere in Germany, and even to-day it is still to be -found in many places. It has its being where the mighty elk made its -home on moor and marsh-land, and our forefathers hunted the aurochs and -the bison in the primitive forest. To-day it is associated with the -edelweiss and the chamois in the Alps; it has its being in the oak and -beech woods, and where the green current of the Rhine flows down, or -where the stag sends afar his cry of challenge to his rival, and the -huntsman makes his way over the moor. - -There one still experiences the spell of the Elelescho. But everywhere, -all over the world, everywhere in our Fatherland, it once lived and -held sway. - -We may hope that the intimate and beautiful relations that the German -sportsman establishes between himself and nature in his Fatherland will -for a long, long time be handed down from generation to generation, -and thus result in the maintenance and preservation of the noble old -spell of the woodland and the wilderness. The ideal of _true German -sportsmanship_ has been developed in as high and full a sense as that -of _fair play in sport_ in England. - -Both of these ideals will be judged in unfriendly fashion only by those -who regard them from a distorted point of view. The English ideal of -sport is winning the world to itself; the German ideal must do the same. - -Coming from a good German school of sport, I consider myself fortunate -in having learned to know the wonderful animal world of Africa. There -is no doubt whatever that I must ascribe to the influence of this -school the fact that my accounts of what I had experienced and seen met -with such an appreciative reception both at home and abroad. - -How wonderful is the chase in Germany! The primitive attraction for the -chase must be a part of every man. One need only once have seen the -excitement that seizes upon a gathering of thousands if on a sudden a -hare or some other wild creature comes into sight. At such a moment, -almost without exception, every one of them is on the move, without -the least reflection, and even notwithstanding the consciousness that -in no case can he himself secure the prize. It is the call of a strong -impulse deep rooted in men. But in our Fatherland how grandly and -nobly what we mean by “true sportsmanship” has developed out of this -primitive instinct! - -A certain kind of organisation of the business of the chase must have -been in existence even in primeval times. Those who have made a study -of this department of the life of nomadic hunters in many lands tell -us that tribes and groups of families hunt only in well-defined areas, -and as they value their lives do not venture to pass these boundaries. -I have learned the same thing by my own personal experience of the -Wandorobo and other nomad huntsmen of the African plateau. It must -therefore have been the case everywhere, from the times when primitive -men, the cave-dwellers, began their struggle with the mighty beasts of -primeval days, down to our own times, when the chase is more and more -regulated till at last it becomes the exclusive property of the owner -of the land. - -As a consequence of this right came measures for game preservation both -against the interference of the stranger sportsman, and as regards the -wild creatures themselves. Increasing knowledge taught the hunter that -he could not kill more than a certain number of wild animals without -extirpating them entirely in his district.[25] Hence grew up our -complex game-laws of to-day, and the general feeling that our hunting -grounds should be used in as intelligent a way as possible. In Germany -this problem has been solved to a remarkable extent. German sport has -an important influence on the welfare of the people. Great numbers of -our people are strengthened in body and mind by the chase, and, thanks -to it, considerable sums of money are added to the resources of the -country folk. - -According to a moderate estimate there are now in Germany upwards of -half a million sportsmen. Each year they kill about 40,000 head of red -and fallow deer, about 200,000 roebuck, 4,000,000 hares, 4,000,000 -partridges, and 400,000 wild ducks, in all some 25,000,000 kilograms -(over 50,000,000 lb.) of wild game, of a value of 25,000,000 marks -(£1,250,000), and forming nearly one per cent. of the total meat supply -of Germany. The game leases bring in about 40,000,000 marks annually -(£2,000,000).[26] But these very sportsmen, who every year kill such -a large quantity of wild animals, must at the same time be protectors -and guardians of this same animal life! Strange as it may seem, many -species of wild animals would have been long ago extinct if there were -no sportsmen. For imperative reasons, the hunter must at the same time -undertake the part of protector. - -_But this idea ought to be to include a great deal more than is now the -case._ As I have already said, no nation has known so well how to form -a beautiful and poetical ideal of the chase and the spirit of sport as -the Germans have done. But it is not to be denied that this perfect -development, even in its very completeness, has in a certain sense -become one-sided, in so far as sportsmen restrict their protection and -guardianship to certain species of animals; one-sided, too, inasmuch as -to a certain extent they regard their mission from the point of view -of a close corporation. In this there is a certain advantage, but also -a certain amount of danger now that, as a result of the rapid progress -of civilisation, changes are introduced in every department of life so -much more quickly than in earlier times. - -Huntsmen and fishermen desire the complete extermination of all kinds -of animals that they consider to be a cause of injury to their sport. -The result is the destruction of many kinds of animals that are -beautiful in form and constitute an ornament of the landscape. By the -same kind of reasoning sportsmen, in their capacity of landlords and -forest owners, ought to demand the extermination of the wild animals -that obtain their food from field and forest. Naturally sportsmen do -not want this, but they should, as far as may be, let themselves be -guided by higher points of view. This is the case already in many -instances. For example, as an instance of zealous game supervision -inspired by scientific principles, we have lately had to welcome a -valuable idea of Forest Commissioner Count Bernstorff. According to -his plan, small labels that will not annoy the animals (the so-called -“Game marks”) are attached near the ears of young roebucks and red -deer. Thus their resting-places, their movements, their growth, can be -carefully observed.... We are, therefore, actually living in a time -when to a certain extent each individual head of game is numbered! - -Interesting and valuable as such measures may be, should we not -extend our loving care also to the animals that, though they are not -reckoned as game, yet adorn and give animation to the land we live -in? Some great landlords have given a bright example of progress in -this direction. Thus in Hungary there are sporting estates on which -wolf and bear are not completely exterminated, and in Germany estates -on which the fox is spared to a certain extent. The result has been -to the advantage of stags’ antlers and bucks’ horns on the estates in -question. English landlords allow a free home to a pair of peregrine -falcons or eagles, so as not to allow these beautiful birds to be -completely extirpated. - -From these examples it is clear that there can be various opinions as -to the view generally taken with regard to “predatory animals.” If -there is not merely a selfish protection for game animals, but also -protection for the other mammals and birds, we shall thus preserve -from extinction some of the glorious forms of the realm of nature, -and prevent their being sacrificed to narrow interests. There is food -for thought in the fact that (as I have often had occasion to observe -in Africa) in primitive countries there is to be found an astounding -abundance of animal life. _Since prehistoric times man has been -engaged in hunting with his simple weapons without, on the whole, -very much diminishing the number of animals._ A striking proof that -the destruction of wild life is the work of the Europeans themselves, -and of the native hunters carrying firearms under their authority, -is afforded by the fate of the North American buffalo, the whales, -walruses, and seals of the frozen seas, and finally by that of the -elephant in certain districts and of the South African fauna taken as -a whole. - -We should not therefore act so rigorously in the proscription of our -so-called “predatory” animals. Yet, for instance, my near neighbour, -Freiherr H. Geyer von Schweppenberg, has lately shown that our pretty -water-hen (_Gallinula chloropus_, L.) can do a great deal of damage to -grass and corn. - -In South Africa what are called “poisoning clubs” have been organised, -which aim at the extermination of “noxious animals” by poison. The -use of poison ought to be entirely forbidden by legal enactments, -with the exception, perhaps, of its administration for scientific -purposes. The strychnine canister--the use of which ought only to -be allowed, and that in exceptional cases, to those who are making -scientific collections--is now making its appearance everywhere all -over the world. I have had news from the most distant countries of its -employment, unhappily with far too great success.[27] It is already -some time since the last _Lammergeier_ of the German hill districts -fell a victim to it. It is thinning to frightful extent the numbers of -the bears in Eastern Asia and other countries, though these are quite -harmless to man. But in our Fatherland a completely organised “poison -business” has grown up, which is a very serious matter. - -I should like also to advocate strongly the legal prohibition of the -use of pole-traps, to which all our owls and birds of prey fall victims. - -If we go on as we are going, the time cannot be far distant when we -shall have to strike out of the list of the living several interesting -members of our native fauna. In North America, in recent times, -the following species, amongst others, have some of them become -extinct, others extremely scarce: the Californian grizzly bear -(_Ursus horribilis californicus_), the San Joaquin Valley elk, or -wapiti (_Cervus nannodes_), Stone’s reindeer (_Rangifer stonei_), the -prongbuck or pronghorn (_Antilocapra americana_), the Pallas cormorant -(_Phalacrocorax perspillicatus_), the Labrador duck (_Camptolaimus -labradorius_), the ivory woodpecker (_Campephilus principalis_), the -scotar (_Aix sponsa_), several other species of birds, and finally the -American woodcock. This last falls a victim chiefly to professional -hunters, who are accustomed to kill it by hundreds in its winter -quarters. - -“This list could perhaps be extended,” Mr. R. Rathbun, the Secretary -of the Smithsonian Institute (whose kindness I have to thank for this -information), adds at the end of his letter. - -His communications have also been of special interest to me because -they awoke in me old recollections. In the ‘forties of the past -century my father received a letter from North America in which he -was informed that on ground over which the New York of to-day extends, -one could shoot in a single day hundreds of woodcock. I myself, in -my young days, used to take care of a beautifully coloured parrot, -of a kind that since then has been almost extirpated, and is hardly -to be obtained any longer. _Connurus carolinensis_ is the name of -this beautiful species of parrot, which also appears on the list of -extinct animals of North America. There, too, men have begun to give -strong practical expression to the movement for animal protection. In -sanctuaries like Yellowstone Park there is complete protection for -all animal life, including beasts of prey, and the bears have become -so tame that they allow visitors to come within a few paces of them. -Count E. Bernstorff, who received permission to shoot one of the few -bisons still preserved in the State of Wyoming, says “One might take -the way in which the animal life of America is protected as an example -in securing still better preservation for the survivors of the primeval -wild life of Africa. One must acknowledge that the Americans and their -noble President, a brave sportsman, are now doing all that is possible -in this matter.” - -President Roosevelt, in fact, has come forward manfully in the lists -as a champion of widely extended protection for all the beauties of -nature, and especially of the animal world. He endeavours by his words -and writings to work effectually for these great and noble ideas, which -bring to all men delight, profit, and contentment.[28] - -Brought up in the school of German sportsmanship, I had later on to -change completely my view as to our distinction between “noxious -animals” and “beasts of prey.” The African wilderness swarms with -_beasts of prey_, and yet also swarms with _useful wild animals_. -The waters of Africa teem with the _fish destroyers_, and also teem -with _fish_. We should not therefore act so short-sightedly and -pedantically. We should not be so eager to hunt down the last fox, -the last pine-marten. The nesting-places of herons and cormorants are -becoming ever fewer; the places where the handsome black tree storks -build in our German Fatherland can almost be counted on the fingers -of one hand; and the same is nearly true of the nesting-places of our -rarer birds of prey. - -The killing of a wild cat has already become an event; it is the same -with the eagle-owl. - -Out of the mass of literature of recent date bearing on the subject, I -take a single book. In a very readable essay, _Der Uhu in Böhmen_, Kurt -Loos shows that only a few years ago this interesting and beautiful -large owl (_Bubo maximus_) was to be found making its home to the -extent of some fifty pairs in thirty-five districts of Bohemia; now -only eighteen pairs are living there, in ten districts. The author -demands protection for the surviving pairs of owls, as natural objects -that should be preserved, and he makes out a strong case for his -proposal. Röntgen-ray photographs are among the illustrations of this -interesting work, and they suggest that in times when one can do one’s -work with such excellent appliances, there is all the more reason for -avoiding the thoughtless neglect of legacies left to us by Nature from -the days of its primeval beauty. - -Numerous other examples of the rapid disappearance of certain species -in our Fatherland might be quoted here. Unfortunately we have, on the -whole, very little right to reproach the people of Southern Europe -on the subject of their custom of carrying on a systematic massacre -of birds; for we ourselves are always trapping thrushes and larks, -and there is the shooting of the woodcock in spring. There can be no -doubt that, if we would give up this spring shooting of the woodcock, -this bird, which has so won the heart of the German sportsman, would -breed abundantly in our forests. On sporting estates in the wooded -hills in Baden I have had occasion to observe this bird nesting; and -it is to be regretted that German sportsmen, who in other matters -obey the customs of the chase with such scrupulous conscientiousness, -do not spare this bird in the spring-time, although they are thus -extirpating from their hunting grounds a bird that breeds in the -woodlands of our country. The North American woodcock is in process -of extinction, for it also is not spared by sportsmen in its breeding -grounds, and it is just as little in safety from them in its winter -quarters. It is thus one of the disappearing birds of North America, -whilst our European woodcock is not so much exposed to harm from -systematic pursuit either in its partly inaccessible northern breeding -grounds or in its winter abode. But it is indeed difficult to abolish -old, deep-rooted practices that are no longer abreast of the times. -“Che vuole, signore?--il piacere della caccia!” was the reply of -an Italian to a tourist who remonstrated with him on the subject of -the extraordinarily widespread destruction of doves by means of nets -in Northern Italy. The same answer would probably be given by the -monks[29] of certain islands of the Mediterranean, who, keeping up an -old custom, kill countless multitudes of turtle-doves during their -migration. These are their favourite dainties, and they also export -them largely in a preserved state. So, too, it will be a difficult -matter to obtain from German sportsmen the complete abandonment of -their pleasant spring campaign against the woodcock. Through the very -interesting experiments of the Duke of Northumberland, who had marks -put upon numbers of young woodcock, it has been ascertained that large -numbers of them undoubtedly spend the whole winter in England. Now, if -Professor Boettger and Wilhelm Schuster are right in their conclusions, -drawn from similar observations, as to the return of the conditions of -the Tertiary period, and if the species of birds they observed used at -an earlier date not infrequently to winter with us, a more extended -protection for the woodcock ought, at any rate, to be introduced. - -The continual levying of contributions on our colonies of sea-gulls, -to the injury of a great number of the other species of birds that -inhabit our sea-coasts, should also be greatly restricted. If this -is not done we shall witness, within a period already in sight, a -lamentable extermination of our shore- and sea-birds. And how grateful -for protection many species show themselves! Wherever it is extended to -them they enliven the landscape in the most pleasing way. So, too, it -has been found that certain species of gulls have adapted themselves to -a kind of nocturnal life in the neighbourhood of our great commercial -ports. - -I may here mention as standing in special need of protection, and as -wonderful adornments of our German landscape, whose preservation should -find an advocate in every thoughtful man--the buzzard, the kestrel, the -hobby-hawk, both our varieties of kite, the crane, the heron, the white -and the black stork, the crested grebe, the water-hen, and the coot. -All these enliven and embellish the landscape to a conspicuous extent, -and should not be sacrificed to selfish interests. - -I knew an old gamekeeper, a native of the March of Brandenburg, who -throughout the course of a long life had been taking care of a shooting -estate, which had grown up with him, so to speak. He protected _his_ -wild creatures, and was delighted at having a colony of storks’ nests -and a group of badger burrows in _his_ woods. For long years he was -able to preserve a primeval oak, the largest in the whole district, -which in the year 1870 he named the “King’s Oak.” - -To-day no birds of prey breed any longer on this estate; the primeval -village of badgers is in ruins, and irreverent hands have cut down -the “King’s Oak.” But the old man, now that his time of service has -expired, never sets foot on the estate, though he is passing the -evening of his life in the neighbourhood. - -That was a man who had innate in him a just and reverent feeling for -the preservation of the beauties and glories handed down to us from the -far past, and who loved, and, so far as it was possible, guarded these -wonders of nature. - -Let us once for all throw overboard the sharp distinction between -“noxious” and “useful” animals, and within certain limits let us -protect the whole world of animal and plant life. This would be the -noblest form of game preservation, in the widest sense of the word. - -I venture to dwell upon these ideas here, knowing that they are shared -by a large number of men and women. Amongst our German game-preserving -associations we have societies that have rendered great services to the -protection of our native wild animals. An extension of these useful -efforts to the protection of all our native fauna and flora in general -is most certainly called for by the greatly altered conditions of our -time. We are gradually coming to a period when every individual wild -animal will be registered by specialists and indicated in a list! And -we are also gradually approaching in our sporting estates the ideal of -extensive, well-kept gardens, in which no touch of wild nature will any -longer be left. - -I appeal once more to the authority of President Roosevelt. He -expresses the opinion that it is now not so much the question of -preserving great supplies of any one species as of maintaining the -primitive beauty of the forest in its wild life. - -I think with pleasure of my youth, when, at a time when my father, -in union with other game-preservers, founded the _Jagdschutzverein_ -(“Association for the Protection of Game”) of the Rhine Province, I -had the opportunity of making myself acquainted with the old state -of things in this department. My native district, the Eifel, still -sheltered boars, eagle-owls, wild cats, and many other rare animals -living in wild freedom. The ear of the boy learned to know and to love -every cry of our native fauna. Roosevelt rightly remarks that many -of the cries of American animals, such as the hoot of the owl, are -_falsely_ described as unpleasant. He who knows them well comes to -love them, and would not like to miss them from the general concert -of animal sounds. Here in Germany, too, we have evidence of this to a -gradually increasing extent. - -The German sportsman ought to give a shining example to those of other -lands in this matter of the protection of _all_ the dwellers in his -hunting grounds. To his care is entrusted _the whole German fauna_ in -its widest extent. To secure the preservation of this splendid work of -nature here in Germany is an enterprise that will earn the gratitude -of every lover of nature, the thanks of millions of men. The German -sportsman, as the chosen guardian and keeper of the wild life of his -native land, must also become the protecting lord of all its animal -and plant life; he should maintain his own estate in its primitive -condition to the fullest possible extent. But to his estate, in a wider -sense, also belongs the velt of German Africa, still so rich in wild -life. Here, too, the German sportsman should take up the position of -guardian and protector. - -The well-known English writer Clive Philips-Wolley says that happily -the old English sporting spirit is not dead; that the farthest and -wildest hunting grounds of the world, a visit to which demands the -greatest energy and courage, are still sought out by men of the English -race, as in earlier days. England owes a great part of her colonies -to men, eager for enterprise, who as hunters penetrated into unknown -wildernesses; and the English hunter has, thanks to his courage and -determination, always played a great part among strange peoples. The -reckless conduct of travellers in far-off countries and among strange -tribes is often sufficient to give a _whole nation_ a bad character -in the eyes of these people, while a right bearing may make it appear -worthy of their admiration. Philips-Wolley further points out that the -taking of “big bags” of game in far-off hunting grounds[30] should not -be considered merely from the point of view of stay-at-home people, -but from the point of view of those who have special knowledge of the -districts in question. - -The time has passed when far-off lands were secured in this way. -But I would wish for the German sportsman that he may, so far as is -possible, visit the splendid hunting grounds that he can now find in -the German colonies, and there become familiar with the chase in forms -that our homeland can no longer offer to him. The more brethren of the -green-coated guild go abroad nowadays, and bring us tidings of the -fauna and of the hunting grounds of the German colonies, the more will -our knowledge of this difficult subject be enlarged, and we shall be in -a better position for working out practical protective regulations for -the preservation of these splendid hunting grounds. - -And what a deep charm for the hunter there is in pursuing the chase in -such regions! It is true that circumstances have so greatly changed -in a few decades of years that the old hunters--say those of fifty -years ago--would probably not be able to take the same deep delight in -the sport of to-day that they felt in their own time. It was quite a -different matter to go out to meet the dangerous wild beasts of Africa -with the simple weapons, the muzzle-loaders, of that time. True, the -African hunters, whom Professor Fritsch made acquaintance with in Cape -Colony about the time of the ‘sixties, already possessed long-range -weapons. They used “small-bore rifles” firing an elongated bullet that -carried up to 1,500 yards. These rifles were fitted with ivory sights -and silver sighting-lines, for shooting at night. A hunter named Layard -was at that time famous in Cape Colony for having brought down an -ostrich at 1,750 yards! - -Let us follow for once the wanderings of a hunter in East Africa, -and give ourselves up completely to the charm of such a sporting -expedition. No one is better fitted for making himself acquainted with -lands that are remote, difficult of access and unhealthy, than the -sportsman, who, even in such tracts of country, can find enjoyment. -Besides the greater or less delight that the chase itself affords, much -besides that is beautiful and desirable will present itself to him. - -When he has got his caravan together he enjoys in the first place the -feeling of primitive untrammelled life in the wilderness. We see, -indeed, how amongst those who belong to the most highly developed -of civilised nations, even in our own days, the need of some dim -reflection of this life makes itself plainly felt. Thus, especially in -America, we see how many dwellers in cities spend some days out ill the -woods and prairies, in order to enjoy there for some time under the -tent the pleasures of camp-life. - -In a land which, like Africa, harbours all kinds of dangers, we must -leave all hesitation behind us. In fact, the charm of danger must be -an attraction to the huntsman. He has to justify the confidence of -his followers and of his comrades. The natives who come in contact -with him will by his bearing and conduct form their judgment of all -his compatriots, and of his native land as a whole. So there imposes -itself on him the duty of regarding himself as _a representative of -his nation_. Though he is justified, if it comes to that, in defending -his life even by bloodshed, he will nevertheless seek, as far as is -possible, to enter into friendly relations with the native tribes. In -many districts of Africa the European will traverse, with altogether -superior weapons in his hands, countries whose inhabitants still fight -with nearly the same weapons that were borne by prehistoric tribes. -But notwithstanding this, he must remember that his superiority rests -chiefly on the prestige that the European possesses in presence of the -black man. But this prestige will not suffice, especially at night, to -keep off all attacks. It is therefore necessary that proper precaution -should be the rule. This is in the long run not such an easy matter, -for generally in the midst of apparent peace no one will think of the -possibility of an attack. But it often takes place without warning; and -thefts at night will also sometimes happen. In short, the middle course -between necessary precaution and needless nervousness is not always -easy for the traveller to hit upon. - -But all this, to a great extent, adds to the charm of that wild caravan -life. There is something endlessly alluring in thus going out into -the open country with all one’s belongings, pitching one’s camp by -some pleasant place where there is water, and under shady trees, and -wandering, free as the birds, wheresoever the desire or wish of the -moment leads one. Of course, if no shady trees are to be found, if the -water tastes strongly of natron, or looks more like pea-soup than clear -spring-water, if swarms of mosquitoes annoy one in the night, and flies -and other insects in the daytime, all this must be put up with as a -part of this wild life. Free as the birds, we can indeed choose our -way, but with the everlasting restriction that it lies where water is -to be found, and that we can secure supplies. - -But with a little good-humour one can get over all this, especially if -one keeps before one’s eyes the fact that there are many worse things -here, such as malaria, dysentery, and all the other numerous tropical -diseases with which these lands are so lavishly supplied. But we could -not find greater enjoyment in the primitive beauty and charm of this -wilderness, even if all this were not so. - -It is true that the hunter in Equatorial Africa cannot obtain such -splendid trophies as the stag’s antlers, that marvellous structure -built up by an animal organism, and, according to Röhrig’s striking -researches, renewed again year after year in about eighteen weeks. -But instead there beckon to him other prizes--the mighty horns of the -buffalo, the heavily knotted horns of the eland, the strong spiral -horns of the two species of kudus, the variously shaped horns of the -cow-antelopes, the sword-like horns of the oryx-antelope, all the -beautiful variously shaped antelope and gazelle horns, and many others -that make most delightful trophies, and will be still more highly -valued the more sportsmen go to these distant countries, and the more -these treasures, often so difficult to obtain, are understood. The -mighty weapons of the elephant, that glitter white in the sun, the -uncouth horns from the head of the rhinoceros or the tusks of the -hippopotamus, the head of a giant crocodile bristling with teeth, the -plain and yet so eagerly coveted hide of the King of the Desert, and -the glaringly variegated skin of the leopard--all these are souvenirs -and trophies that have the greatest charm for the hunter; of the -greatest charm and value if he himself has taken them, and not merely -(to use the sharp words with which Roosevelt scourges such practices) -contracted for their capture. The German sportsman must contend for all -these trophies against certain unsportsmanlike elements, such as the -Boers, who unfortunately seem to be now exterminating the wild animals -on Kilimanjaro; but they belong to the sportsman much more than to such -as these. German hunters should not hesitate to take by sportsmanlike -methods their fair share of the stock of big game, and in this way, -as has long been the case in India and Ceylon, a code of customs of -the chase will grow up in the German colonies, suited to the special -circumstances of the country. In a publication by Captain Schlobach, -that is well worth reading, it was recently stated that the military -posts at Olgoss and Sonjo on the Masai uplands were continually at -starvation point, and, in default of other supplies, had often recently -been provisioned entirely with the spoils of the chase.[31] What would -not German sportsmen (who contribute such large sums to the colonies) -have given to be able to shoot these wild animals, and at the same time -to help to spread in our colonies the ideals of the chase as understood -in Germany, and to assist in the general recognition and success of -German sportsmanship! - -Our knowledge of the animal world of foreign lands is gradually -increasing to such a satisfactory extent that not only do we find a -general interest taken in the wild life and the hunting grounds of our -colonies, but we shall also be in a position to introduce adequate -measures of protection for this beautiful fauna. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -THE NYÍKA: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW.] - -In our colonies much has been lately done towards clearing up the -hitherto hidden secrets of animal life. But if one remembers how -many different opinions there are, even amongst authorities at home -in Germany, with regard to many of the questions relating to our -home fauna, one will pass a more lenient judgment on the many sharp -controversies about matters of this kind in the tropics. - -But nothing of value is to be hoped for from controversial strife over -divergent theories. All men who have acquired expert knowledge on these -difficult matters should rather unite in a common task, and strive by -co-operation to obtain some adequate result. - -In the wide British colonial possessions in Africa very extensive -reservations have been established, in which no one is allowed to harm -the animals. The practice of making exceptions in favour of certain -officials has not been found to answer, and has been given up. So now -wide districts of British Africa rank as animal sanctuaries. - -In German Africa, too, the authorities have tried, as far as they can, -to obtain useful results by similar methods. Unfortunately serious -events of many kinds are daily contributing to the diminution in -numbers of the fauna of German Africa. Thus the war in South-West -Africa is sweeping away the still surviving stock of wild animals as -with an iron broom. - -In the face of all this, all parties concerned should take their -share in common action. Our museums should be provided with the -necessary material. Even if our knowledge of the African fauna has made -sufficient progress, it further concerns us to exert an educating and -informing influence on every pioneer of our colonies, so that he may -not come in contact with that beautiful animal world in utter ignorance -of it. Unfortunately we are still greatly wanting in this respect. -However, in recent years a great amount of material has been placed -at the disposal of the museums by our colonial officers, officials, -and private individuals. Many of them have even made important -contributions to our special knowledge of the animal world. - -But now, whether it is a question of tracing out the hidden and unknown -life and ways of that equatorial animal world that has come into our -possession, or of investigating the customs and languages of races that -are barely discovered, or of tracking the horrors of tropical diseases -and the germs that excite them and becoming master of that miniature -world of life with the lens and the microscope, or of going into the -wilderness as a sportsman--the men who devote themselves to all these -pursuits will be led onwards by that spell, whose name the reader -guesses, the spell of unchanged primeval conditions and untouched -nature! - -May as many as possible of our German sportsmen go forth into our -tropical possessions and yield themselves up to this spell! That which -in our hunting grounds at home speaks to their hearts in the rustling -of the oak and beech woods and on familiar moors and fields, they will -find in a far higher degree in that far-off wilderness under the German -flag. Returning home, may they, working in unison, and by mutually -supplying what each may lack, bring into existence some splendid -memorial of the joys of German sport. - - - - -[Illustration: ORYX ANTELOPES TAKING TO FLIGHT.] - -VI - -The Lonely Wonder-world of the Nyíka - - -The endless wilderness of the Nyíka presents to the traveller so much -that is strange, beautiful, and wonderful that at times his senses -become wearied of these changing impressions of travel, and a longing -comes over him for the familiar scenes he has learned to love at home. - -As though in giant characters written on its rocks, the Nyíka tells -us of the conditions and the life of the past and at the same time of -everyday actualities, giving us its message as well by its snow-covered -volcanic peaks as in the footprints and tracks of the mighty creatures -that wander through it. It is a difficult undertaking to reconstruct -in fancy all the splendours that must once have presented themselves -to the eye in this region. But nevertheless I will tell of what I have -looked upon in the past,--of the many beautiful sights that linger in -my memory and rise up like the shadows of a mirage,--of the delightful -manifestations of its moving life, coming and going on hill and in -valley, as strange, wondrous, and unfamiliar forms reveal themselves -to the astonished spectator. - -[Illustration: A VELT HILLOCK. THE SOLITARY TREE WAS FULL OF NESTS OF -WEAVER-BIRDS.] - -The mystery of a deep harmonious influence belongs to the mighty -wilderness. It reveals itself in its full beauty to him who has -strenuously acquired a love for it by making a long sojourn in it and -paying to it the tribute it demands. - - * * * * * - -A stony wilderness extends endlessly on all sides, and the sight ranges -without limit over the expanse that loses itself in mist and cloud. A -barren stony sea, as far as the eye can reach! - -But it is not the velt or the African desert that lies below us as we -rise one moment a hundred yards above the surface of the earth and -the next three hundred yards and more. It is the sea of houses that -form the capital of the German Empire.... In a few seconds the view -takes in all the full extent of the mighty city, and then, as if in a -dream, what we have just seen disappears from our sight. Borne by a -breeze, of which we are hardly aware, our balloon sweeps towards the -Baltic Sea.... It is a strange feeling thus to enjoy, thanks to our -lofty point of outlook, an extended view far over the level March of -Brandenburg with its teeming population all below us, a view which, -old as the world is, has been vouchsafed to few mortal men. The city, -with all its human life and activity, lies far below us. Its roar and -tumult, that strange voice of the stony sea, has died away. We begin -to make a long journey only a few hundred feet above the surface of -the earth. Later on we rise, sailing through banks and clouds to a -height of nine thousand feet above the earth, but before this higher -ascent we have time and leisure to take a bird’s-eye view of “all that -creeps and flies.” What an outlook over forest and plain! As we fly -over them, horses grazing in paddocks, cattle on the pastures, for a -moment suggest to me an illusion of the African velt peopled with its -wild life. The eye, again and again fascinated by this prospect as a -whole, can hardly grasp the details. Now our course is over endless -open heaths, over moors and woodlands. The fleet-footed red deer, -frightened by the drag-rope, look up in astonishment and stare at the -strange monster, not knowing whither to turn in flight from such a -menacing apparition. How the strange monster was a few hours later -within a hair’s breadth of burying us in the waves of the Baltic Sea is -another story.... - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ’NGAPTUK, ABOUT 6,000 FEET HIGH. THE - CLEARNESS OF THE AIR MAKES IT LOOK AS IF THE ASCENT COULD BE - QUICKLY MADE, BUT IT IS A WORK OF SEVERAL HOURS. I CLIMBED IT - IN 1899--THE FIRST ASCENT BY A EUROPEAN. IN THE RAVINE RUNNING - UP ON THE LEFT I FOUND SEVERAL ELEPHANTS. IN THE DRY SEASON - THESE HILLS ARE THE RESORT OF NUMBERS OF RHINOCEROSES.] - -How many hundred times, after I had gone back to the Dark Continent, -have I wished for such a lofty observatory, an airship that would -bear me over velt and desert, and from which I could fathom all the -secrets of the animal world of the tropics, instead of having to travel -toilsomely, fettered to the earth, often merely making step after step -automatically in the blazing heat of the sun. When one day such a wish -as this is fulfilled, that animal world in its beauty and splendour -will have to a great extent passed away.... - -I must, therefore, content myself with lofty observatories of another -kind, that are not unfrequently to be found in the Masai uplands, -in the form of numerous hills and rock masses. These afford splendid -views and pictures of the animal creation to the spectator who waits -patiently on their summits for hours and days, and has the help of -good optical instruments. What life and activity displays itself there -before our eyes under favourable circumstances! Though the wilderness -may appear a desert solitude, bare and empty of all life, let only a -few hours go by and the sun change its position a little, and already -one sees movement under the trees and bushes that have been till now -casting deep shadows. Then with measured steps, prudently regardful -of their safety, all kinds of animals come forth to graze. We see the -different wild species appearing, at first a few individuals, and soon -in greater or smaller herds. - -How far the eye carries in this clear transparent atmosphere, and what -a wide tract of country we are able to overlook! In this tropical -brightness, after weeks and months, and even years, I could not get -rid of the perplexing illusion as to distances. The tract of country -that my sight could command seemed always much less extensive than it -really was. And again, we were continually being misled by shimmering -reflections of the air, so that we took gnus for elephants, ostriches -for rhinoceroses, zebras for wild asses, and we might even hold to our -mistaken view for a considerable time. He who wants to watch the living -animals in this way from a lofty point of observation, must be able to -keep on persistently for hours. Thus only will the scene piece by -piece become familiar to him. Thus only will all the moving life below -him very gradually combine into one splendid and intelligible picture. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -ONE OF MY LOOK-OUT PLACES ON THE PLATEAU BETWEEN KILIMANJARO AND MOUNT -MERU.] - -On the way to my look-out hill I pass thousands of the tracks made by -wild animals. - -At the very outset, the traveller from northern lands sees a most -surprising sight in those hundreds of thousands of tracks made by wild -animals, and faithfully preserved for weeks and even for longer periods -in the dry season on the plains of Africa. The giants of the animal -world leave behind them their mighty footprints, often for nearly -a year, holes in which a man will sometimes break his leg. But the -footprints of the smaller animals also last a long time on velt and -plain. And the language of the wilderness rises to a most effectual -appeal to our senses when these tracks are associated with the marked -tarry scent of the waterbuck in the bush, the breath of the great wild -herds on the plain, the strong scent left by elephant or rhinoceros in -the primeval forest and in the sultry thickets, and the scent of the -buffalo among the reed-beds. - -There is often a chaos of tracks, a wild maze of paths trodden flat -as a barn-floor, crossing each other, and then again uniting, so that -the idea of tame herds, mentioned before as at times suggested, can no -longer hold good. - -To-day we have again waited patiently to see the wilderness gradually -come to life in the hours of the afternoon. And we have not been -disappointed. - -Out from the shadows of scattered groups of trees there march -great herds of the white-bearded gnus, that remind one so of small -buffaloes. Slowly they make their way to the more open grazing ground -and disperse themselves over it. But careful watch is kept by a few of -them--the bulls that lead the herds, experienced old fellows! Under -their guardianship the herd feels itself perfectly safe. There is -also an unusually large drove of the wonderfully graceful impallah -or black-tailed antelope. What a remarkable contrast is presented -as the herds mingle together! The gnus, strongly built, haughty in -their bearing, conscious of their strength against all animal foes, -stand out wonderfully amongst their almost too graceful comrades, the -impallah-antelopes. We can plainly distinguish that the females and -those that are accompanied by young ones keep more together, while the -bucks of the impallah-antelopes keep apart and look after their safety. - -Now a dark black mass slowly separates itself from a large group of -trees. It is followed by several forms that do not so easily catch the -eye. Our field-glasses tell us that a small flock of ostriches has come -to mix with the wild species already noted. Now there are perhaps well -over three hundred head of these three kinds of wild animals united -together in one gathering. They are used to come together in the most -friendly way, without apparently taking much notice of each other. For -a long time the sight of these creatures, all so different, holds us -fascinated. But our optical instruments must restlessly explore the -distance for new sights of the animal kingdom; and at the same time -there are even better instruments of investigation at work--the -eyes of my black companions. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -HERD OF BLACK-HOOFED ANTELOPES.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A HERD OF BLACK-HOOFED ANTELOPES PHOTOGRAPHED AFTER STALKING THEM WITH -THE CAMERA FOR HALF AN HOUR.] - -“Pharu, bwana!” now whispers one of my men, and points cautiously with -his arm down to a certain point on the plain. His caution, however, is -not necessary, for it is at a distance of at least a thousand yards -that his sharp eyes have distinguished the outlines of two almost -invisible rhinoceroses that are moving slowly through a group of -acacias. What an effect that word “pharu” has upon me! For once more -there has come close to me one of those strange, mighty beings that -really belong to a time long passed, and which, like the elephant, -the giraffe, the zebra, the gnu, and a few other forms, lend to the -wilderness the charm of primeval days. Naturally still stronger is -the effect of the cry of “Tembo!” on the hunter and the watcher amid -such scenes. “Elephant!” This name electrifies even the weariest -traveller. But when the word is “Twigga!” (“Giraffe!”)--even here in -Europe the strange, slender-necked creature, moving in some acacia wood -all flooded with the sunlight, comes up bodily before me--bodily and -plainly to be seen, but alas, only in imagination! - -After trying for a minute, I succeed in getting the massive creatures -sharply defined in the middle of the field of my glass. But the clear -view of them is something that comes and goes. Several times it -looks as if the velt had swallowed them up; then they suddenly come -into sight again, being specially visible to the eye when they show -themselves sideways. Seen from front or rear, particularly when at -rest, they are all but invisible. We are in luck; the rhinoceroses are -ambling towards us, and come nearer and nearer, slowly following the -line of some hollows in the ground. - -Now, borne on strong pinions, and brightly illuminated by the sunbeams, -one of the great bustards cuts through the sea of air, and sinks down -into some low ground far away below us. This is not an unusual sight in -the late hours of the afternoon, and soon after we see not only some -more of the same species, but also three other bustards of a smaller -and commoner species that is more active in flight. It is the _Otis -gindiana_, which I have got to like so much on account of its charming -gambols on the wing, that must be a pleasure to every lover of birds. -At this time of day it carries on this strange tumbling in the air, and -if the day is hot and dry it makes for the neighbourhood of the water, -or in any case for certain hollow places of the velt that provide -it with at least a certain amount of soft vegetable food. Another -picture! A great flock of splendidly coloured crested cranes wings its -strong undulating flight and goes away over the hill. I notice in the -air the striking appearance of the snake-vulture and a pair of the -nimble-winged Bateleur eagles, the “sky apes” of the Abyssinians. My -gaze follows them eagerly into the distance.... In what various ways -the bird world displays its mastery of the realms of air! Our attention -is riveted now on the quiet gliding flight of the vulture in the -highest levels of the air, now on the spectacle of a struggle in the -air between some birds of prey and some ravens or bee-eaters that are -annoying them. Searching the ground as it goes, the augur buzzard -(_Butco augur_) wings its flight over the stone-strewn slopes of the -adjacent hill. Bateleur eagles wheel in graceful circles high in air, -let themselves fall down for several yards, and then shoot up again -heavenward. For hours at a time they will carry on their strong-winged -circling and plunging through the realm of air, apparently without -effort or fatigue. Various kinds of kites show themselves in their -oscillating flight, that makes them always so clever at escaping -the gun; amongst them large numbers of Montagu’s harrier (_Circus -pygargus_, L.), which at certain times of the year range restlessly -over the velt. Hawks and sparrow-hawks wing their rapid flight in -search of prey. In short, every kind and form of bird flight that one -can imagine! For instance, the proud majestic flight of the larger -species of vultures is essentially distinct from the heavy flight -of the small Egyptian vultures (_Neophron percnopterus_, L.), whose -flight the Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria most aptly described, when -he remarked that at a distance the bird might easily be mistaken for a -stork. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -BLACK-TAILED ANTELOPE BUCK PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE BUSH AT A DISTANCE OF -ABOUT EIGHTY YARDS.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -A HERD OF ANTELOPES PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE BUSH AT FIFTY YARDS.] - -It is indeed a great pleasure to follow with the eye all the wondrously -beautiful types of flight that the African birds of prey present to us. -The _enormous numbers of birds of prey_, in a land that is nevertheless -so rich in wild life, ought to suggest some salutary reflections to -those who, here at home, with such dogged persistence wage war with -guns and pole-traps against those creatures, which are so great an -ornament to the landscape. For my part, I would on every point support -the proposals of experienced men, like Freiherr von Besserer of Munich -and Dr. von Bocksberger of Marburg, who advocate protection even -for our birds of prey, at least within the Government domains. “Let -us try,” says Von Besserer, “still to preserve them at least within -certain limits. Let us grant them some few places of refuge. Let us not -arraign them too strictly for every theft, so that future generations -may also enjoy the spectacle of their beautiful flight.” - -And now it seems, as if on some gigantic chess board, move after move -is being made on the plain below us. We have hardly remarked the wild -species already noted, when we suddenly find ourselves perplexed as to -which point we shall first direct our gaze to, which is to attract the -special attention of our eyes. To our right, two great herds of zebras -come rolling along, and ever as they move are now plainly visible, now -almost disappear, as if in regular alternation. To our left, on the -crest of a ridge that rises there, suddenly sharply defined silhouettes -appear--again it is a herd of gnus, and this time clearly one that -numbers at least a hundred and fifty head. While our attention is still -attracted by this beautiful spectacle, my trusty comrade Abdallah -suddenly lays his hand upon my arm and, only with a glance of his eyes, -indicates the little valley that lies stretched out below our feet. -This time there is good excuse for his caution. For there, looking -as if they were cast in bronze, two of the wonderfully beautiful -giraffe-gazelles stand staring up in astonishment at the place where we -are posted. It may well be that these timid children of the wilderness -here had never yet been disturbed by the strange sight of a human -figure. “Nyógga-nyógga!” whispered the lips of my comrade. - -It is not often that one has the chance of seeing the nyógga-nyógga at -such close quarters, and besides, it is extremely difficult to watch it -without being noticed by it. It is so completely lost to sight in its -surroundings, and is so extremely timid and watchful, that I have very -seldom indeed succeeded in observing this splendid animal before it has -itself remarked my presence. When I succeeded it was almost invariably -towards evening when it had come out to feed. It is worth while to -take full advantage of such moments, for the slightest disturbance -instantly drives it away. And so it was now. It was not long before the -two nyógga-nyógga, with their long necks stretched out, disappeared -in the hollows of the broken ground that extended below the place -where we stood. After this I caught sight of them a few times standing -amongst the clumps of acacias, timid, surprised, and watchful; then the -gazelles betook themselves to the protection of the wide velt, looking -like mere points in the distance. - -To me it seems as if the sonorous name that the Swahili language gives -them, and also the softer name that sounds so sweetly in the mouth -of a Masai,--“Nanyad,”--best and most fitly express their beauty, -strangeness, and grace. - -Again we turn our attention to all that is going on below us. This -time it is the rhinoceroses, which have approached to within a few -hundred yards of my post, that most engage our attention. We observe -how they nibble here and there at the boughs of the _Salvadora persica_ -and other shrubs, and then again rub their rough hide or their horns -against the strong trunk of a tree or on a block of stone. They have -all this time been coming gradually nearer to the herd of gnus that we -first noticed, and now at last they stand quietly on the level ground, -only a hundred paces away from the old gnu-bulls which are acting as -sentinels. - -And now it is I myself who am the first to make out with the glass a -third rhinoceros. “Wapi, bwana?” my companion eagerly asks me, and as I -point out to him the place on the velt where I have picked the animal -out, he approvingly confirms my observation with the remark: “Ndio, -bwana, pharu mkubwa sana” (“Yes, master, a very big rhinoceros!”) - -After some time we see that it is an old and unusually large bull; -he, too, has gradually taken the same line as his two colleagues. Our -observation proves to be correct, and we also remark before long that -the first pair of rhinoceroses we had noticed is made up of an old cow -and her nearly grown up young one. - -More herds of zebras and gnus, and small troops of Grant’s gazelles and -of impallah-antelopes have come into sight, and now they are joined by -a whole crowd of hartebeests, which so far have kept themselves hidden -in a side valley of the velt full of thick tall grass. - -And now the moving mass of animal life is ever more abundant, more -varied. I notice in the valley at the foot of my hill a string of -guinea-fowl; how they hurry and scurry about, flutter up with sounding -strokes of their wings, and then soon drop down again! And now my -attention is attracted by a pair of Bateleur eagles, that wheel in the -air, and enjoy themselves for an hour at a time playing on the wing. -They probably have made their eyrie not far from this spot. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G Schillings, phot._ - -MASAI HARTEBEESTS (_BUBALUS COKEI_, Gth.) (THE “KONGONI” OF THE -SWAHILI, “OL-KONDI” OR “OL-LUDJULUDJULA” OF THE MASAI).] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -GIRAFFE GAZELLE (_LITHOCRANIUS WALLERI_, Brooke) STANDING IN ITS -CHARACTERISTIC ATTITUDE BEFORE TAKING TO FLIGHT.] - -For minutes at a time the cry of the francolin rings out clearly round -about my post; then again it is silent. My eyes can indeed see animals -of many kinds, and my sight ranges with restless efforts over the far -distance; but so far I have looked in vain for a form that is frequent -and familiar enough in this wilderness--the towering figure of the -“Twigga.” - -Where can the giraffes be hiding to-day? Why have they not come out -to the still freshly green acacias in the far-stretching hollow to my -left, where I have already marked their presence for whole days at a -time? - -And yet they are there, only I had failed to distinguish them. At last -I can make out their strange forms, as they graze there among the -acacias, and they stand out sharply under the oblique rays of the sun. - -What poetry there is in the movements of all the various organisms that -our eyes behold! Every variety of gait, from the heavy, swinging, and -nevertheless rapid march of the pachyderms to the graceful speed of a -pretty gazelle, speaks in a language of its own to him who has become -familiar with the peculiar movements of this animal world. Just as at -the outset the strange appearance of an animal one sees for the first -time makes a surprisingly strong impression on one, so too does the -great difference in the gait of the various species. But they were -all soon familiar to me. So now at the sight of the giraffes I feel -a pleasure and delight in their quaint coming and going, their heads -appearing and disappearing, there below me in the midst of the green -bowers of mimosa leaves, high over which my view ranges. What laws must -be at work here too, by whose operation I am compelled to feel all this -to be so beautiful, so harmonious, so splendid! I grasp the meaning of -the words: “Therefore I believe that life will first open its eyes in -that world of which Goethe said: ‘There is still the life of life, and -this is only form.’”[32] - -What a splendid sight there is from my lofty look-out! the whole of -this mighty spectacle displays itself almost without a sound that I -can hear. Only a few voices of birds, but no cry of any other animal -reaches my ears. But as the breeze rises more and more towards evening, -there begins in my immediate neighbourhood a strange and beautiful -concert, that is already familiar to me. And now, as the wind blows -more and more strongly through the perforated gall-nuts that hang -on every tree above us, there resounds through the desert silence a -strange melody, a strange language of musical notes that only the sound -of the Æolian harp can to some degree represent. - -These nut-galls on the acacias are bored quite through, and in many -cases become the dwelling-places of small ants. If one disturbs them -by tapping on the outside of their strange habitation,[33] they come -swarming out to fight with the disturber of their peace! It is not -so often that their strange ways and doings concern a human being, -but it comes to pass to-day. The watchful observer takes delight not -only in the sound of these strange musical instruments, but also in -the thought that they give shelter to a little world of their own, a -peculiarly organised little state made up of living beings, just as the -wide endless wilderness below them is a state with the various larger -wild animals for its inhabitants. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -GRANT’S GAZELLES (_GAZELLA GRANTI_, Brooke).] - -My diary records yet another kind of natural observatory, a giant tree -uprooted on a wooded river-bank. Here, as it were, in the gallery -of the wood, the huge trunk felled by the storm-wind offered me an -inviting seat among its branches, and thence I enjoyed many a sight of -the animal world around. - -There I had a view of the river close at hand, and farther away many -clearings of the wood, which at this time of the year showed a rich -display of animal life. The ripening forest fruits had attracted into -this neighbourhood large packs of baboons. It was good to watch their -busy activity as I looked down from my observatory, where I sat hidden -by a thick growth of creeper. Great herds of antelopes, and especially -waterbuck and Grant’s gazelles, are regularly to be found in these wide -clearings of the woods. I remember some hours of the afternoon when -the life of the forest displayed itself here in a way that suggested -Paradise. I saw at the same time a large drove of the graceful, -wonderful pallahs, and, grazing in their immediate neighbourhood, -some twenty Grant’s gazelle bucks which had joined together to form -a great herd. The antelopes had scattered themselves over part of -the clearing, feeding on the fresh growing grass there, but all the -while keeping themselves somewhat apart from the herd of gazelles. -But they had gradually drawn near to a party of waterbuck which were -standing under an old shady tree, and now I had an opportunity of -watching for a long time these three varieties of antelope, all so -beautiful, yet so different. To my surprise, after some time they were -joined by nine stately eland-antelopes, whose white side-stripes made -them wonderfully prominent among the uniformly coloured coats of the -waterbuck. Amongst these animals some three hundred baboons were moving -about with a certain careless self-possession. They were all big ones, -keenly devoted to the hunt for insects, pulling up grass and turning -over stones. Some of the older individuals meanwhile scrambled up tree -trunks for a few feet, and thence kept a careful look-out for the -approach of any possible enemy. - -I kept as still as a mouse, knowing well that the slightest movement -would betray my presence to the timid, keen-sighted monkeys. - -Now a numerous herd of zebras moved through the wood and across the -clearing at a slow, careless pace. As they moved there was a bright -shimmering of the variegated stripes of the beautiful “tiger-horses,” -and again they would often be blurred into one uniform grey. They -mingled with the waterbuck, which took very little notice of them, and -evidently had known the zebras for a long time. It was wonderful to see -the proud waterbuck, with their horns, which are at once weapon and -ornament, and the stallion leaders of the zebra herd all continually on -the alert watching against their enemies. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -TELEPHOTO STUDIES OF VARIOUS ATTITUDES AND MOVEMENTS OF GRANT’S -GAZELLES.] - -There is a scuttling over the ground, for the little mongoose family, -that live over there among the ant-hills, are making a sally from their -fortress. Snake-like in their swift movements, the graceful little -animals seem to glide along. Yonder two snake-vultures are looking for -reptiles. Numbers of other vultures and marabous have flown down to the -margin of the shallow water to bathe and drink. - -Into the midst of all this gathering of animals there now come three -ostriches, making for the fresh green growth along the marshy edge -of the river-bank, and a number of francolins and guinea-fowl that -gradually come crowding out of the undergrowth into the clearing to -feed there. On the sandbank on which I look down as it extends far -along the course of the river, there are some thirty huge crocodiles -sunning themselves. I can see several smaller specimens of these -mail-clad lizards on a flat part of the river margin not far from the -sandbank. - -Yesterday, too, six giant hippopotami paid a visit to this sandbank on -the primeval river, and left tracks that my eye can plainly see in the -glowing sunshine; to-day, however, I have waited in vain for them to -show themselves. But suddenly from the reed-beds on the opposite bank -of the stream the mighty voice of an old bull comes booming across to -me. - -Over this most peaceful picture of animal life the tropical sun -blazes, casting deep shadows. At this hour of the day even the voices -of the birds are generally silent. Only the melodious piping of the -organ-shrike sounds somewhere near me, and often, too, the cries of one -or other of the baboons which is being corrected with bangs and cuffs -by an older member of the pack. - -All the various kinds of animals assembled here get on quite peacefully -together. They often almost touch each other, without taking the -slightest notice of one another. Even the antelope bucks, adorned with -dangerously pointed horns, make not the slightest use of their sharp -weapons against the other species. All the time that I was looking down -from my lofty seat I saw nothing but peace and good-fellowship. And -yet how quickly a tragedy might interrupt this stillness and peace! -The tracks of lions and leopards down there, the crocodiles on the -sandbank, and the vultures hovering in the air told me that. - -Often in this, and in other places, I have gained an insight into -the life and ways of the animal world, and I have thus passed many -enjoyable hours. Now one, now another species presented itself to -my observation, but it was seldom that I saw such a large number of -different species at _the same time_. But in all cases I have found -that man is a disturbing element in the midst of such pictures of the -animal Paradise. Even where I could feel sure that the appearance -of a white man, a European, was quite unknown to the animals of the -district, even then the very moment I showed myself the immediate -result was a panic-stricken flight. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -WHITE-BEARDED GNUS AND ZEBRAS TAKING REFUGE FROM THE MIDDAY SUN UNDER -THE SHADE OF THE MSUALLI TREE.] - -I have still clearly before my eyes the picture that presented -itself to me as I emerged from the over-growth of creepers on the -boughs of that uprooted tree. First a shrill cry from the monkeys. -In a trice the little young ones were clinging to their mothers, and -with long bounds the whole crowd of them galloped away over the level -ground, hidden in a cloud of dust, and disappeared on the far side of -the clearing. There a good many of them halted to look back. Of all the -animals known to me only the baboons and the spotted hyenas take to -flight in this way. The spectacle has such a surprisingly strange and -unaccustomed, almost uncanny effect, that it always recurs to me when -I think of these animals. - -The antelopes follow the example of the fugitive baboons, after first -rushing hither and thither, right and left, leaping wildly into the -air. At this moment the impallah-antelopes, especially, make a splendid -picture. Bounding along as if on springs of steel, they shoot up -several yards high into the air. Wherever the eye turns it sees the -graceful forms of these beautiful animals in all possible positions, -making long bounds, some four feet high off the ground, and in every -other attitude that one can imagine. But the end of all these splendid -pictures, each seen for a moment, is a general stampede. Whirling -clouds of dust in the far distance tell for some time longer which way -the fugitives have taken. - -But it is not every day that such varied pictures, so richly stored -with the life of the primitive animal world of the tropics, present -themselves to the traveller. And it needs, too, a trained eye to -enjoy all the separate impressions in their combined effect, as making -up one masterpiece of Nature. But often, too, an almost too great -wealth of beauty gathered together in a small space presents itself -to our eyes. Thus, more especially, I keep a memory of these small -idyllic lakes of the wilderness, that are hidden away here and there -in the Nyíka district, and give a home to a wealth of animal life that -often seems almost too abundant. We sometimes find one of the most -interesting species of the larger mammalia, the hippopotamus, living -here in somewhat narrow quarters, but thus more easily accessible to -observation than in the great lake basins, where it lives in hundreds -or thousands, but where also it can much more easily get away from -the sight of the observer. It is true that one can see numerous heads -emerging from the water in the distance, one can mark the thin spray -of water blown from their nostrils, forming numbers of little fountain -jets that glitter in the sun. But the peculiar life and activity of -these giants of the animal world goes on chiefly at night, invisible to -our eyes. In the smaller lakes it is all different. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - IN THE MIDST OF THE VELT IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT - NATRON LAKE I FOUND A SOLITARY OLD ACACIA. THE DISTRICT WAS - NEARLY WATERLESS. THE TRUNK OF THE TREE SHOWED THE MARKS OF - ELEPHANTS THAT HAD RUBBED THEMSELVES AGAINST IT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - - A TYPICAL LANDSCAPE WITH ACACIAS AND SCATTERED BOULDERS--THE - CAMPING PLACE OF MARAGO-KANGA NOT FAR FROM THE EASTERN ‘NJIRI - SWAMPS. NEAR THIS CAMPING PLACE MY PEOPLE SHOWED ME THE ALMOST - UNRECOGNISABLE GRAVE OF AN ENGLISH HUNTER WHO HAD BEEN KILLED - BY A BUFFALO. I HAD IT PUT IN ORDER, AND MY ASKARI (ARMED - FOLLOWERS) FIRED A VOLLEY OVER IT.] - -I remember with pleasure a certain gathering of hippopotami in one of -the lakes that lie hidden away between Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, and -which were discovered some years ago by Captain Merker. When I saw them -there were still living in them some hundreds of hippopotami, and it -was easy to watch their doings in the water. Gathered in herds they -played about in the water under the bright sunlight, showing little -sign of timidity. Especially the young ones, that were still going -about with their mothers, had so little fear that I sometimes saw them -rising almost completely out of the water. They were also sometimes to -be seen resting in the sunshine on the sandbanks by the lake margin. -Some of these lakes were of such small extent that the animals had to -come up to breathe at a distance of at most only some twenty yards from -the observer. But all the same they were generally inhabited by quite -a number of hippopotami. It was then a great pleasure to watch these -beasts for hours at a time, from the lofty look-out place provided by -the surrounding heights that rose steeply from the edge of the lake. -They kept up good fellowship with the crowds of water and marsh fowl -that give life to these lakes. All these animals displayed themselves -to the spectator at as close quarters and as plainly as in a zoological -garden. The rosy red pelicans fishing in flocks of hundreds at a time -presented the most charming contrast to the uncouth quadrupeds. Even -now in fancy these lakes come before my sight, lakes that lie far from -all human ways and doings in a silent solitude. Dark clouds float over -it. The proximity of the massive and dark Mount Meru often causes a -cloudy veil to hang over that volcanic plateau with its crater lakes. -Again I climb the steep cliffs that ring them round, and again my gaze -sweeps over the level surface of the water. But though there has been -no decrease in the numbers of the waterfowl that enliven the lakes, -the hippopotami have, alas! disappeared. I found on the occasion of my -last journey a small number still there, but I hear from Professor -Sjöstedt,[34] the Swedish naturalist, who lately visited these lakes, -that the hippopotami, who had made the lakes their home since dim -far-off times, have almost disappeared. The Boers[35] have killed -everything. I came upon one here some years ago who was killing a lot -of the hippopotami; others have followed up the work of this forerunner -with more serious results. Attempts to make settlers at home in -primitive regions are almost always inconsistent with a protection of -the primitive animal world, even though these animals inhabit lonely -upland lakes, hidden away in the wilderness, far from human settlements. - - * * * * * - -Thus in memory picture follows picture. - -Besides the harmonies of the wilderness, the impressions of the eye -are always those that come back alluringly in my recollections. -However truly the artist may be able to reproduce all these various -impressions, there is one kind that will always be missing from his -pictures, namely, all the fleeting _movement_. To take as an -instance only one out of an abundance of forms, who can reproduce in -pictures the endless variety of birds, the world of winged life! Every -day added to my knowledge of these multitudinous flocks, through the -increase day by day of my bird collection, which I obtained at the cost -of much labour, and which has been the means of giving to science many -hitherto unknown species. As I added each new bird to it, I added also -to my knowledge of these beautiful creatures, as yet so little known, -and slowly, very slowly I became familiar with them. What splendour -of forms and colours! In what enormous flocks does the feathered race -inhabit the wilderness and the primeval forest! The Biblical account -of the flocks of quails in the desert sounds to us like a legend, and -yet it is no legend. At times when we too were marching across the same -kind of ground, there flew past us with a whirr of many wings huge -flocks of quails, that sought and found their safety in flight. At -times I have also seen similar flocks of snipe. How long has it been -since both these kinds of birds appeared in such flocks in our country -at home? - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -HUNGRY VULTURES NEAR MY TENT ON THE TREELESS VELT.] - -The endless variety of form and colour, the movements of the animals -which the eye perceives under the ever-changing tropical light, that -shows everything brilliantly and sharply defined, all this taken -together makes up memory-pictures of a charm that nothing can surpass. -But he only can picture them to himself who has gone forth and made -them his own. - -The huge sea-turtle comes creeping along, emerges from the waters of -the Indian Ocean, and makes for the sandhills to lay its eggs there. -Its giant track on the sand leads me to its nest. To my astonished eyes -this peculiar track looks as if a ploughshare had torn through the -ground. - -The Indian Ocean, which is the home of this huge sea-turtle, shelters -also in quiet bays the strange Dugong or sea-cow, and great is the -surprise of even the natives themselves when from time to time they -capture in their nets this remarkable creature, which is becoming rarer -every year. - -[Illustration: FORMATION OF A FLOCK OF FLAMINGOES IN FLIGHT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -FLIGHT OF FLAMINGOES (TAKEN AT SHORTER RANGE. THERE WERE THOUSANDS IN -THIS FLOCK).] - -In the lagoons one sees emerge from the surface the head of a great -giant snake, a good five yards long, the African python; others I have -come upon suddenly on the open velt. There are continually thrilling -moments! It may be that memory conjures up for us the delightful -fairy-like image of a rare dwarf antelope seen perhaps once only in -the shades of the forest, a dwarf antelope that, with strange large -eyes and ears alert, watches one’s approach, and then like a flash of -lightning disappears in the thickets; it may be that in memory one sees -the reddish brown, mud-smeared body of a giant elephant emerge from the -midst of some densely tangled primeval forest; it may be that a tree -suddenly bursting into bloom yields me a wonderfully beautiful new kind -of bird, which I grasp in my hand, delighted with its robe of feathers; -it may be that suddenly the massive giant form of a rhinoceros appears -before me in the tall grass, unexpected, menacing, standing as if -chiselled out of stone; it may be that my free gaze ranges without -limit over the wide prospect, and sees in primitive abundance the -strange life of the tropics; in every case the impressions received -seem to the beholder fascinating beyond description. - -Monotonous as the surroundings of the landscape may appear to the -newcomer, poor and barren though the velt may seem to be for weeks at -a time, yet, enlivened and permeated by the mighty flood of all this -strange animal life, it has a beauty and a charm whose influence no one -can escape who makes his way into the midst of it with open heart and -eyes. - -He who looks around him with clear-sighted vision, and tries to see -more than others, has revealed to him the beauties of Nature in the -greatest and most wonderful way, and is drawn in the highest sense -of the word to admiration of them. Here is verified, as Sir Harry -Johnston says in his preface to my first book, “the old nursery story -of eyes and no eyes.” - -It is thus that I lie for long hours in the wilderness, and observe, -admire and enjoy. What a wealth of impressions is brought before the -eyes among these ever-changing, at first strange but gradually familiar -sights, in the midst of the foreign-looking landscape, bathed in a -light that has a marvellous influence, and in its full power is almost -blinding. - -Now the dwarfs, and again the giants of the animal world rivet our -attention. But it is especially the _primeval abundance_, the great -profusion of large and small wild life, that gives an impression that -is now delightful, now overwhelming. One must have seen, with the eye -of the hunter, gigantic old bull-elephants in the primeval forest, -great herds of rhinoceroses and giraffes in one single day, thousands -of zebras and antelopes gathered together--one must have felt all this -profuse wealth of life, to be able to understand its full beauty and -grandeur. - -Yet there are days when one looks around in vain for all this life -and activity, when, on account of the weather, or some other reason, -the animals do not show themselves so freely. One must also take due -account of the extensive periodical migrations of the African fauna. -_Many an erroneous judgment as to the alleged scarcity of wild life, in -districts in which other hunters pursued the chase at an earlier date -with success, is to be thus explained._ - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -THIS TELEPHOTOGRAPH OF STORKS ON THE WING WILL GIVE SOME IDEA OF -THE HUGE FLOCKS IN WHICH THEY START ON THEIR NORTHERN MIGRATION IN -FEBRUARY.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -WHITE STORKS GATHERING FOR THEIR NORTHERN MIGRATION TO EUROPE.] - -But, on the other hand, there are also days when such an abundance -of animal forms presents itself to our eyes, that the most -lively imagination can form no idea of all this profusion. On such -days, I have often wished that one could have a gigantic photographic -apparatus, an instrument that would be capable of making a record of -all I saw. But on such days, also, I have more than once made a mental -apology to explorers whose lives have long closed in death. When, for -instance, in former years I had looked over the sketches of the late -Cornwallis Harris, sketches showing the life of the South African fauna -as he saw it about the year 1837, I more than once had my doubts about -the correctness of his representations of it. As the result of what I -myself have seen, I have quite given up such doubts. - -[Illustration: REMAINS OF RHINOCEROSES KILLED BY THE BOERS ON THE SHORE -OF ONE OF THE MERKER LAKES.] - -The original sketches left to us by Cornwallis Harris (which I must -say do not always rise to a high level From the artistic point of -view[36]) are coloured sketches accompanied by descriptions, and -show us such multitudes of wild animals that they seem to border on -the fabulous. For we see in them elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, -buffaloes, zebras and antelopes, all gathered together in crowds, and -thus one inclines involuntarily to the opinion that all these have been -brought together in one picture merely to give illustrations of the -various species. But my own observations have shown me that our artist -is perfectly correct. One sees how necessary it is to make documentary -records of such observations. The men of a later time, as I plainly -realise, may be able to place before themselves a picture of all this -primitive abundance of animal life only with the greatest trouble and -by means of earnest study of every authority bearing on the matter. - -Enormous periods of time must have gone by to develop all the beauty -and splendour of this so varied and so highly organised life. My -thoughts range over far distant times. I see, looking so near that it -seems as one could touch it with one’s hands, one of the mightiest -volcanoes of our earth gradually unveiling itself and stripping off its -robe of clouds. The volcanic regions below it remind me of the story of -how all my surroundings were developed. - -Born in fire, and evolved, differentiated, and formed to so much -beauty, which no hostile hand has yet come to destroy, the scene around -me is so splendid that my eyes keep ranging over it, more and more -eager to contemplate all its splendours. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -CRESTED CRANES IN FLIGHT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -IN A WONDERFULLY SHORT TIME VULTURES AND MARABOUS FLY DOWN FROM AN -EXTREME HEIGHT IN THE AIR TO FALL UPON ANY DEAD ANIMAL.] - -A strange feeling comes over me. I think of all the beautiful spots of -our old world. They have all been taken possession of under carefully -devised arrangements and methods, well protected by the eye of the -law, and often only occasionally open to access, and then on condition -of payment. But the beauty I am contemplating has now been hopelessly -abandoned to intruders, who have neither knowledge nor taste nor sense, -and who are at this moment so barbarously destroying it. - -But these thoughts must give way to others that are more pleasant and -consoling. How wonderful to be able to revel in this wilderness, to -feel in oneself the influence of all these splendours, notwithstanding -all dangers and all difficulties, however great! Everything around us -undulates and shimmers, bathed in a dazzling sea of light. Gradually -the colouring of plain and hills, the dome of the sky and the whole -surrounding landscape, changes to duller and less definite tints. The -sun-illumined air rises in waves from the earth, and the various strata -of it form an ever-changing chaos of reflected light. Over all there is -deep peace. A spell that accords with the mood of the moment seems to -stream down from the dome of the sky over this solitude, lying so far -from the noisy activity of the world. - -All that I here behold has been going on since those far times, -directed by natural law, in ever-recurring succession. But to-day for -the first time a member of the complex society of civilisation takes -delight in this mountain rising amidst all this primeval beauty. - -Who could possibly set down this poetry upon paper--the poetry of the -velt and its wild inhabitants, the moods of East African Nyíka? The -master of colouring has not yet arisen who could give us a picture of -these mighty gatherings of wild herds, and of these deserts that seem -overcrowded with animal forms, that yet live so peacefully together, -nor can the master of the pen, though he may have been able by his -words to conjure up some idea of them in the mind. - -One who has perhaps felt and enjoyed their spell more than any one else -is Alfred Brehm. But he has travelled only in regions that had long -been under the influence of man and his activity. He has only once -seen the king of beasts, and has never looked upon the giraffe--whose -beautiful eyes the Arab compares with the eyes of his beloved--and many -other forms of the African fauna.[37] Nevertheless he has done wonders, -thanks to his deep feeling for his subject, his intimate understanding -of it, and his incomparably poetical power of description. He has -given us imperishable pictures in words that are among the most -beautiful that have ever been written about Nature. Our old famous -teacher, Dr. Schweinfurth, has seen and described similar scenes. With -these two we may rank in equal honour the name of the German explorer -Richard Böhm,[38] who unhappily lost his life so tragically and at such -an early age on the shores of Lake Upämba in Southern Urúa, of which -he was the discoverer. Many others might also be named who were deeply -influenced by these primeval splendours. But the fauna of South Africa -has vanished unsung and untamed, before any artist or master of words -arose to place in a fitting way its beauties on record for all time! - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -TELEPHOTOGRAPH OF A HERD OF WATERBUCK (_COBUS ELLIPSIPRYMNUS_, Ogilb.) -RUNNING AWAY.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -ORYX ANTELOPES (_ORYX CALLOTIS_, Thos.); “CHIROA” OF THE SWAHILI, “OL -GAMASSAROK” OF THE MASAI): A MOST DIFFICULT ANIMAL TO STALK.] - -Masters of words like Ludwig Heck, by whose skilful pen the life of the -mammalia has been lately described anew for us in Brehm’s _Tierleben_, -and like Wilhelm Bölsche, would perhaps have been capable of grasping, -and reproducing the impressions that the traveller feels in those far -lands. But they have never trodden these distant countries, and they -must therefore confine themselves to describing artistically and yet -truly what they have never actually seen, from ideas based on their own -clear understanding of the observations of others. - -The sun is setting. It is time for me to come down from my hill and -return to my camp. The sun goes to his rest in flaming splendour, there -is a glowing radiance of violet and purple light; soon dark night will -surround me. Thoughtfully I tread my homeward way, with my mind richly -stored with impressions, but anxious as to my efforts to describe all -that I have seen, and doubtful as to my success. - -“To have passed a thousand and more days, a thousand and more nights -in the wilderness with a great longing in my heart in some way to -grasp and make my own all the splendour I have seen and all its charm; -to have again and again delighted in the beauty of the Nyíka: this -does not make me capable of reproducing it. And even if after many -decades of years I could fully comprehend it, I should never succeed -in reproducing it in its full significance and bringing it home to the -minds of those who have never looked upon it with their own eyes.” - -So runs a passage in my diary. - -Descriptions of things similar to those that I have told of in -inadequate words in these slight sketches of the Nyíka district of East -Africa may be read of other regions of our earth. The life and activity -of the Arctic fauna, of those gigantic creatures of to-day, the whales, -and of the Polar bears, the musk oxen, the wild reindeer, the walruses, -the seals--those most sagacious creatures--and the life of many other -animal forms--all these together are waiting for the hand that will -describe them in word and picture and put on enduring record for all -time this changing life. Thus only will a new existence be given to -those forms of life for which the sentence “Vae Victis!” has gone forth. - -May the master soon appear who will be able to give us a noble and -true picture of the East African Nyíka in all its vast proportions. -For, as the night is now descending on the wilderness, so will an -everlasting night soon come down upon all the life and movement that I -have tried so inadequately to describe in merest outline. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -GRANT’S GAZELLES.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -HARTEBEESTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE WESTERN ’NDJIRI SWAMPS.] - -[Illustration: A PAGE OF MY DIARY SHOWING HOW I NOTED MY MOVEMENTS AND -OBSERVATIONS BY MEANS OF A ROUGH MAP.] - -About a century ago the “Twilight of the Gods” (_Götterdämmerung_) -began for all the wild life of the Cape region of South Africa. Even -before these hundred years had run out it was ended; this abundant -flood of life had disappeared.... - -[Illustration: BATELEUR EAGLE IN FLIGHT.] - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -LIKE A ROSY RED CLOUD THE FLAMINGOES FLY DOWN ON THE MARGIN OF THE -NATRON LAKE.] - - - - -[Illustration: A FRANCOLIN PERCHED ON A THORN-BUSH.] - -VII - -The Voices of the Wilderness - - -The German sportsman knows well the mysterious charm that speaks to the -listener, when in the woods in spring he hears the note of the woodcock -and the cry of the ptarmigan, and when in autumn he hears the call of -the stag to its mate. It must be that the listener is subject to some -atavistic influence, some impulse rooted in the dim past now quickening -into life. - -Let him who understands this charm follow me through the equatorial -wilderness, and listen with me to the music of songs and notes that we -may call the language of the Nyíka. We shall hear it there on every -side, by day and by night. True, fully to understand this language -one should have King Solomon’s magic power, which made its possessor -understand the speech of animals, or like Siegfried have dipped one’s -hand in the blood of the dragon, and thus have acquired the gift of -holding converse with the birds. - -This much is certain, in the wildernesses of Africa this primeval -language is still to be heard. In our hunting grounds at home the -voices of the aurochs, the bison, the ibex, the bear, the lynx, and -the wolf have been silenced, and many other voices that have belonged -to the wild open country since primeval days have all but died away. I -have indeed learned to understand only a few words of this language of -the wilderness, though I have heard thousands of its sounds. But I may -be able to tell something about it. - -What a strong and deep impression this world of sound makes upon the -traveller at so many hours of the day and night! Every region, every -different kind of country has its own characteristic harmony. One does -not always hear it--it depends upon the season of the year and the time -of the day, on the changes of weather, and much else. But when one has -become even to some small extent familiar and conversant with these -various voices, one enjoys this music-language Of the Nyíka with a -sense of deep delight and ever growing understanding. Sometimes it is -most difficult to find out the names of the individual speakers. Often -they keep very quiet; they seem to be like great vocalists on tour: -they appear suddenly, and then disappear again for a long time, without -letting one see any more of them. Then the traveller may often listen -long, in vain, for the singer--gone without leaving a trace behind. But -it is not only the soloists that charm us. There is also the combined -effect of all the voices of nature uniting in one vast impressive -chorus. This has made such an impression upon me that I shall try, -so far as my limited powers permit, to describe it to the reader. -This musical language of the wilderness is in itself powerful, rich -and impressive, but all this in a still greater degree for him who, -observing things with the eyes of a seer, knows many of the voices that -resound in it will not be heard much longer. Although for long, long -ages, through hundreds of thousands of years, this tumult of sound has -been heard, these voices, or many of them, will soon be silent victims -of civilisation! They are going, and with them many of the euphonious -names of places with which the natives have distinguished every spot, -but which the Europeans, as they penetrate into the country, feel -themselves obliged to change. - -It may seem that I myself am not quite guiltless of such misdeeds. -It is true that I named an island, that resort of the wild buffaloes -in the Pangani River, “Heck Island,” in honour of Professor Ludwig -Heck. But the island had till then no name whatever. One feels sad, on -glancing over the map of Africa, to note the degradation of so many -old traditional names, which is in no way justified, and is a sign -of the hasty and violent introduction of civilised life. “The Boers -are not people who think much about natural history,” says a writer -somewhere. And in fact, through their agency, the euphonious names of -the various wild species of South Africa are now to a great extent -already obsolete. They hastily gave vulgar-sounding names of their own -to the wild animals.[39] Thus the oryx antelope became the “gemsbock,” -and the cow-antelope, because it was tenacious of life and difficult -to kill, the “hartebeest.” The gnu, on account of its wildness, was -called the “wildebeest,” the bustard the, “pauw,”[40] the hyena the -“wolf,” and the giraffe--incredible though, it may seem--the “kameel”! -Hand in hand with this went the changing of place-names: so we read of -“Hartebeests Fontein,” “Olifants River,” “Kameeldoorn,” “Zwartkop,” and -we have a whole series of unpleasant, and sometimes utterly ugly names -by the introduction of which the beautiful aboriginal names of various -places have become obsolete. Thus not only do the primitive inhabitants -of the land disappear, but their names, too, are blown away upon the -wind. - -Countless are the voices that resound by day in the Nyíka. But by night -these voices speak still more mysteriously and wonderfully to him who -listens to them, bringing him into still closer union with nature. From -the multitude of these voices I choose a few only. - -Old memories come back to me! It is in the year 1896. I have just -landed, and am sitting in my night shooting-encampment by an inlet -of the sea near Dar-es-Salaam. A concert of the voices of nocturnal -birds mingles with the sharp buzz of the mosquitoes. Again and again -one hears a strange cry. Unspeakably sad and monotonous, this peculiar -sound rings out over the waters of the inlet; in the distance a -changing answer comes back in response to it. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -FLIGHT OF SANDFOWL.] - -I did not then suspect _that it would take me nearly a year_ to be -absolutely certain that this sound was uttered by an extremely shy and -restless kind of cuckoo! - -This sound of the African night always made the strongest impression -upon me, and remains indelibly in my memory. All that one heard from -near at hand, or from the distance miles away, had its origin not in -man’s voice or in human activity of any kind, but most come from birds -and beasts to a great extent unknown to us. One had to interpret, to -conjecture, to build up theories. Often one struck upon the correct -solution. But often enough, too, the interpretation one accepted proved -to be false, and then one’s anxiety to find out the true solution, -aroused anew, was doubly keen. The first time I heard it, I had no -difficulty in interpreting for myself the cry of the monkeys harassed -in the night by leopards, a screaming of a kind one cannot easily -forget, plainly expressing the greatest terror. The first time one -heard the neighing of the herds of zebras it was much more difficult to -recognise the sound, and the gobbling cry of the ostrich had at first -a still stranger effect. But as soon as I had heard the voice of the -zebras a few times, it was clear to me that the extinct _quagga_ of -South Africa must have derived its name from its cry. If one puts the -accent on the second syllable, and pronounces the _g_ softly and deep -in the throat, one has, as one repeats it, a wonderful reproduction of -the cry of the zebra as I heard it myself.[41] - -What a pity that all this cannot be put on permanent record by some -such apparatus as a gigantic phonograph! But unfortunately we are still -a long way from such a possibility. - -No one will be surprised at my keeping specially in mind that endlessly -melancholy cry of the cuckoo in the darkness. How lonely and empty our -German woodlands would seem without the cuckoo and the cuckoo cry! As -a matter of fact the African primeval forest _never_ hears the same -cry that has become so clear to ourselves. Our cuckoo, migrating in a -few days all the way from the north to the equator, flies in restless -haste through wood and plain, but _he is silent_. His cry is heard -only in our country at home. But in the East Africa district of Pori, -amongst many other cries those of two species of cuckoo are heard in -rivalry. These are the sickle cuckoo--the “Tipi-tipi” of the Swahili--a -reddish-brown fellow that flutters in heavy flight everywhere about -the bush, the reedy bogs and hill-slopes; and the solitary cuckoo -(_Cuculus solitarius_, Step.), about whose cry I was for a long time -mistaken. The unceasing, low cry of the former, the sickle cuckoo, if -it is heard even a few times, can never again be forgotten. It sounds -like--“Dut-dút--dududu--dut-dút.” One hears it by day and also in the -darkest night, contrasting strongly with the sharply defined, clear -note of our European cuckoo, though the latter listens in silence -to the cry of his cousins all through the winter under the equator. -This cry seems to me, with its low, dull, softly prolonged tones--so -different from the louder cry of its northern relative--to be quite in -keeping with its mysterious tropical home. For the sickle cuckoo knows -all its deepest mysteries, and no bird ranges so unweariedly through -the densest thickets and over the most inaccessible regions. In the -most hidden, solitary, and unknown spots[42] it would come fluttering -up from the ground at my feet, often startling me. It seemed to me as -if the bird wanted to call my attention to newly discovered mysteries, -as its “Dut-dút--dududu--dut-dút” came sounding to me, now here, now -there, low, soft and melodious, by day under the brooding noonday heat, -and just the same in the midnight hours. - -At night, too, he is seconded, as I have already mentioned, by his more -timid cousin, with an ever repeated “Kí-kü-kü--kí-kü-kü,” that resounds -monotonously in the distance. - -There is a strange charm in continually hearing these voices again and -again, without knowing the little singers; and a triumph at last in -making out which they are. - -“During a sleepless night,” said Richard Wagner, “I once went out upon -the balcony of my window on the Grand Canal at Venice. As if in a deep -dream the legend-haunted city of the lagoons lay spread out before me -under the darkness. Out of the soundless silence there came the loud -call of a gondolier waking up just then on his boat ... then from the -farthest distance the same call answered back along the dark canal; -I recognised the old, melancholy, melodious sounds, doubtless as old -as the canals of Venice and their people. After a solemn pause the -far-sounding dialogue at last began, and it seemed to me to melt into -harmony, till the notes heard close at hand and coming more softly from -afar died away as sleep came back to me again.” - -Who could describe in such noble words the impression made upon our -minds by the spell of the sounds and songs of the nocturnal wildness, -and all its strange and beautiful music? All that at first is strange -there, and even alarming, comes gradually to be something one loves -intimately. Shall I ever be able to listen to it all again? Who knows? -Let me try then to make some record of what I have so often heard, and -in these few sentences attempt to give some faint echo of these once -familiar voices. - -We are in the midst of the great forest. Giant podocarpus and juniper -trunks rise up towards the sky. It is cool and shady all around us -here; we breathe a moist, and not unfrequently a musty air. The -sunlight plays only upon the tops of these giants of the primeval -woods, and can but scantily illumine the almost bare ground below them, -sending here and there shimmering, dancing rays of light amongst the -tree-trunks. High overhead the giants arch their branches, interlacing -them in a vast living roof of green. Only where clearings make a -break in the mass of trees, a sea of light floods all the ground--a -flood of light so strong that our eyes, accustomed to the obscurity, -the mysterious semi-darkness of the forest, are dazzled, and there -comes to our minds involuntarily recollections of old Bible pictures, -in which such floods of light are shown streaming down from heaven to -earth. A confusion of trees, creepers and undergrowth, with amidst it -uprooted tree-trunks lying mouldering away; the earth black, and often -marshy; no road or way far and wide, but only here and there the tracks -and beaten paths made by the elephants and rhinoceroses that have -roamed the old forest since primeval times. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -ZEBRAS AND GNUS. [p. 292] - -Deep silence all around. If the traveller stands still and holds his -breath, this silence seems to weigh down upon the soul with a weird -force. At such moments it is as though some vague disaster threatened, -or something wicked and dangerous were creeping around unseen. - -Suddenly, a squealing and chattering. There is a scurry up and down -the tree-trunks, and again there is a strange sound of spitting -and growling. Just now there had come over us a feeling such as is -expressed in Böcklin’s[43] masterly picture, directly inspired by -nature, _Schweigen des Waldes_ (the “Silence of the Forest”). We had -almost expected each moment that legends set before us by the power of -his genius would here become realities; we felt that here one might -surprise nymphs and dryads. The spell is soon broken. The gnomes of -the primeval forest, the tree-climbing hyraxes, have scared away the -silence. Wonderful to say, these dwarfish _hoofed animals_, the nearest -still surviving relatives of the rhinoceros, are here scrambling up and -down on the trunks of the venerable trees. - -From all sides, from every spot, every direction, there resound the -same cries, and again there is silence all around us. Here, far in the -depths of the primeval forest, the bird world seems to have no home. -But hark! I hear a curious chirping, and I notice on a bare bough -above me one of the most gloriously coloured of African birds, the -banded trogon (_Heterotrogon vittatum_, Shell.), which, uttering a most -peculiar sound, is carrying on its characteristic sport--flapping its -beautiful wings. - -Then loud-sounding trumpet-like notes break on the ear. We hear a -rushing in the air, and big hornbills with their huge beaks come -sailing, as I judge by their cries, through the air, and alight on the -top of a giant juniper (_Juniperus procera_). They, too, fly away after -awhile; their trumpeting, dies away in the distance, and again there -is silence all around. Their voices and that of the brightly coloured -helmet-bird give to the primeval forest of Africa a strange charm that -is all its own. - -But now there suddenly breaks forth a remarkable sound, rising and -again falling as I listen, a strange music of a most peculiar kind. -It is the chatter of the colobus monkeys, a sound that cannot be -described in words. A party of these wonderful creatures seems to -be in good humour, for their song comes to me in chorus unceasingly, -and in rising strength. “Murúh-murúh-murúh-rrrrrrmúh rrrrrrmúh-murúh -quoi-quo-quo-quo-rrrr,” it sounds, now swelling strongly out, now -gently dying away. These, too, are doomed to death, who now are letting -us hear their primitive song, that in our days may so easily be their -death-song; for these monkeys are keenly hunted for the sake of their -beautiful fur, and their song often betrays them to the hunter, eager -for their spoils. Some poisoned darts, which I find here with points as -sharp as needles, and which were once shot with a bad aim at the little -monkeys, are evidence enough of this. - -[Illustration: AN ALARUM-TURACO (_CHIZAERHIS LEUCOGASTRA_) IN ITS PLACE -OF SAFETY AMONG THE ACACIA THORNS.] - -And again I hear the great wood ringing and echoing with the countless -cries of birds. There was a time, too, when the call of millions of the -now all but extinct passenger pigeon resounded in North America; so, -too--and of this I have no doubt--the cooing of the ringdoves was heard -repeated by thousands of birds in our beech and oak woods at home when -the acorns and beech-nuts were in season. - -On the lonely uninhabited western slopes of the highest giant -mountain of the German possessions, Mount Kilimanjaro, certain forest -fruits flourish in profusion. There is heard on every side a strong, -sweet-sounding dove-note, like that of our ringdove. A handsome large -species of wood-pigeon (_Columba aquatrix_, Tem.) has gathered in -hundreds of thousands. The rustle of their wings, as they rise or come -down in great flocks,mingles with their beautiful calls and cries; -the ear can hear nothing else. Voice, form, and movement so strongly -remind one of our own ringdoves that one feels carried away to far-off, -familiar scenes, and the illusion is helped by the character of the -Kilimanjaro landscape, which in certain of the higher regions has less -of a tropical than of a northern aspect. How strange it is; the cry -of this bird all at once transports the traveller to his own land! -Truly _there is a magic in sound_. With the poorest appliances, the -slightest equipment, the creative fancy can in a moment build a bridge -to the Fatherland. The call of this beautiful dove sounding here on -every side, its love-inspired circling high in air above the tops of -the giants of the primeval forest, surrounds it with a dream-picture, -and makes me suddenly breathe the air of the beech woods. I am in the -northern woods in springtime; cool and fragrant the northern air blows -round me. But ah! thousands of miles of land and sea divide me from all -that, and cool reflective reason counts only on the possibility, not -the certainty, of my ever seeing my native land again. - -And yet this beautiful picture has a strengthening and consoling -influence. It drives away the trouble of home-sickness--a dismal thing! - -I can hear many other voices besides these in the primeval forest. But -those that impress themselves in the most completely enduring way on -the memory are the strange cry of the tree-hyrax, the peculiar note -of the hornbills, that calling of the doves, the remarkable chorus of -song of the ‘Mbega monkeys, strange beyond all description, and the -trumpeting of the lord of the primeval forest, the elephant. - -Another tone-picture--an early morning at a drinking-place in the -desert. One could feel the cold in the night, but the quick coming -warmth of the equatorial sun’s rays has soon roused the animal -world to active life. There is the cry and call of the francolins -on all sides. But the chief part in this early concert is taken -by the thousands of turtle-doves, flying from all directions to -the water. Everywhere a murmuring and cooing, that the Masai are -able to re-echo so incomparably in the name of the turtle-dove in -their language--“‘Ndurgulyu.” As an accompaniment to this, there -is the rustling and wing-clapping of all the feathered visitors -at the water. Towards evening, the air in the neighbourhood of a -much-visited drinking-place is literally filled with these beautiful -and swift-winged birds. The rustling and beating of their wings in -rapid flight makes in itself a concert. I not unfrequently came upon -places that bore the name of the “Doves’ water,” or the “Doves’ -resting-place.” All the various voices of the many species of doves -that find a home in the Nyíka resound again in the traveller’s ears -for years after. Whether it be the strange voice of the parrot-pigeon, -that ushers in the concert with a hollow “Kruh-kruh” and follows it -up with some remarkable notes, or the melancholy cry of the little -steel-spotted pigeon that comes to us from the thickets, or the -strong, loud-sounding love-notes of the already-mentioned _Columba -aquatrix_, Tem., so like our ringdove, or, above all, the familiar -sweet voices of the many small kinds of turtle-doves--all these sounds, -the rustling and fluttering and beating of wings, the living, moving -picture presented by all these beautiful birds, belong inseparably -to the essence and being of the Nyíka. When the turtle-doves greet -the morning with their soft cooing, their call is answered from afar -by strange guttural tones borne swiftly through the air, sounding, -like “Gle-glé-lágak-glé-ága-ága,” from the velt-fowl hurrying like -themselves to the water. Brehm, in his _Leben der Vögel_, has already -raised a poetical monument to them made up of beautiful lines. But I -could not picture to myself the morning concert of the bird world in -the Nyíka without the strange cry of the sand-fowl and the cooing of -the doves, and the peculiar sound of the beating wings of the velt-fowl -as they rise in scattered flight from their resting-places,--a sound -that impresses itself strongly and distinctly on the ear, more than -that of any other bird I know, as the “Kláck-kláck-kláck” of the rising -woodcock strikes the ear of the sportsman in Germany. - -The wonderful flight of the velt-fowl, their calls and cries, their -hurry and bustle, afforded me ever new interest. It always seemed to -me as though the wide wilderness here sent out its lovingly guarded -favourite children as envoys, with the mission of making it known that -even now, in this dull, barren time, life has not died out even in -the most remote deserts. So I see and hear them once more in fancy, -beautiful, timid, and full of the joy of life. It is thus their -countless millions enliven the wastes of Africa, as well as the endless -tundra marshes of Asia. - -Deep, long-drawn-out notes, like those of musical glasses, ring in my -ears. The brooding noonday heat is round me. The sun is in the zenith, -and hardly another sound is to be heard all around. The wilderness lies -before me in the hot glowing sunlight as if dead. My weary bearers have -given themselves up to a dozing sleep, at the place where I have at -last halted, after a march of many hours with a few companions. - -Before me is a miniature mountain-world lighted up by the dazzling -sunbeams. There is a mass of precipitous rocks, so characteristic of -the Masai-Nyíka district, that stretches away into the distance. The -Candelabra Euphorbias spread out their strange forms against the light, -in grotesque clumps, and seem to me to make themselves one with the -rocks, whose inorganic character and nature appear to be repeated in -their characteristic forms. - -From out of the midst of this stony wilderness these remarkable notes -come sounding in my ears. They seem to be mysterious voices of rock and -stone. The eye searching expectantly for the singer that is uttering -this bell-like melodious music can discover nothing. And yet the notes -come from the throat of a bird. It is once more some hornbills that are -making their song of love and wooing resound in this wilderness. I have -been able to listen to them for hours, losing myself in dreams, and I -cannot say why I seemed to identify precisely _these_ bird-voices with -the voice of the African Sphinx, that legendary Sphinx which has sung -already to so many, and lured many back again for ever. Thus may the -songs and voices of the old sanctuaries of Northern Africa once have -been. Again and again, when I heard it, I had to think of those men -who, with burning longing in their hearts, went forth into the Dark -Continent to wrest from it the secrets of its fauna, but had to pay for -the undertaking with their lives. - -A burning glow of sunshine, a dazzling light in overwhelming abundance -over all the desert waste of rock--and amidst it, again and again, that -deep, ghostly, metallic note, that directly impresses the traveller as -though it were the language of the wilderness, peculiarly its own. But -how can I describe all this in words? - -And at a moment like this, as if to heighten the effect, over there the -voice of the mightiest bird that the earth bears in this our day -sounds forth. I hear in the distance the ringing cry of a hen-ostrich, -and I listen to it with attention strained to the highest point. - -[Illustration: - - _C. G. Schillings, phot._ - -NESTS OF WEAVER-BIRDS ON THE BOUGHS OF AN ACACIA.] - -The strange duet has now long died away. But it often comes up to me -again in the midst of the movement of civilised life and takes me back -on the wings of fancy to the glorious beauty of the wilderness. - -But that uncouth tropical singer is not really needed to conjure up -this frame of mind. A little unseen _lark_, all by itself, can evoke -for me the charm of the solitudes of Nyíka as with a magic wand. - -How this comes to pass, I will tell the reader. We must make a long -tour. Now we are in the north, in our native country, in the midst -of the spring, amongst spreading fields of our German homeland. The -song of the lark fills the air, and our heart expands to its music. -We go out upon the open moor. We hear a trilling and quavering -of another kind, with a strangely sweet touch of sadness in it, -especially at night--the song of the woodlark. But now let the reader -follow me to the little island of Heligoland. In the glare from the -lighthouse, that sends afar its rays,--in this case rays that bring -destruction,--countless numbers of larks flutter and wheel about, -bewildered in the darkness of the autumn night, and full of anxiety and -fear. On a dark, rainy October night thousands of them fall victims to -the death that lies waiting in ambush for them below this tower raised -by the hand of man. Their little wings have brought them safe over the -ocean to the small island. But there one hears no rejoicing song, No! -there resounds only something like an agonised cry for help from weak -creatures in the direst peril of death. - -Millions of larks fly thus each year southwards and northwards, -obedient to that mysterious migratory impulse that guides them on their -way. - -The song of the lark and the cry of the lark are very different things. -To those who know them they mean a song of happy springtime, and a cry -for help in the night of death. - -How comes it that I thus speak of, and have to think of, sounds uttered -by the birds here at home? Simply because over there, in other lands, -my fancy so often and so readily imagined the flying bird to be a -messenger,--a courier for thoughts of home,--and connected such wishes -and longings with its appearance and disappearance. - -In autumn, the noblest of our northern songsters makes its way in -a few days and nights into the inmost heart of the Dark Continent. -It disappears again in spring, to return to the north over velt and -desert, morass, mountain and sea. The cuckoo, that only a few days ago -could be seen in our northern lands by the eyes of men who knew how to -recognise it, I see on the African velt, a wandering, fleeting visitor. -Thus it seems to bring me a greeting, like that brought by our oriole, -our nightingale, and many other children of the homeland. - -No one can be surprised that in these solitudes these birds, and their -coming and going, are closely associated with our thoughts. It is the -less to be wondered at seeing that they are all such eloquent witnesses -to the miracle that these weak creatures with their feeble wings twice -each year traverse continents and fly safely over seas. - -We cannot help thinking of the lark and its spring song at home, -when in the wilds of Africa we hear its voice; and it appeals so -impressively to the wanderer in the wilderness, that afterwards it has -the power of bringing back by its music a picture of the Nyíka in all -its characteristic wildness. It is a song that has a character of its -own. When I hear it, if it is in the Nyíka, I cannot help thinking -of the songster’s frail, weak brethren of Europe, that, following an -irresistible impulse, are perhaps at this moment meeting their death -on the little island of Heligoland--obedient to the same instinct that -sends myriads of their kind each year towards pole or equator. For even -as the northern song of the lark awakens the soft, poetic spell of -smiling fields, so, too, the mysterious and still deeply veiled spell -of the Nyíka can find expression in its wonderful music. - -Small, invisible almost, it rises in the air. Soon it is lost to sight -in the sky. Then suddenly a song that, though so often heard before, -is still a marvel, comes distinctly on the ear, its notes sharply -accented and emphasised as if it were _close to us_. There is a sharp, -rhythmical, clapping sound, as if small laths or pieces of whalebone -were being rattled together. It comes from that tree right in front of -us. No mistake about it seems possible. But the eye searches in vain -for the producer of the sound. - -Again and again one is deceived in this way. Who could imagine that -that little bird far away over there, a hardly perceptible speck on -the horizon, is producing this strange music? “Knáck! knáck! knáck!” -again, and yet again, it comes to us ringing out loud and clear. Our -little invisible songster does not tire of pouring out its strange -misleading song. It is a kind of love-song of a species of lark, which -was discovered by Fischer some fifteen years ago and bears the name of -the naturalist, now long deceased; _Mirafra fischeri_, Rchw.,[44] is -its scientific name. Its clapping and rattling are undoubtedly part of -the charm of a journey in certain districts of the Masai-Nyíka. - -Even in my tent, in the midst of the comparatively loud noise of the -busy camp of my numerous caravan, I can hear the clapping, rattling -voice of this lark. Some hundreds of yards away it flies up into the -sky, like our own skylark, and hovers about clattering in the air, so -loudly and distinctly that if I did not know its character and habits, -I would have been continually looking for it close to my tent. It is -very hard to quite free oneself from this illusion. One continually -thinks that one hears the cry of the bird in one’s immediate -neighbourhood, the sound being produced much in the same way as that of -the snipe. - -And yet another strange voice of a lark resounds in my ears: a -melancholy, plaintive, soft sound, till now unknown to me and to most -others. All night long its calls and cries resound about my camp. I -should never have thought that it was a lark (_Mirafra intercedens_ -Rchw.) that thus made itself heard in the night, as our woodlarks do in -moonlight nights at home. It was at the cost of much careful research -that the discovery was made of what bird produced this song. - -And the strange voice of yet another bird is inseparable from my -recollections of the wilderness of East Africa. The xerophytic flora of -the far-spreading thorny mimosa thickets gives shelter to a privileged -member of the bird world, which is thus guarded in safety from all -danger amid their thorny boughs and branches. I refer to a peculiar -bird, belonging to the group of the Musophagidæ, grey-feathered, -green-beaked, long-tailed, and adorned with a crest. This strange -fellow roves about restlessly--a bird about as big as a jay, misleading -the traveller with his cry in the most curious way. Science calls him -_Chizaerhis leucogastra_, Rüpp.; the German language has given him the -name “_Lärmvogel_” (“noisy bird”). - -And he has a perfect right to bear his name. There resounds somewhere -near us, and in a way that completely deceives us, now the barking and -snarling of a dog, now the bleating of sheep. Following the direction -of the sound we look to see what produces it, and we find our bird -hopping about nimbly upon the tops of the thorn-trees and acacias, -appearing to have no anxiety about the thorny spikes of the branches, -in which he makes his home. With a cleverness that borders on the -miraculous he makes his way amongst them, protected by them against the -attacks of birds or beasts of prey, and in his conscious reliance on -the security of his dwelling-place, so to say, mocking at all enemies. -So deceptive are his cries that at first, and especially when I was -in the neighbourhood of native settlements, I was continually looking -everywhere for sheep and their shepherds. - -Many other typical bird-voices live in my memory. I hear the peculiar -plaintive cry of the large cormorants that are busy with their fishing -by the salt lakes of the wilderness, a cry that seems most fitted for -these solitudes. The mysterious chattering and chirping of the little -swamp-fowl come to my ear from the shallows and the bushes along the -banks of silent rivers of the primeval forest, a bird-language so -strange that the natives believe the birds are conversing with the fish -in the stream. I hear the cackling of the knowing Nile-geese, that seem -to be always engaged in conversation; when on the wing, too, a pair of -them, in their affectionate fidelity, have always some warning, some -reminder of something or other to call out to each other. Where their -cry resounds one hears also frequently that of the wonderful, wailing -peewit; it has a plaintive and melancholy effect on the mind of the -listener. Far different is the noisy outcry of its brightly coloured -cousin, a denizen of the thirsty wilderness (_Stephanibyx coronatus_, -Bodd.). Shrill and harsh the voice of the bird rings out, a watch-cry -by day and night, and when in bright moonlight nights they fly in -flocks over the camp. Swarms of these remarkable birds, the police of -the wilderness in feathered uniforms, flutter around the traveller as -he approaches. They ruin his attempts to stalk wild animals, and their -strident screeches, to which all other animals hearken, haunt him long -after, as also the call and cry of the large, yellow-eyed thick-knee, -an inhabitant of the loneliest solitudes. But I cannot imagine the -low shores of African lakes and the sea-coast without the cry of the -widely distributed sandpiper, which has its home in the far north. In -winter its low plaintive cry is heard at every step: but even in summer -the trained ear can distinguish it here and there. These individual -stragglers from the north are thus to be found during all times of the -year in this distant country, while the most of their kindred tribe -have successfully made their way to the Polar lands, their usual -summer breeding-place. - -[Illustration: - - A SHRIKE (_LANIUS CAUDATUS_, Cab.) ON THE LOOK-OUT FROM THE - HIGH BOUGHS OF AN ACACIA. ITS CRIES WHEN IT SEES A HUNTER ON - THE MOVE OFTEN WARN THE ANIMALS HE IS STALKING.] - -High over my head the voice of the pretty avocet (_Recurvirostra -avocetta_, L.), one of the most charming forms of the bird world known -to us, transports me by magic to the distant and mournful lakes of -the Masailand wilderness. What the dwarf bustards (_Otis gindiana_, -Oust.) keep calling out to each other with their continually repeated -“Rágga-ga-rágga” is not to be discovered. But their cry, which has -kept the fancy of the natives busy since olden days, is as inseparably -associated with regions on which the grass grows high, as the voices -and cries of the sandfowl, the francolins, and, above all, the jarring -outcries of the guinea-fowl, on the velt. All the manifold voices of -doves, cuckoos, parrots, hornbills, bee-eaters, shrikes, orioles, -starlings, finches, weaver-birds, sylvians, and the rest, calling, -exulting, rejoicing, uttering cries of alarm or complaint, have woven -themselves into my recollections of happy days and days of toil. - -Thus there still rings in my ear the triple note of the yellowish -green bulbul (_Pycnonotus layardi_, Gurn.), which, like our sparrow, -is present everywhere, till one almost tires of it. Most curious -is the friendly play which the handsomely coloured glossy starling -(_Spreo superbus_, Rüpp.) carries on with a weaver-bird (_Dinemellia -dinemelli_, [Hartl.] Rüpp) in flights like those of our sparrows. It -comes back to me all the more vividly when I recall the notes uttered -by these two birds, which, though such close friends and taking such -delight in each other’s company, are so distantly related. The curious -warbling of the honey-finder (_Indicator indicator_, Gm.), which often -guides the man who follows it to a wild bees’ nest, also easily makes -a permanent impression on the ear of the traveller. - -And there are many other bird-voices that delight any one who takes -pleasure in sound. When silvery moonbeams streamed over the camp, the -night-jars (especially _Caprimulgus fossei_ [Verr.] Hartl.) buzzed -and hummed forth their strange song everywhere around. No matter how -remote and desolate the wilderness in which the traveller laid down -his head to rest, these goat-suckers were to be heard. Their voice -makes a strong impression on us even in our own country in the lonely -woods, but its effect is much more striking, on the far-off equatorial -velt. With noiseless soft beating of its wings the bird comes gliding -past us; its wings almost touch us. When it pours forth its song, its -monotonous sleepy song, I could listen to it for hours. In the daytime -it starts up suddenly from the ground here and there in front of you, -uttering the feeblest of cries, that it is impossible to represent. In -the next instant it vanishes like some huge moth, and even the sharpest -eye cannot distinguish it amongst the dry branches and leaves, or -clinging close to the rocky ground. The song of the night-jar is among -my most vivid recollections of the bird-voices of Africa. - -In the neighbourhood of water, wherever it may be, and in the thick -undergrowth, wherever the African wilderness extends, you hear the call -and cry of a peculiar bird-voice. It rings out through the stillness -with a deep double piping note, that impresses itself in a lasting way -on the ear. It is the voice of the handsome organ-shrike (_Laniarius -æthiopicus_, Gm.). These shrikes, which mate permanently, always utter -this note in such quick succession, one of the pair after the other, -that at first you think you are listening to only a single bird. This -beautiful bird-note indicates the proximity of water, and thus it has -acquired quite a special significance in these countries. - -Finally there is no sound from the throat of a bird that I call to mind -so plainly, or so continually, as the song of the African nightingale -(_Erithacus africanus_, [Fschr.] Rchw.). I have very frequently heard -this beautiful song during the months of our winter, in many districts -round Kilimanjaro. When I heard it unexpectedly for the first time, I -was most deeply moved by it. Ten years ago I heard it during a day’s -march in the wooded gullies of the great volcanic mountain, and it -was most clear and full and beautiful. I never expected thus to hear -this northern bird-voice in the tropics. Later on, when I was camped -at a considerable altitude in the primeval forests of Kilimanjaro, -I was saluted with the cries of northern migratory birds, that, -wheeling round the mountain, seemed to be flying over its everlasting -snowfields. It was a strange coincidence in those Christmas days, the -song of the northern nightingale, and those northern birds of passage -on the wing under the equatorial sun! It is worth noting that this -voice of the nightingale was the only genuine northern bird-song -that I ever heard in Africa. That our nightingale also sometimes -breeds there is indicated by the discovery of its nest by the late Dr. -Fischer. But the problem of the extraordinary identity in character of -this nightingale with its northern sister still awaits solution. Many -difficult observations will have to be made in order to investigate it -thoroughly. - -What a contrast to this song of our northern nightingale is presented -by the voices of the hyenas and jackals, the strange cry uttered by -the leopard, all the sounds emitted by the antelopes, and finally the -indescribably startling, harsh-sounding bellow of the crocodile! - -But neither individually nor collectively can the effect of all these -voices be expressed in words. They associate themselves with the forms -of a flora untouched by the hand of man, and the unceasing throb of -animal life. I think of them all together as a theatre of nature now -flooded with sunlight, now in the mysterious darkness of night, or with -glistening moonbeams playing over it. What impresses one so much is not -merely these individual voices, but the way in which all the myriad -voices mingle in one mighty chorus. - -If this symphony of nature is to be written down, it must be by -some master who will combine in one marvellous melody these musical -utterances that are so mighty and impressive, so full of mystery -and charm, and so often dying away in the deepest and most delicate -cadences. None of these tones should be missing, no note of them all -should be struck out. - -I should like to set in contrast with this mighty primeval harmony of -the wilderness the sounds and voices of the modern industrial world, -which gradually and unwittingly we take to be something natural. He -who would feel all its greatness and perfection must keep himself far -away for weeks and months from the screaming whistle he hears on the -railway, and the howling siren of a steamship. - -Then there is the insect world! Those flower-covered bushes have -attracted a multitude of great droning beetles. They hasten to them -in heavy flight. On the ground a host of scarabæus beetles are busy -with their special work. The ceaseless sharp chirps of the cicadas -sing their continual song. Through all its variations there goes on -this hum and buzz of the millions and millions of the lower creation. -And joined with it there ring out the thousands and thousands of songs -of the birds; the powerful voices of the great mammals bellow over -plain and bushland, through swamps and primeval forests, over dale and -hill. The concert of the feathered songsters is suddenly silent, as, -it may be, the harsh cry of the leopard resounds, or the mighty, dull, -rumbling roar of the king of the desert thunders over the earth; or -the trumpet-like cry of the elephant vibrates through the woods; or -harsh war-cries from human lips, battle-songs of primitive men, are -heard--but heedless of it all, even at these moments, day and night -resound the weak voices of all the myriads of lesser creatures of the -animal world. But he who penetrates into this wilderness must have -receptive senses to understand the full beauty of it all. For him this -harmony exists wherever the primitive animal world lives its life. - -[Illustration: - - ON THE WEST SIDE OF KILIMANJARO I FOUND A BROOK, CALLED BY THE - MASAI “MOLOGH.” ABOUT TEN MILES FROM THE WESTERN ‘NJIRI SWAMPS - IN THE DRY SEASON IT SUDDENLY DISAPPEARS AMONG THE STONES AND - REACHES THE SWAMPS BY AN UNDERGROUND CHANNEL.] - -Glorious and grand, too, is the language of Nature when she herself -raises her primeval voice, associated with no sound of life that we -can perceive. Thus it is in the hours of storm by night, when on the -plain, or in the primeval forest, or on the hill slopes, the thunder -roars round the little camp, and the crackling lightning comes down -in zig-zags. Then the rumbling thunder, the rushing downpour of the -water-floods, the roar of the storm-wind, speak with an impressiveness -that is beyond all description. Then in their hour of death the -giants of the primeval forest, the mighty, venerable trees, suddenly -themselves find a voice that strikes loudly on the ear: they groan -in the embrace of the wind, and under its fury crash thundering to -the ground. Then, when the earth and the rocks under our feet seem to -shake, when the powers of Nature are let loose in all their might, -when weak little man in his small tent, alone in the midst of all this -violence, listens to the sounds, alone and abandoned like the sailor -on a frail plank in the midst of a raging ocean, then it is that the -wilderness sings its greatest, noblest, most wonderful song. - -The traveller may yet return to the African wilderness and hear once -more the voices of the smaller denizens of the wild. The chirping of -cicadas will lull him to rest, or the buzzing of the mosquitoes forbid -it. Their chirping and buzzing will bear witness that these waves of -life roll on untroubled and uninjured by the incoming of civilisation. -But the greater voices will become rarer and rarer. Soon the trumpeting -of the elephant, the roar of the lion, the bellow of the hippopotamus -will be heard no longer. - -But to-day one can still hear all these sounds which I have described, -and which our most remote ancestors listened to all day and all night -in the ages when there still lived in Europe a fauna very similar to -that which we find dying out in East Africa. By day and night they go -forth in trees and thickets, by swamp and reed-bed. The song of birds -is accompanied by the monotonous deafening chorus of the bullfrogs. -Even in the traveller’s tent the crickets chirp, and the night-jar -buzzes and buzzes past it, and tells and whispers of the nightly life -and movement of the animal world, in its monotonous mysterious song. - -A jackal holds a conversation with the evening star. In the dark night -the deep bass of the hyena is heard; and then it laughs aloud, in a -weird, shrill, shrieking treble. This laugh, seldom uttered, but when -heard making one’s heart shudder, is not a thing to forget; on feverish -nights it plagues one still in memory. No one need jest about it who -has not himself heard it. He who has heard it understands how the Arabs -take the hyenas to be wicked men living under a spell. - -Now at last the lion raises his commanding voice, and one thing only -is wanting to the whole nocturnal spell--the noisy trampling of timid -and harassed droves of zebras and other herds of wild things. But if -the ground of the velt, hardened by the burning sun, rings once more to -the thundering hoof-beats of the zebras, the eye fails in the darkness, -and only our ears perceive by their numberless sounds the waves of -life that are surging around us; and then indeed the listener comes -to full consciousness of how rich the animal-language of the Nyíka -still is.... Nowhere else in the world of to-day do all the voices of -the wild resound more impressively, and for him who listens to this -language there is no escape from that mysterious spell--the Spell of -the Elelescho! - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - - -[1] Cf. Reichenow, _Die Vögel Afrikas_. - -[2] _El moran_ = the “young men,” _i.e._ Masai warriors. - -[3] Dr. Richard Kandt, _Caput Nili_. (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.) - -[4] I gave the skull of this specimen to the Berlin Natural History -Museum. - -[5] As late as the year 1859 the Masai warriors menaced the places -on the coast between Tanga and Mombassa! Even in the eighties the -explorers Thomson and Fischer had to submit to their demands. To that -flourishing period of the Masai belongs the origin of their view that -even if the Bantu Negro races have cattle, they must have been stolen -from the Masai, for, as say, “God gave us in earlier days all the -cattle on the face of the earth.” - -[6] According to Hollis, the singular of the word is “O-‘l-leleshwa.” - -[7] As Hollis tells us. - -[8] The pachyderms seem to feel no ill effects from the natron-bearing -water; but for men the water of the lake--at least, near my -camp--proved very unpleasant. Our drinking water was obtained from a -small marsh near the shore of the lake. - -[9] John Hanning Speke, one of the discoverers of the Victoria Nyanza, -has already remarked that the Arabs know well how to manage their -slaves, and to tame them like domestic animals; that they are able to -entrust them with business matters, and send them out of their own -dominions into foreign countries, without the slaves ever attempting to -escape from their masters. - -[10] The native elephant-hunter--the “Wakua”--use as a rule several -small iron bullets with a heavy charge of gunpowder. - -[11] Singular: en-dito = the young maiden. - -[12] Cf. also _Ostasienfahrt, Erlebnisse und Beobachtungen eines -Naturforschers_, etc., von Dr. Franz Doflein, Leipzig, 1906. - -[13] Cf. Friedlander, _Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms_. - -[14] In the market of Nice alone, according to official statistics, -from November 1, 1881, to the beginning of February 1882, 1,318,356 -little song-birds were put up for sale. - -[15] Strict regulations have lately been put into force for the -preservation of the last-named species. But, as the result of the -merciless persecution to which it has been subjected, the sea-otter is -all but extinct. - -[16] While this book is passing through the press several -correspondents have sent me an article published by Freiherr von -Schrötter-Wohnsdorf in the _Monatsheften des Allgemeinen Deutschen -Jagdschutsvereins_ of August 24th, 1906. According to this article, -during the year 1906, by ministerial orders, in four of the chief -forest districts of East Prussia, _sixty-seven head of wild elk_ were -killed off, though hitherto the few remaining living specimens of -the elk have been so carefully preserved both on public and private -estates. This thorough-going course was adopted for the sake of the -preservation of the woods from damage by the animals. That this should -have been done in the case of a disappearing species of wild animal, -hitherto so carefully preserved, and of which private individuals were -allowed to shoot only male specimens, is in open contradiction with -those views as to the necessity of protecting the rarer beauties of -nature, which are making such progress every day. It seems therefore -fitting that I should note the fact here as showing how well grounded -is my opinion that the progress of civilised culture is destructive to -those treasures of nature that have come down to us from primeval times. - -[17] The author believes that he cannot better give expression to -his views as to the preservation of the beauties of nature, than by -reproducing an article on the appearance of the stork in the Soldin -district, by Herr M. Kurth. He writes in _Die Jagd, Illustrierte -Wochenschrift für deutsche Jäger_, May 13, 1906: - -“As for the stork-shooting appointed by the District Committee of the -districts of Soldin, Landsberg and Ost-Sternberg for the period from -March 1 to June 15, it is to be remarked that the opinions held by -sportsmen as to the damage done by storks, especially in reference to -small game, are very much divided, and that not much can be put to the -reckoning of ‘Brother Longlegs’ of those misdeeds that figure heavily -in the accounts of other robbers, such as the crane, the magpie, and -all kinds of native birds of prey, and the hedgehog, marten, and -polecat. These one and all carry off nestlings, and most of them -attack young leverets also. Now if we are to go for the stork, it -should of course be done when he is to be found together in too great -numbers; and this is entirely the idea of the District Committee. The -neighbourhood of Balz bei Vietz on the Eastern Railway has always -been remarkable for the number of its storks’ nests. One finds two of -them on nearly every one of the old barns, a nest at each end of the -roof. It was so even thirty years ago, and so it is to this day. But -the proprietors of the barns never agree to the nests of the storks -being destroyed, or any opposition made to the settling there of -these trustful and friendly birds. And for what reasons precisely has -‘Friend Adebar’ settled in such numbers in this district? Well, here -the far-spreading meadows of the Warthe, with their full scope for -extended flight, offer him all the food he wants and to spare, and -here the frogs’ legs must be particularly good. It may be that now -and again a young partridge or a leveret strays into Mother Stork’s -kitchen, but that is the exception. Now if people keep strictly to -the object indicated by the District Committee, namely to bring down -the numbers of the storks where there are too many of them, one may -let it pass. But how many will out of a mere shooting-mania take aim -continually at the harmless birds!--though such are never genuine -sportsmen. How can this be checked? And it should not be forgotten -that in the first week of April our African guests are to be found in -hundreds along the Warthe brook, whence they then disperse to various -parts of the neighbouring districts. Now it is to be hoped that no one -will assume that the stork is to be found here ‘in too great numbers,’ -and that therefore ‘one may blaze away at him.’ In some years this -may possibly be the case, but if he were scared out of the district -our landscape would be the poorer by the loss of the bird’s welcome -cry, as has happened in the case of the heron and the cormorant in our -district. This last-named bird comes now only seldom, and then only one -at a time, to the Netze, near Driesen. There was a heronry formerly -near Waldowstrenk in the Neumark district, but it disappeared ten -years ago. We must hope that this will not be the fate of the stork, -whose appearance has so many links with the poetry of our childhood, -and that we shall not be deprived of his presence. What a pleasing -sight it is when ‘Brother Longlegs’ with dignified walk stalks beside -the mower at haymaking time, looking so confiding and fearless! And -what a joy it is to old and young when the first stork of the season -wheels in circles over the homestead, when for the first time he comes -down to his old nest, and announces his arrival with a joyful outcry! -Must not every sympathetic and thoughtful lover of nature be filled -with sorrow and indignation when, on the pretext of petty thefts, but -probably out of mere wanton love of destruction, attempts are made -to drive out of our country this friendly bird, which is so pleasing -an ornament of the landscape? It would really be a crime against the -out-door beauty of our native land, and against nature all around us, -if out of narrow-minded selfishness we were to extirpate the stork, as -happened in recent times to that most splendidly coloured of our birds, -the kingfisher, on mere suspicion of its being a ‘great destroyer’ of -fish. Love of nature, joy in nature, is a valuable element in German -feeling, and therefore, dear fellow sportsman, let us maintain our good -character!” - -[18] We are indebted to the English hunters of those days for all the -information we possess as to the wild life of South Africa at that -time. If there had not been amongst them men who knew also how to -handle the pen, we should have been almost entirely without trustworthy -information as to that period. I may take this opportunity of saying a -word for the English “record-making sportsman,” who is not unfrequently -the subject of false and unfounded invectives, which I can only -describe as mostly full of fanciful fables. Other lands, other ways, -and there are black sheep in every nation. In any case we may take -English ideals of sport as our example, and also the regulations drawn -up by English authorities for the protection of the animal world. - -[19] In a review of my book _With Flashlight and Rifle_ (German -edition). - -[20] Sir William Cornwallis Harris must be considered as a quite -trustworthy authority. His works are indeed the most complete -first-hand evidence we have as to the state of the fauna of South -Africa at the time. - -[21] On the part of the Government and the local authorities everything -that is possible is being done to settle this difficulty. But -unfortunately their efforts seem to have little success. - -[22] Cf. my book _With Flashlight and Rifle_, p. 736, where a statement -by Professor P. Matschie, the Custodian of the Royal Zoological Museum -at Berlin, will be found, bearing out the truth of what is here -remarked. - -[23] During the last few years handsome groups have also been set up in -the museums of other places, such as Munich, Stuttgart, and Carlsruhe. - -[24] The ibex, which was once also common in Germany, has been found by -Dr. G. Merzbacher in the central Tian-Shan region in the form of _Ibex -sibirica merzbacheri_: and two years ago by G. Leisewitz in such great -numbers that the appearance of flocks of hundreds of them was a daily -experience. - -[25] The Hudson Bay Company put on the market in the year 1891 1,358 -skins of the musk ox (_Ovibos moschatus_), but only 271 in the year -1901. In the year 1878 the same company sold 102,715 skins of the -Canadian beaver, but only 44,200 in the year 1892. A striking example -of the results of excessive exploitation of hunting grounds! - -[26] Besides other sources, I take these data from an interesting -article by C. Brock, in the periodical _Die Jagd_. This writer -estimates the area devoted to the chase in the German Empire at -54,000,000 hectares; the number of shots fired in a year at game at -16,000,000, besides some 6,000,000 shots fired at animals that are not -game. He rightly notes that for the individual the whole business of -sport is a losing or non-productive occupation, but one of productive -value for the households of the country folk, as about 130,000,000 -marks are annually spent upon it. - -[27] Professor Haberer lately found strychnine in use in various ways -in many places in Eastern Asia. - -[28] See, amongst other writings of his, _Outdoor Pastimes_, by -Theodore Roosevelt. - -[29] On the destruction of the turtle-dove (_Turtur turtur_, L.) -during its migration to Greece, see Otmar Reiser, Curator of the -National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, _Materialen zu einer Ornis -Balcanica_. At Syra one sportsman shoots as many as a hundred in a day; -at Paxos, according to the Grand Duke Ludwig Salvator, they are killed -in heaps. The lands of the Strophades Islands are completely equipped -with huge falling snares and shooting-stands for the systematic -massacre of the “Trigones.” Everywhere in Greece when the cry of -“Trigones!” is heard, fire is opened upon the newcomers. - -[30] Expeditions in uninhabited districts have sometimes been entirely -supplied by shooting wild animals. - -[31] Cf. Schlobach, _Deutsch-Ostafrikan_. Zeitg. 1 Beiblatt, 10 -Februar, 1906. - -[32] Houston Stuart Chamberlain, _Immanuel Kant_. - -[33] According to the latest observations of Professor Yngwe Sjöstedt -these nut-galls are inhabited by three different species of ants. - -[34] Cf. also Prof. Yngwe Sjöstedt on the destruction of wild animals -by the Boers in the Kilimanjaro district, in the _Täglichen Rundschau_, -Berlin, 1906. Professor Sjöstedt travelled through these districts for -the purpose of making a collection of their fauna for the Copenhagen -Museum, and visited the Merker Lakes with a view to securing a -hippopotamus. - -[35] The destruction of wild animals by the Boers in the Kilimanjaro -district was in every way opposed by the central and local authorities, -but failing the possibility of strict control it does not seem to have -been possible to make the regulations effective. Prof. Sjöstedt found -the Boers in no way settled down, but roving about the country in -pursuit of the wild animals. - -[36] It appears that the explorer completed some of these sketches -after his return with the help of stuffed specimens, but he drew others -entirely from nature on the African velt. - -[37] So too, for example, Wissmann never killed a lion. This is -sufficient proof of the difficulty of observing animal life. The author -may take this opportunity of calling attention to the remarkable work -of this departed explorer, _In den Wildnissen Afrikas_, and thinks -himself fortunate in the possession of a letter from his hand approving -of his method of observing animals. This letter expresses in words -that go to the heart the love for and understanding of the beauty of -the African fauna that characterised this successful and distinguished -explorer. - -[38] Take, for instance, his description of the Ugalla River in a -letter to his grandfather, General von Meyerinck, in his work _Von -Sansibar zum Tanjanjika_ (published by Hermann Schalow, Leipzig, 1888). - -[39] Unfortunately such ridiculous and ugly names as gemsbock, -hartebeest, wildebeest, etc., have gradually come into general use. - -[40] _Pauw_ is Dutch for _peacock_. - -[41] Cf. Prof. P. Matschie, _Die Säugetiere Deutsch-Ostafrikas_ (“The -Mammalia of German East Africa”), p. 96, and my work _With Flashlight -and Rifle_. - -[42] From the Cameroon district in West Africa Professor Yngwe Sjöstedt -writes to me also of a nearly related species of cuckoo that has much -the same cry. - -[43] Franz Hermann Meissner in his work, _Arnold Böcklin_, says “I have -often found that I had to consider these pictures with the blue eyes of -an old Ostrogoth seer of primitive days.” And I am of opinion that in -order to take full delight in the charm of the tropics one must look on -them with _northern_ eyes. - -[44] Cf. Professor Dr. A. Reichenow, _Die Vögel Afrikas_. - - -[Transcriber’s Note: - -Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Wildest Africa, vol 1 (of 2), by -Carl Georg Schillings - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN WILDEST AFRICA, VOL 1 (OF 2) *** - -***** This file should be named 54922-0.txt or 54922-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/9/2/54922/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Kim, Wayne Hammond and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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