BIOLOGY UBRAK/ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS A SERIES OF GEOGRAPHICAL AND OTHER ESSAYS ILLUSTRATIVE OF LIFE IN A WILD COUNTRY TOGETHER WITH EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS CULLED FROM THE GREAT BOOK OF NATURE IN MANY LANDS BY JOHN MADDEN M IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. Ill LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LTD. STATIONERS HALL COURT 1897 (All rights reserved) CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME CHAPTER XIII. THE GREAT TERRESTRIAL RESERVOIR THE OCEAN, AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE MIGHTY DEEP . . . Pages I — 43 XIV. GREAT HERDS OF GAME. . „ 44 — 87 XV. FOREST AND JUNGLE SHOOTING „ 88—189 XVI. HUNTING AND STALKING ON PLAINS „ 190 — 309 XVII. WILDFOWL AND WILDFOWL SHOOTING „ 310 — 428 XVIII. FISHING „ 429 — 508 INDEX 509-553 M374396 The Wilderness and Its Tenants. CHAPTER XIII. THE GREAT TERRESTRIAL RESERVOIR OR THE OCEAN, AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE MIGHTY DEEP. From whence do the Waters of the Ocean proceed? The Great Atmospheric Ocean. Its Billows and Storms. Chemical Affinity be- tween Air and Water. Chemical Characters of Water. Chemical Trans- formations of Matter. The Waters of the Ocean precipitated from the Atmosphere. The Conversion of Vapour into Water. The Conversion of Water into Vapour. The Water-bearing Capacity of the Winds. Atmospheric Vapour on High Mountains. Water and Electrical Pheno- mena. The Area of Water upon the Globe. The Ocean one Continuous Liquid Expanse. Geological Changes in the Ancient Sea. Unchangeable Nature of the Ocean in General. The Great Deeps. Area and Depth of the Abyssal Region. Result of Deep Sqa Soundings. Greatest Recorded Depths. Life at Great Depths. No Depth Limit to Life in the Ocean. Deep Sea Fish. Results obtained by Dredging on Board H.M.S. Challenger. Reasonings from Analogy point to the Existence of Fish everywhere throughout the Ocean. No Absolutely Barren Regions in Nature. Conditions of Life at Great Depths. The Eyes of Deep Sea Fish. Their Phosphorescence. Fish brought up from Great Depths always Dead. The Pressure of Water at 2500 Fathoms. Effects of Pressure on the Wood of Trawl Beams. Temperature of the Abyssal Depths. Temperatures fall with the Depth. The Freezing- point of Sea Water. Ocean Circulation of Water caused by Variations of Temperature. Evaporation. Oceanic Currents. The Sun's Heat the Cause of every Motion. The Astronomer Herschel upon Heat as a Mode of Motion. Professor Tyndall on the Same. The Problem of a General Oceanic Circulation of Water. The Gulf Stream. Gigantic Pro- portions of "Ocean Rivers." Li'eutenant Maury, u.s.N., on the Gulf Stream. The Tremendous Power of Running Water. The Still Cushion of Water on the Ocean Floor. The Harvests of the Sea : Lieutenant Maury upon. Nature of the Bottom in the great Deeps. Globigerina Ooze. Its Composition. Minute Shells at Enormous Depths. Lieutenant Maury on the Perfect Repose of Water on the Ocean Floor. The Building up of the Earth. The Formation of White Chalk. The Chalk Form- VOL. III. I 2 THE OCEAN. atitms in Europe. Enormous Thickness of Cretaceous Rocks. Their Deposit by Still Water. Enormous Periods of Geological Time this Occupied. Slowness with which the Deposit of Water Accumulates. Soft Mud under Pressure. Great Seaweeds of the Southern Ocean. The Macrocystis Pyrifera. Sir Joseph Hooker upon Giant Seaweeds. Seaweeds nearly 1000 Feet Long. Their Value to Mariners as Indicating Sunken Rocks. Charles Darwin on Great Seaweeds as Natural Breakwaters. Submarine Forests. Fish and Animal Life in Banks of Great Seaweeds. Wonders of the Vegetable Creation. Coral Reefs. Their Enormous Size and Depth. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Atolls. The " Low " Archipelago. Enormous Area enclosed by it. Charles Darwin on the Deep Channels inside the Reefs. Wonders of Submarine Life. Coral-Polypes. A South-Sea Island Scene of Restful Beauty. The Great Ocean Rollers. The In- finitely Great and the Infinitely Small. The Ocean a Noble Study. Sea Voyages. Voyages by Invalids. Sea Sickness. The Author's Experience of Sea-sick Fellow- Passengers. The Briton and the Foreigner as Natural Seamen. Management of Sea-sick Friends. The Sailor's "Land Legs." Curious Phenomenon. The Influence of Habit on the Nervous System. Hints as to Comfort at Sea. Fine Weather Voyages. Voyages to the Cape. To Australia via the Canal. To Australia by Long Sea via the Cape. Winds of the Great Southern Ocean. Their Penetrating Nature. Selecting Cabins for Voyages. The Author's Experience on this Point. " Catching Cold " on entering the Hot Weather. A Tropical Night at Sea. Life on Board a Modern First- class Steamer. A Floating Hotel. The Study of the Star-lit Heavens at Sea recommended to Travellers. " All the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea is not full ; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." Ecclesiastes i., 7. THE traveller in the course of his wanderings to and fro over the surface of the earth generally finds that at the end of his career no inconsiderable proportion of his time, and a great part of the mileage of his journeyings, has been passed as an ocean-borne passenger. This is specially true of the British traveller going forth from his island home. This work would therefore appear singularly incom- plete if that greatest of all wildernesses, the wilderness of waters, with all its living wonders, were passed over in silence; especially when we remember that THE GREAT ATMOSPHERIC OCEAN. 3 Great Britain owes her pre-eminence among nations to her supremacy upon the seas. This we say in no captious spirit, or with the least desire to stir up the jealousies of foreigners: many of whom, from their continental position, rely upon their army, and not upon their navy, as we do, as their first line of defence. With Great Britain it must ever be otherwise: her principal reliance must of necessity always be placed upon her navy ; her army merely forms her second line of defence at home: but also of course constitutes the guarantee of order in India and in the internal parts of her Colonial Empire and the guardian of her foreign interests by land. We shall perhaps be pardoned if at the very outset of this chapter we attempt to face the great question of the source from whence the waters of the ocean proceed, and again venture to invite attention to a fact which, it may be, few of us actually realize ; namely that in addition to the visible ocean whose waters encircle our coasts, there is also another, far greater and mightier ocean in which the earth itself is floating, in the realms of infinite space. We refer to the invi- sible atmospheric ocean, upon whose floor man himself, like some species of deep-sea fauna as it were, lives and moves and has his being. While at an as yet undetermined altitude above his head, the stupendous billows of this great aerial ocean are ceaselessly rolling like those of the terrestrial sea, bearing at the same time within their currents vast masses of water in the form of invisible vapour ; which, so far as we know, replenish and maintain the actual existence of our Great Terrestrial Reservoir — the Sea. * * According to the Encyclopedia Britannica something like -j\ of 4 THE CHEMISTRY OF WATER. The chemical affinity between these two elements- air and water (if we may, for the sake of convenience, be permitted to call them so) concerning wrhich we desire to say a word in passing, is also not a little remarkable. Atmospheric air, as most of us are aware, is merely a mechanical admixture of nitrogen and oxygen gases, in the proportion of about four of the former to one of the latter, by volume (among chemists this is usually expressed by the symbol o + N±) ; while water is formed by the chemical combination of oxygen and hydrogen, in the proportion of two volumes of hydrogen to one of oxygen (the symbol therefore by which it is now expressed is H2O). The mixture, however, of hydrogen and oxygen gases does not form water; but upon the explosion or combustion of pure hydrogen gas in the air, the product is water, through the consequent instantaneous combination of the oxygen of the atmosphere with the hydrogen; the nitrogen contained in so much of the air as is thus "consumed," or converted into water, being given off in the form of pure nitrogen gas. We have allowed the word " consumed " to stand (as above) with a view to recall that great maxim (which should always be present to our minds when dealing with questions of chemistry, or other natural phenomena) —that though we may for convenience sake speak of a thing as ostensibly " consumed " (as for instance in the case of a candle that is burnt out), yet nothing is in reality consumed or destroyed in Nature: but the whole of the water falling upon the earth, is returned directly to the ocean: the remaining -^ falling upon the land (Encycl. Brit., 9th edit., Vol. xxiv., p. 398 — [Art. "Water"]). THE SOURCES OF THE SEA. 5 merely transformed and reorganized into a new shape : one of the most simple and common examples of such a change being shown in the formation of water by combustion, as above indicated ; whereas the candle, though an identical, is of course a far less obvious illustration, because in this case practically nothing exists, in visible form, to tell us of the change that has taken place ; though in fact every atom that once was candle still exists in a new and different condition. We trust that we shall be pardoned for embarking in these technicalities, which at first sight may perhaps appear to be far removed from anything con- nected with our subject, the ocean; but in reality the foregoing details involve questions of supreme and immeasurable importance to every living thing existing upon earth. It is our desire therefore, for the moment, to present the existence of the terrestrial ocean, as entirely subsidiary to that far greater though invisible atmospheric ocean, by which the earth is enveloped. From whence does the water in the sea proceed? — It is from the atmosphere. It may be rejoined that the vapour in the atmosphere was itself drawn from the ocean, from which continuous streams of vapour are always ascending. This is indisputable, and furnishes one of the most beautiful instances of the perpetual, self-regulating power by which the operations of Nature are carried on, uninterruptedly, throughout the ages. As a weaver's shuttle flies to and fro across the loom, so this great process of conversion of water into vapour, and of vapour back again into water, goes on for ever. But the recognition of this truth does not ex- plain how far these processes balance each other; nor does 6 AN OCEAN FALLEN FROM THE SKIES. it in the least explain how the waters of the ocean were first evolved out of nothing. That they must originally have come from the atmosphere, in some form, there does not seem much room to doubt. The condition of the older rocks shows beyond question that they were subjected to the action of intense heat, and many of them probably assumed their present position in a more or less molten condition. It must have been long after this that the waters of the ocean flowed into the great hollow of the Abyssal Region, which the Scripture has more than once likened to " the hollow of the Creator's hand;" and that being so, it is more than probable that the same process which formed these waters (most likely that of the chemical combination of gases) is still operating, though possibly in a lesser degree. How much of the terrestrial rainfall may be due to such cause it is of course impossible to tell, nor shall we presume to hazard even a guess respecting that of which we know abso- lutely nothing. What we desire to contend for is that from what- soever source they may proceed, the supplies of water which descend from the skies to nourish the dry land, and also to maintain the sea at its present level, do undoubtedly come from the atmosphere. If that one item, the watery vapour of the atmosphere, was to become dispersed into the realms of everlasting space, instead of being condensed and returned to the earth again in the form of rain, let us ask — What would be the result? Why, that every form of life upon the land would perish through drought; the streams and the rivers would cease to flow, and finally the ocean itself would become a dry plain of saline WATER-BEARING POWER OF WINDS. 7 matter. It may be added, that such is supposed to be very much the condition of the moon at present. The terrestrial ocean is therefore according to our view altogether dependent for its continued existence upon the atmosphere. We have already referred to the question of the water-bearing capacity of the winds in a previous chapter, * but perhaps it may be convenient here just to mention the infinitesimal proportion which the vapour of water contained in the air bears to the volume of the whole atmosphere; for it is something so small as to seem almost inappreciable in comparison. In the volumetric analysis of air, Bloxam considers that on an average the proportion of aqueous vapour is about 1.4 per cent, f This will of course be in air taken at the earth's surface; but it must be borne in mind that the amount of watery vapour rapidly diminishes as we ascend into the atmosphere; this is conclusively shown by the condition of air at great elevations on mountain ranges, which is always found to be in an exceedingly dry state ; indeed it has been asserted on what is generally held to be good authority, that very little of the vapour of the atmosphere passes much above the tops of the higher Himalayan peaks. § We think it right however to say on this head, that while we are hardly disposed to go altogether so far as that, still that there is evidence enough to show that the main volume of this vapour is confined to the lowest stratum of the atmosphere. The intense cold of the higher atmosphere is in fact, of itself prima facie * See Vol. i., Chapter iv., on "Climates and Temperatures." j Chemistry Inorganic and Organic, by Chas. L. Bloxam, 7th edit., p. 60, 1890. Edited by J. M. Thomson and A. G. Bloxam. § Encycl. Brit., gth edit., Vol xi, p. 129 (Article "Himalayas"). ICE CRYSTALS AT GREAT ALTITUDES. sufficient to precipitate vapour of water ascending there, under any conditions at present known to us: but there may be other conditions unknown to us, which may largely prevail to modify these results: such for instance as the retention of vapour in a state of intense refrigeration in the form of exceedingly minute crystals of ice, possibly in the condition of the finest films, or dust. The presumption that this would gradually settle down towards the earth, on account of its superior specific gravity over air, is as may be ; that would greatly depend upon the force and the condition and chemical composition of the higher currents in the great unknown realms of space beyond our ken. But the fact that fine ice crystals do exist in large quantities in the higher atmosphere, we hold to be certain, from the fact that showers of such atoms have been seen to fall in our own country, and are reported on the authority of intelligent arctic explorers to be always falling, during still weather, in the great cold of the polar winters. The result of experiments in one case showed that the quantity thus falling in only twelve hours, represented nine tons per square mile.* There is the further fact of heavy snowstorms occurring at intervals throughout the polar winter, which shows that notwithstanding the intense cold always existing the air has still remained surcharged with vapour. Before we pass on to other matters, we desire in connection with this question to draw attention to the enormous quantities of water which are known occasionally to be held in suspension in the atmosphere, as evidenced by the instances of the tremendous annual rainfalls which have been recorded in Burma, in Brazil, and in many * See The Shores of the Polar Sea, by Dr. E. L. Moss, M.D., 1878, p. 44- ATMOSPHERIC AQUEOUS VAPOUR. 9 other parts of the world ; as well as the occurrence of these extraordinary waterspouts, so common in America and South Africa, when incredible volumes of water fall in the course of a few hours, or even minutes, so that at times they create fearful floods, which sweep everything before them. * During our late visit to the interior of South Africa, quite a number of these rain- bursts were reported as occurring in different parts of the country within a few days of each other, and in some instances considerable damage was done : roads, loaded waggons, etc., being swept away completely. Now the existence of all this water in some form of atmospheric vapour presupposes, as we conceive, a much greater amount being held in suspension by the air than is indicated by i or 2 per cent, of vapour, in the lowest stratum of say the first 10,000 feet above the earth ; while a second stratum of similar magnitude, reaching to the altitude of 20,000 feet, will take us up very considerably above the limits of eternal snows, even upon the equator : where presumably (according to our present lights) the intensity of the constant cold will have wrung the air dry of all, or nearly all its moisture. If this be so, it follows that there must be other sources of water-supply existing in the atmo- sphere, in some form perhaps entirely unknown to us, which are capable of supplying the difference between the known and the unknown mediums for replenishing the terrestrial waters. For example, in the highly rarefied atmosphere known to exist at great elevations, there might be a large ad- mixture of hydrogen gas, which from its extreme * See Vol. i., Chapter iv. on " Climates and Temperatures," where several such instances are cited. TO ELECTRIC PHENOMENA AND RAIN. lightness would probably ascend automatically from the earth, as the result of chemical decomposition continu- ally in operation there ; and it is conceivable that great electrical disturbances, indicated by the tremendous ex- plosions whose echoes occasionally reach our ears on earth in the form of thunder, might cause the chemical formation of large quantities of water. We mention this as only one of the causes which might account for the sudden downfall of the vast supplies of water, which are seen at times to fall from the sky; for as we know, these torrential rains are al- most always accompanied by electrical phenomena of great intensity. We must however ask pardon of our readers for thus leading them into the realms of theoretical specu- lation ; for we need hardly say that all these things are merely matters of conjecture, and are only put forward as such. When there are so many things unknown to us here on earth which are always open to our in- spection: how shall we pretend to have knowledge about the things far removed from earth, in the eternal expanse of heaven ? Passing however from this survey of the invisible at- mospheric ocean to that of the visible ocean, whose great waters it supplies, we find that they cover an area estimated to amount to about three fourths of the whole surface of the terrestrial globe ; whose water surface, to speak with somewhat greater accuracy, is calculated at about 144,712,000 square miles. * Now as regards this vast expanse of ocean, though geographers may, as a matter of convenience, assign local names upon their maps to certain portions of it, * Encycl. Brit., Qth edit., Vol. x., p. 221 (Article "Geognosy"). THE PRIMEVAL SEA. I I still we must remember that all parts of its waters are more or less intimately connected with each other, and therefore as a matter of scientific fact it must be regarded as but a single sea, which encircles the earth in one continuous liquid expanse, bathing with its waves the coast of every country, from the torrid regions of the equatorial zone, to the icy shores of the two op- posite poles.* We have however good reasons to know that the present limits of this ocean have undergone many and great changes in the remote ages of the primeval world; this, geologists tell us, is conclusively proved by the existence of marine shells and fossil sea fish, in the rocks, clays, etc., found high above the present sea-level. This would be too large and intricate a question to enter upon here (moreover we have ventured to briefly touch this subject elsewhere in these pages). It may however be stated that though land has been upheaved by repeated convulsions, during the course of ages, from the beds of the shallower seas, in some places ; and though land has sunk beneath the waves in others ; still it is now generally accepted, as a mat- ter of scientific truth, that water has always during the vast period since life first existed upon our earth, filled what is technically known as the " Abyssal Region" of the ocean — that is to say the great deeps— during an immense period of geological time, f We therefore have before us this undoubted fact, that alone almost among every other feature upon the * La Terre et les Mers, par Louis Figuier. j See " General Conclusions as to Scientific Results obtained by the Challenger Expedition " — Vol. i., p. 49 of the Introduction to the Scien- tific Reports, prepared under the superintendence of Sir C. Wyviile Thomson, F.R.S. 12 THE CHANGELESS OCEAN. surface of the terrestrial globe, the ocean still exists as it did in that immense eternity; which there can be no doubt, is as much the attribute of the past, as we believe it will be of the ages yet to come. And Lord Byron (though possibly unconsciously) has in fact but finely expressed a great scientific truth, in alluding to the ocean in those remarkable and beautifully poetic lines, when he exclaims: " Unchangeable in thy wild waves' play, Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow, Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now." Unfortunately our knowledge of these great deeps is necessarily of the slightest. The great expense and difficulty in carrying out scientific investigations in water, at these enormous depths, have hitherto proved an insuperable bar to anything being attempted in this respect, except by a few regularly organized scientific expeditions, specially fitted out for this purpose by the principal naval powrers. One of the last and most successful of these was the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger under Captain Sir George Nares, R.N., which set out in 1873 and returned in 1876. Indeed there can be no doubt that— "the largest addition in recent years to our knowledge of the earth, has been made in the ocean; notably by the different expeditions and cruises equipped for the purpose by the British Government." f Many interesting and most important facts have thus been ascertained concerning the great deeps, and among * Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto iv., Stanza 182. f Encycl. Brit., gth edit., Vol. x., p. 211 (Article "Geognosy"). THE ABYSSAL REGION OF THE SEA. 13 other things it has enabled some idea to be formed as to the area of this region (now known as " The Abyssal Region " of the ocean), which is estimated at " about one hundred millions of square miles. " It is also now ascertained that this enormous area, consider- ably exceeding the whole surface of the terrestrial globe in extent, lies at a mean " depth of 2500 fathoms beneath the surface of the sea. " * Of course it will be understood, that when 2500 fathoms or nearly three statute miles (2640 fathoms = 3 miles statute measure) is given as the average depth of this great region, its greatest depths are very much greater still. The deepest sounding obtained by the Challenger expedition in the Atlantic Ocean, " being one taken about 100 miles north from the island of St. Thomas, which was 3875 fathoms" (or 4 miles 710 yards) f in other words 23,250 feet, or as near as possible the height of the summit of the Aconcagua in Chili, the highest mountain on the continent of America. This great depth was however eclipsed by the results obtained in the Pacific Ocean, where, "in 1875 when sounding the channel between the Carolines and the Ladrones islands, the Challenger met with the deepest water of the cruise, 4475 fathoms" (or upwards of 4^- miles) " and this is the greatest depth from which a specimen of the bottom has hitherto been obtained. " § * See page 46 of the Introduction to the Report on the Scientific Reszdts of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger, Vol. i., 1880, Edited by Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., Regius Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh University. f In Lat. 19° 41' o'' N., Lo'ng. 65° 7' o" W. Soundings N° 72., Ibid., Vol. i., p. 52. § EncycL Brit., gth edit., Vol. xviii., p. 121 (Article " Pacific Ocean "). N.B. — This sounding represents a depth of 26,850 feet, or 5 miles 150 yards; this however is still inferior to the elevation of some of the 14 THE DEEPEST SOUNDINGS. The same authority further states that — "Near the entrance to the Sea of Ochotsk the United States ship Tuscarora found depths of over 4600 fathoms " (== 27,600 feet, this was off the north coast of Japan) — and for so far this seems to be the deepest point a line has ever sounded, assuming that it is correctly recorded, and is as near as possible 5^ statute miles. And now arises a question, concerning which scien- tific men are still divided in opinion, namely — Do living creatures exist at these enormous depths? Some think that it would be impossible for life to exist under such conditions, in consequence of the tremendous pressure of the water at such great depths. The Scientific Report of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger prepared under the superintendence of Sir C. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh, however, speaks with no uncertain sound on this point, and says — "The most prominent and remarkable biological result of the recent investigations, is the final establishment of the fact, that the distribution of living beings has no depth limit, but that animals of all invertebrate classes, and probably fishes also, exist on the whole floor of the ocean." * The Encyclopedia Britannica, another highly scientific authority, however, while stating the results obtained by the Challenger Expedition, seems to decline to commit itself to any decided opinion on this point, and says- Himalayan peaks above sea-level — that of Kinchinjanga, 28,156 feet, seen from Darjeeling at a distance of 45 miles, is an instance in point; and this as we know is exceeded by not far short of 1000 feet, by Mount Everest, at present set down at 29,002 feet; and it may be there are other peaks in Nepaul of still greater height. * See page 33 of Introduction to the Scientific Report, Vol i., 1880. DEEP-SEA FISH. 15 * The greatest depth hitherto reached by a dredge in which fish were enclosed in 2900 fathoms." It seems however doubtful whether this fish was caught at the bottom, or enclosed by the dredge in its ascent, because the fish was one known to be found at moderate depths, but — "the next greatest depth, 2650 fathoms, must be accepted as one at which fishes do undoubtedly live. The fish obtained from this depth in the Atlantic (Bathyophis Ferox] showing by its whole habit that it is a form living on the bottom of the ocean." * It may appear presumptuous for anyone to venture to lay down the law on so doubtful a point, but we humbly conceive that, reasoning from analogy, it would certainly appear probable, that fish do, as a matter of fact, exist everywhere, even in the profoundest depths of the ocean. Experience shows that the conclusions adduced from reasoning by analogy often lead to won- derfully accurate results; the argument in this case of course being that — " Whereas the Creator has peopled every known region with various forms of life, and has specially adapted each to its own peculiar condi- tions of existence— that therefore He has in like man- ner peopled the immense profundity of the ocean floor with its special forms of fish-life also." And the author is free to confess that he cannot resist the con- clusion that further investigations will undoubtedly one day prove that fish exist everywhere throughout the ocean. The results of the Challenger Expedition, though some may hold that they do not, as yet, conclusively establish the truth of this theory, go at least a long way towards it. It seems to be one of the weaknesses of human * Encycl. Brit., gth edit., Vol. xii., p. 685 (Art. "Ichthyology "». 1 6 ORGANIC LIFE IN THE OCEAN. nature, that it appears unable to fully eliminate the idea that because it would be impossible for any beings personally known to ourselves to exist under certain conditions, that therefore it is improbable that others, differently constituted, could do so. This is a very short-sighted view. Our inference, as we respectfully suggest, ought on the contrary rather to be, that The Great Creator, who has filled all regions familiar to our cognizance with infinite numbers and varieties of living and beautiful creatures, is therefore not likely to have left far greater regions barren, and void of equally wondrous, though perhaps different forms of life. To doubt that this is so, is surely to unwittingly set bounds to the creative power of Omnipotence ; and besides, scientific analogy, we venture to think, tends all the other way — for whenever, and wherever fresh discoveries are made re- specting regions previously unknown, invariably and with- out exception they are found replete with new and here- tofore unnoticed living organisms. It is so, whether we treat of the atmosphere above us, or of the depths of the earth beneath us. A good instance, if the reader will kindly pardon us for suggesting it, of the fallacy of this narrow-minded reasoning, that because a matter appears to be impossible, that therefore it must be so in fact, may be briefly illustrated thus: If we did not know that life existed in the sea, and a scientific com- mission was appointed to report upon its possibility, they would be obliged, in the absence of evidence of the existence of marine life there, to report that no land animal known to ourselves could exist there, and that life thus appeared to be impossible beneath the ocean waves. This however brings us face to face with the ques- DEEP-SEA LIFE. 17 tion — Under what conditions do these inhabitants of the mighty deep exist? Of course there are those whose lives are passed near the surface, which man can readily observe; but it is of the inhabitants of the great deeps that we desire here to speak, and of the pressure which they must sustain at such depths. The introduction to the Report of the Challenger Expedition has some striking observations on this head, as follows: "So far as we can judge direct sunlight does not pene- trate to great depths, and consequently in deep-sea animals the eyes are often absent, or are atrophied by disuse. In some cases at moderate depths, where a certain amount of light may still be supposed to penetrate, the eyes are large and clear, exaggerated apparently, to catch its last feeble rays. Many deep-sea animals are slightly and some vividly phosphorescent." * It may be that this phosphorescence is a wonderful provision of Nature, to enable these creatures to use their own light to illuminate their path through these regions of eternal darkness. Unfortunately " animals from great depths were always brought up dead" — so that there was no opportunity of studying their ap- pearance and movements wrhile living. Death, and the great change of conditions at the surface, may have greatly modified the intensity of their phosphorescence while alive at great depths. There can be little doubt that the cause of death was the removal of pressure. That tremendous pressure, of which we can form no conception, is therefore to them the prime necessity of their existence. * Report of H.M.S. Challenger's Scientific Expedition, 1880, Vol. i., p. 48 of Introduction. VOL. III. 2 1 8 PRESSURE OF WATER AT GREAT DEPTHS. Some idea of what that represents may be gathered from the description given of it by the same authority : " The conditions of pressure at great depths are extra- ordinary. Pressure increases at the rate of one ton on the square inch for each 1000 fathoms of increasing depth ; so that the inhabitants on the floor of the ocean, at its aver- age depth of about 2500 fathoms, sustain a pressure of two and a half tons on each square inch of surface, compared with 14 Ibs. of atmospheric pressure sustained by the inhabi- tants of the upper earth." * Therefore the inhabitants of. the mighty deep continually sustain a pressure 400 times greater than we do. Some curious results caused by the pressure of the water upon the wooden portions of the trawl used on board the Challenger for bringing up specimens from great depths, are worth recording. It seems they found the trawl gave better results than the dredge, in very deep water, where there was a smooth bottom free from rocks; and the report states that: " In very extreme depths, say between 3000 and 4000 fathoms, the enormous pressure affects the wood of the beam. On one occasion when a pine beam was used, the wood was compressed till the knots stood out one tenth of an inch beyond the general surface, and on another the beam was crushed as if it had been passed between two rollers." f Nevertheless, as we see, various specimens of living animals are so organized as to find these peculiar conditions not only supportable, but even necessary to their very existence. * Report of H.M.S. Challenger's Scientific Expedition, 1880, Vol. i., page 41 of Introduction. •j* Ibid., pp. 9 and IO of Introduction. DEEP-SEA BOTTOM TEMPERATURES. 19 Their existence is also passed, not only in a region of probable perpetual darkness, but also in one certainly of very great permanent cold: the temperature of the water there never rising much above the freezing point of fresh water on the upper earth. Again quoting from the Report of the Challenger Expedition we find that — " the normal temperature of this region is from 32° to 40° Fahr." * With respect to this important point as to the temper- ature of the great deeps, the Encyclopedia Britannic a makes the following observations: " Even in the equatorial parts of the Atlantic and Paci- fic oceans, though the upper layers of the water partake in the heat of the intertropical latitudes, a temperature of 40° is found within 300 fathoms of the surface; while at the bottom, at depths of 2500 or 3000 fathoms, the temperature (32.4° to 33° Fahr.) is very little above that of the freezing point of fresh water. It has been proved that the bottom temperature of every ocean in free communication with the poles, has a temperature little different from that of the water in polar latitudes. Between Scotland and the Faroe Islands a sounding was obtained giving a temperature of 29.6° or 2.4° below the freezing point of fresh water. These ob- servations warrant the conclusion, that a vast system of circulation takes place in the ocean. The heavy, cold, polar water creeps slowly towards the equator, under the upper, lighter water, which moves away towards the poles." f Perhaps it is hardly necessary to remind the reader of the well-known facts that both with respect to air and water, a cold current is always heavier than a heated one, and also that " 28° Fahr. is the temperature average sea water invariably assumes during the process * Report of H.M.S. Challenger's Expedition, 1880, Vol. i., p. 48. f Encycl. Brit., Qth edit., 1877, Vol. x., p. 211 (Art. "Geography"). 20 OCEANIC CIRCULATION OF WATER. of congelation. De Haven invariably found the temper- ature of sea water under the ice 28° Fahr." in the arctic regions. * The close analogy between many of the conditions of the atmospheric and aquatic oceans has been already referred to. And in no respect is it more striking than in the wonderful system of circulation, caused by variations of temperature: which in the atmosphere creates the winds, and in the water the great ocean currents; for it is now a matter of ascertained fact that to the heat of the sun, as its originating source, may be traced almost every movement, and every meteorological change, which takes place throughout the world, whether in the ocean or upon the terrestrial surface of the earth, or in the atmosphere above it. f Among the many wonderful and important effects produced by heat upon the ocean, is the turning of immense masses of sea water into invisible aqueous vapour, which is conveyed all over the world by the winds, and thus, becoming purified from its saline particles, is made at length to fall in the form of rain to fertilize the soil, and by its vivifying influence caus- ing every form of animal and vegetable life to live and flourish. Also portions of its surplus, after con- ferring all these numerous blessings upon the inhabitants of the land, sink into the ground at the higher eleva- tions, and so produce the watersprings which issue forth from the living rock at the lower levels, for the sustenance of man and animals; and finally, having * The Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lietenant Maury, U.S.N., 1877, i6th edit., p. 282. j See Heat a Mode of Motion, by Professor Tyndall, ;th edit.,. P- 478. PHENOMENA OF OCEANIC CIRCULATION. 21 accomplished every part of its beneficent mission on land, the remainder pours down again in the form of great rivers, to mingle with the ocean from whence it originally came. Such is a brief outline of some of the principal phenomena of the great circulation of water by the atmospheric or gaseous ocean overhead, which we have considered more minutely elsewhere in these pages.* Turning now to that of the liquid expanse of the mighty deep we find that the evaporation of water upon this gigantic scale, the alteration of its specific gravity at the surface of the ocean, and its ex- pansion by means of heat, produce there a vacuum, which of course has to be filled by the heavier and colder water from below: and in this way, as is generally Relieved, a movement has gradually been communi- cated to the whole body of water throughout the ocean ; the dense cold water, as has been already • pointed out, creeping down along the bottom from both the polar regions in the direction of the equator, thus accounting for the icy chill of the water observed at great depths ; and finally these opposite streams, meeting in the equatorial region, cause an upcast stream of cold water to be continually rising there, to supply the void caused by the movement of the heated water above; and so it is supposed the great ocean currents are set in motion. Many learned works have- however been written upon this complex and difficult subject, thus roughly sketched in a few brief sentences; and a careful study of the views held by the leading authorities shows that this opinion that the cause of the great oceanic * See Chapter iv. on " Climates and Temperatures." 2 2 HEAT A MODE OF MOTION. stream-currents is due to the influence of solar heat, is one which is now very generally accepted. So long ago as 1833 the astronomer Herschel laid it down as a fundamental axiom — "that the sun's rays are the ultimate cause of almost every motion that takes place on the surface of the earth, " * and in eloquent terms he proceeded to point out that by heat, as its motive principle, the whole material world lives, and moves, and has its being; and the investigations of scientific observers have since gone far to establish the correctness of Sir John Herschel's conclusions; the passage here referred to has moreover been quoted and relied upon as that of a leading scientific autho- rity by Professor Tyndall, in his well-known treatise on "Heat." f The Encyclopedia Britannica in the section devoted to the Ocean Currents of the Atlantic, also states, " The solution of the problem seems to be afforded by 'A General Oceanic Circulation' sustained by opposition of temperature only, which was first distinctly propounded in 1845 by Professor Lenz of St. Petersburg. He particularly dwelt on the existence of a belt of water under the equator, colder than that which lies either north or south of it, as evidence that polar water is there continually rising from beneath towards the surface — a phenomenon which he con- sidered admits of no other explanation." § And it also appears that unaware of these opinions expressed by Professor Lenz in 1845, "Dr. Carpenter commenced in 1861, in concert with Professor Wyville Thomson, a course of enquiry into the thermal condi- tion of the deep sea, which led him to conclusions es- * Outlines of Astronomy, by Sir John Herschel, 1833. t Heat a Mode of Motion, by John Tyndall, F.R.S., 5th edit., p. 478. $ EncvcL Brit., qth edit., Vol. iii., p. 22 (Art. "Atlantic Ocean"). THE GULF STREAM. 23 sentially accordant with those of Lenz. " * This is per- haps as far as in a work of this kind it would be desirable to follow this branch of the subject — though without a few words shortly describing1 the mighty forces which these great stream-currents represent it might perhaps appear incomplete. Their importance in modifying climates is well known ; every schoolboy being aware that to the influence of one of them — generally known as the Gulf Stream— the mildness of our English climate is supposed to be principally due. But the gigantic proportions of these great ocean rivers are perhaps less generally realized; though in poinf of fact the great rivers of the terrestrial world are dwarfed by them into absolute insignificance, for the largest of them is no more to be compared to one of these oceanic currents, than the tiny stream from the spout of a tea-pot is comparable to the volume of a first-rate river. These mid- ocean currents can in fact only be likened to moving aquatic continents, continually forcing their way through the liquid ex- panse of the mighty deep. The celebrated American hydrographer, the late Lieutenant Maury, U.S.N., thus describes the onward flow of the Gulf Stream in the opening sentences of his world-renowned work, " The Physical Geography of the Sea:" "There is a river in the ocean. In the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows. Its banks and bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm. The Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the arctic seas. There is in the world no other such * Encycl. Brit., 9th edit., Vol. in., p. 22. 24 THE POWER OF RUNNING WATER. majestic flow of waters. Its waters, as far out from the Gulf as the Carolina coast, are of an indigo blue; they are so distinctly marked that their line of junction with the common sea water may be traced by the eye — so sharp is the line that often half the vessel may be floating in gulf stream water, while the other is in common water." * Then, to give an idea of the mighty power that impels this great current for thousands of miles across the stormy sea, he says — " If we search for a propelling power we must admit the existence of a force capable of putting in motion, and of driving over a plain at the rate of four miles an hour, all the waters brought down by three thousand such streams as the Mississippi river." f Of the tremendous power of running water we have daily proofs before our eyes in almost every consider- able section of country. Everywhere we see how it has hollowed out for itself broad channels, and even in places cut deeply into the surface of the stony rock. What therefore must not the grinding power of these gigantic currents be? — They would, we might almost suppose, soon cut the earth itself in twain. But Nature here, as everywhere, is equal to the occa- sion ; for far down in the depths of the sea, a still (or almost still) cushion of cold water rests upon the ocean floor, which relieves the earth from abrasion — and so the mighty river flows on for ever, without injury to its structure, bearing on its bosom countless myriads of the lower forms of life, and shoals of fishes, to furnish food for the inhabitants of the deep frequent- ing the coasts of far distant countries. * The Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury, U.S.N., i6th edit., 1877, p. T. \ Ibid., p. 7, Section 17. THE HARVESTS OF THE SEA. 25 It is supposed to be the periodical arrival of these harvests of the sea which to a great extent regulates the comings and goings of our principal food fishes ; for Nature has fixed the sequence of the harvests of the sea with as great regularity as she has those of the land; probably therefore our supplies of fish upon the British coasts are dependent upon this great Gulf Stream. On this head the following remarks of Lieutenant Maury are worth quoting: " Navigators have often met with vast numbers of Me- dusae drifting along with the Gulf Stream; they are known to constitute the principal food of the whale. An intelligent sea-captain informs me that in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida, he fell in with such a shoal as has never been heard of. The sea was covered with them for many leagues. He was bound to England, and was five or six days' sailing through them." * — Lieutenant Maury then proceeds to ex- plain that, " The Gulf of Mexico is the harvest field, the Gulf Stream the gleaner, which collects the fruitage planted there, and conveys it thousands of miles to the hungry whale at sea. But how perfectly in unison is this with the kind Providence of that Great and Good Being who feeds the young ravens when they cry, and caters for the sparrow." f The cushion of still water resting upon the floor of the ocean has already been noticed, and a few words respecting it and the nature of the bottom of this immense region will complete this necessarily brief survey of deep-sea phenomena. The secrets of the mighty deep until quite recently had entirely baffled all attempts to investigate them, * The Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieut. Maury, U.S.N., 1877, pp. 29 and 30, Sections 73 and 74. f Ibid., p. 31. 26 DEEP-SEA SEDIMENTS. and " remained as fathomless and as mysterious as those of the firmament above." * The little information however which has been col- lected thus far, shows that the bottom of the sea at great depths consists of very fine sediment, the accu- mulation of countless ages, deposited by the water. The Report of the Challenger Expedition states that, " two kinds of sediment may be said to cover the area inhabited by the abyssal fauna " f — namely the " Glo- bigerina Ooze" and the "Red Clay"— the latter of which seems to be found principally in the deeper depressions, while the better known globigerina ooze, is a fine calcareous deposit, somewhat resembling chalk, and composed to a great extent of shells, more or less broken or decomposed." Some of the speci- mens of this "mud," brought up by the surveying parties who were taking soundings previous to laying down the first transatlantic telegraph cables in 1858, from depths sometimes exceeding two miles, were found on examination by Professor Huxley to be almost entirely composed of minute shells of the genus Glo- bigerina, whence the ooze has taken its name. Its consistency when first brought up is described as akin to that of putty. § The American hydrographer Lieutenant Maury describing this remarkable sediment says: " The unabraded appearance of these shells, and the almost total absence of any detritus from the sea, or foreign matter, suggest most forcibly the idea of perfect repose. Some of the * The Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieut. Maury, 1877, p. 206. f See Scientific Report of the Challenger Expedition, Vol. i., pp. 41 to 43 of Introduction. § Elements of Geology, by Sir Chas. Lyell, Bart., F.R.S., pp. 317—318. MICROSCOPIC SHELLS AT VAST DEPTHS. 27 specimens were as pure and free from sand as the snow- flake that falls on the lea is from the dust of the earth. Indeed these soundings suggest that the sea is always letting fall showers of these microscopic shells. This process con- tinued during ages has covered the depths of the ocean with a mantle, consisting of organisms as delicate as the macled frost, and as light as the undrifted snow-flake on the moun- tain." * But how great a world of speculative enquiry do these facts reveal to the contemplative mind! Here, if the author of these pages may be permitted to hazard an opinion, we may dimly perceive the ves- tiges of the world's creation. For these facts indicate to us, as do all the works of Nature to those who study them carefully, how The Great Creator, during- the fulness of an immense eternity, has caused this little ball of earth to build itself up, atom by atom. We have no evidence here of any great convulsion ; nor is the doctrine of the Latin poet and philosopher Lucretius — " Docui nil posse creari de nihilo," taught nearly two thousand years ago, here done any violence to. What these facts tell us — so plainly that he who runs may read — is that little by little the water is here laying down the foundations of future cretaceous for- mations, precisely similar to the white chalk cliffs which our southern coasts are built up with. " That white chalk is now forming in the depths of the ocean may be regarded as an ascertained fact, because the 'Globigerina Bulloides' is specifically undistinguishable from a fossil which constitutes a large portion of the chalk of Europe." f * The Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieutenant Maury, U.S.N., 1 6th edit., 1877, p. 225. j Elements of Geology, by Sir Chas. Lyell, Bart., 6th edit., p. 318. 28 FORAMENIFERA. This, we may remark, is the delicate microscopic shell, described above by Lieutenant Maury, which belongs to the family of Foramenifera, the earliest —so far as it yet known — of all created things. As regards the geographical extent of the white chalk in Europe alone, the same authority states that it extends "from the North of Ireland to the Crimea, a distance of 1 1 40 geographical miles, and from the vSouth of Sweden to the South of Bordeaux, a distance of about 840 geographical miles," in length and breadth respectively. And in Southern Russia, ac- cording to Sir Roderick Murchison, the white chalk " is sometimes found 600 feet thick." * Now when we remember the enormous thickness of the cretaceous rocks, of which the white chalk forms but one out of a whole series, all of which bear evident traces of having been deposited atom by atom, through the agency of water, in a similar way — what a boundless vista of the eternity of the past is thus revealed to us! That these strata must have been deposited thus, is evident; and this conclusion is generally accepted by all geologists of the present day — for they are full of these minute shells, and other remains of the ancient sea, many of them of so fragile a nature that one rough touch would have sufficed to destroy them — yet immense numbers embedded in these rocks are found in a beautiful state of preservation. Even the very ripples formed by the water as it beat upon the primeval strand, are still in places plainly and unmistakably visible. All this shows, beyond the possibility of mistake, that these rocks * Elements of Geology, by Sir Chas. Lyell, Bart., 6th edit., p. 316. GEOLOGICAL TIME. 29 must have then been in the condition of soft mud or ooze, which has gradually encased these shells, and as time went on has become solidified, and finally converted into rock. Now, when the attention of even the least instructed man is called to these palpable facts, the inevitable query is certain to arise — How long did all this take f To a great extent this must of course always remain a matter of conjecture ; and as might be expected, many learned works have been devoted to the discus- sion of this abstruse and intricate problem — with this result, that though all the best authorities were practi- cally unanimous in admitting that it must have taken an enormous period of time — geological time that is —still the tendency of all recent researches has been to compel modern geologists to increase that enormous period almost indefinitely. So that in geological time hundreds of millions of years have now to be reckoned with. When we consider the extreme slowness with which the sediment of still water accumulates, which certainly only amounts to a few inches in a century. When we consider that this is deposited in the form of soft mud, reducible by pressure to almost infinitesimal propor- tions : it is evident that the time which it must have taken to build up the cretaceous rocks, which (be it remembered) form only a small proportion of the whole of the fossil-bearing strata known to science — must extend over a period wholly beyond the scope of our finite understandings. The lesson therefore which these things seem to teach us is, that while people glibly aquiesce in ad- 30 GREAT SEAWEEDS OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. mitting the existence of an eternity yet to come, we must not close our eyes to the fact that behind us that same immense eternity stretches forth in all its im- measurable greatness. Here we close our survey of deep-sea phenomena. It is however quite worth while to glance at some of the living wonders of the shallower waters, especially in the neighbourhood of the coasts in the seas of the Southern Hemisphere. A few words concerning the gigantic seaweeds and coral reefs of those comparatively little known regions in the great wilderness of waters, will however be about all that we can afford space for. Sir Joseph Hooker in his splendid work upon the botany of these regions makes special mention of four remarkable algse which he states are noticeable on account of their gigantic size. Three of these are found principally in the direction of Cape Horn, and one at the Cape of Good Hope ; of the three former one great seaweed, the Lessonia Furescens, takes the form of arborescent branched trees, "with stems from five to ten feet high and as thick as the human thigh, " above which shoot out "branches from which hang leaves one to three feet long"* — but the greatest of all seaweeds is the Macro cystis Pyrifera, a species of gigantic " kelp. " This seaweed we have the high authority of Sir Joseph Hooker for classing as "the longest vegetable production known. " f He also tells us : * Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, under Captain Sir James Clark Ross, by Sir Joseph D Hooker, 6 Vols; Vol. i., Part ii., p. 458. f Ibid., Vol. i., p. 455. A GIGANTIC KELP. 31 "So many interesting points are connected with the l Ma- crocyslis Pyrifera'1 that ' a book might be instructively filled with its history; while its economy, and the myriads of liv- ing creatures that depend on it for food, attachment, shel- ter, and means of transport, constitute so extensive a field of research, that the mind of a philosopher might shrink from the task of describing them." * It has been stated by previous authors that this seaweed had been found upwards of 1000 feet in length, but this Sir Joseph Hooker thinks is probably exaggerated. At the Crozet islands however he ob- served extensive beds of it, growing in water 40 fa- thoms deep, yet with the tops streaming a long distance along the surface. He estimated the length of these great weeds at about 7 oo feet, but admits that " the elongation of ' Macrocystis Pyrifera' may be inde- finite. " f He then gives some interesting details as to its value to seamen, and states — " It is, where growing, not only the infallible sign of sunken rocks, but every rock that can prove dangerous to a ship is conspicuously buoyed by its slender stem and green fronds, and we may safely affirm that without its presence many channels would be impracticable, and many harbours in the south closed to our adventurous mariners." "This gigantic weed," according to Sir J. Hooker, "is subject to every vicissitude of climate, and literally ranges from the antarctic to the arctic circle." § Mr. Darwin, in his " Naturalist's Voyage " also gives very similar details, and was evidently greatly struck by the extraordinary properties of this remarkable plant. * Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus find Terror, under Captain Sir James Clark Ross, by Sir Joseph D. Hooker, 6 Vols; Vol. i., p. 465. t Ibid., p. 461. § Ibid., p. 463. 32 SEAWEEDS AS BREAKWATERS. "I know of few things more surprising," he says, "than to see this plant flourishing amid those great breakers of the western ocean, which no mass of rock, be it ever so hard, can long resist — " and yet it seems that, " the stem is round, shiny, and smooth, and seldom has a diameter of so much as an inch."— "The beds of this seaweed, even when not of great breadth, make excellent natural floating break-waters. It is quite curious to see in an exposed harbour, how soon the waves from the open sea, as they travel through the straggling stems, sink in height, and pass into smooth water. The number of living creatures of all orders whose existence depends on the kelp, is wonderful. A great volume might be written describing the inhabitants of one of these beds of seaweed. Often as I examined a branch of kelp, I never failed to discover animals of new and curious structures. I can only compare these great aquatic forests of the south- ern hemisphere with the terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. Amid the leaves of this plant numerous species of fish live, which nowhere else could find food or shelter; with their destruction, the many cormorants and other fishing birds, otters, seals, and porpoises, would soon perish also ; and lastly the Fuegan savage " (who feeds upon them) " would perhaps soon cease to exist." * The wonderful works of Nature in the vegetable kingdom have always excited the interest and admir- ation of mankind on shore, but people's attention is more rarely drawn to the little known, but no less wonderful productions in the bosom of the mighty deep. Here for instance, we see an apparently frail and slender plant able to do what the greatest break- waters erected by human hands, out of masses of solid stone, would be often totally unable to effect. It * A Naturalist's Voyage round the World, in //.J/..S'. Beagle, by Charles Darwin, 1 4th edition 1879, pp. 239 — 240. GREAT SEAWEEDS. 33 requires those who have themselves seen the great rollers of the Pacific bursting in thunder upon a rock- bound coast, to realize what this wonderful seaweed is capable of performing, when it is thus able to turn the angry surge of an ocean never at rest, and which is perpetually beating with terrific force upon these storm-beaten coasts, into a peaceful calm. But we might multiply almost to infinity the wonders of the mighty deep. Take for instance the case of the coral reefs, built up by zoophites — that is to say by a species of minute and delicate sea anemone, both in form and colouring closely resembling the flower of the garden aster, *— working from age to age beneath the breakers of the Coral Sea. There are, as is well known, " enormous areas in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, in which every single island is of coral formation." "The reefs often rising with extreme abruptness out of the profound depths of the ocean." f "The soundings on their seaward margin indicating depths of from 100 to more than ICKK) fathoms, not far from the actual edge of the reef." § And these wonderful structures in many cases extend for hundreds of miles. Thus " the Barrier Reef which encircles New Caledonia is 400 miles long, " and " the group of ' Atolls ' known as the ' Low Archipelago ' " (in the Mid-Pacific Ocean) " encloses an area of about 840 by 420 geographical miles." ** Inside these reefs is generally a deep channel of calm water (usually averaging from ten to twenty Coral Reefs and Islands, by Professor James D. Dana, p. 48. 7 A Natiiralis? s Vovage, etc., by Charles Darwin, p. 467. § EncycL Brit., gth edit., Vol. vi., p. 278 (Art. "Corals"). c* A Naturalist's Voyage, etc., by Charles Darwin, p. 467. VOL. III. -\ 34 SUBMARINE LIFE NEAR CORAL REEFS. fathoms though sometimes much more) in whose pellucid waters shoals of brilliantly coloured fish may be seen— " swimming about far beneath, as if in some great aquarium of unrivalled beauty, literally filled with myriads of the most varied and wonderful forms of submarine life." Also these still lagoon channels, as Mr. Darwin reminds us, "generally bathe a fringe of alluvial soil, loaded with the most beautiful productions of the tropics." * Here the cocoa-nut tree, that queen of palms, with its roots bathed by the clear and briny waters, is usually found flourishing in all its regal glory. While to seaward, upon the outward margin of these great reefs, the blue rollers of the mighty ocean in measured cadence, are ceaselessly beating with tremendous violence; and yet it is precisely here, in the midst of this terrific surf, where " the coral-polypes find their most congenial home." f There are few more lovely and impressive scenes than may daily be witnessed off the coasts of these coral-girt islands, lying far out in the expanse of the boundless ocean. The salt, health-giving ocean breezes, continually wafted from seaward, at points exposed to the influence of the cooling trade winds, usually prevent the heat from proving oppressive; and here, beneath a sky unflecked by a single cloud, and often amid scenes of surpassing loveliness, the traveller may recline in the delicious balmy atmosphere and brilliant sunshine peculiar to these favoured regions, and watch these gigantic rollers, which even in the finest weather may constantly be seen sweeping forward in majestic * A Naturalist's Voyage, etc., by Charles Darwin, p. 469. f EncycL Brit., Qth'edit., Vol. vi., p. 278. BEAUTY OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 35 procession, as far as the eye can reach on either side, .until they burst upon these reefs, in miles of snow-white breakers, whose thunder is often audible during the •deathlike stillness of the tropical night at a distance of many miles. Thus as we have endeavoured to show, in things that are infinitely small — such as the microscopic shells which are building up white chalk in the abyssal depths, .as also in those soft gelatinous zoophytes, the little architects of the great coral reefs — the Creator shows Himself quite as wonderful as when dealing with that which is infinitely great. For as one of the ancient fathers of the early Chris- tian Church has said : " Deus ita, artifex magnus, in magnis, ut minor non sit, in parvis. " * It would probably be difficult to find words more .suitable in which to describe these wonders of the sea. There is no more noble study than that of " The Ocean and the Inhabitants of the Mighty Deep;" for though man, except as a passenger rocked to and fro upon its restless waters, has never exercised any dominion there, it is the region of all others upon the surface of the terrestrial globe, which is most prolific in the infinite variety and abundance of its different forms of life ; and which, unchangeable amid the ages, is at once the greatest, the most majestic, and yet the least known, of all the works of Nature here on earth. Now as regards life at sea, it is often asserted that long voyages, as a passenger, across wide stretches * St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, xi — 22. 36 VOYAGES. of ocean, are dull and tedious to an almost insufferable degree. Life aboard ship has in fact been compared, in a moment of unwonted levity, by the great Dr. Johnson, to " a prison with the chance of being drowned. " Personally however, we must say for ourselves that we have never found this to be the case. Perhaps our readers would kindly bear with us while we state our experiences in this matter, though as a rule we prefer not to mix up our personal feelings and recollections writh the records of the phenomena of Nature described in these pages. Our maritime experiences in the course of our wanderings to and fro over the earth's surface have of necessity been many and various; in all kinds of ships, belonging to people of many nations, and in all sorts of climates, and weathers; and we are free to observe that no- where can a man be more comfortable or pass a more enjoyable period of existence, than during a prosperous voyage, when all goes well, on board a large and well found ship. At sea, as a rule, the worries of the great world with its whirl and turmoil, are left behind on shore ; and there is nothing to disturb the sense of infinite peace and rest to the nervous system which an ocean voyage supplies to a man of a well-balanced mind. The number of invalids that now-a-days take advan- tage of these changes of scene and climate, is very large. In the case of the great P. & O. lines to India and Australia for example, this class of passengers forms quite an item in their ocean-going traffic, of considerable importance from a business point of view ; and in the experiences of the South African and other shipping companies, the results are similar. It is quite SEA-SICKNESS. 37 'extraordinary what a large percentage of passengers on board most of the first-rate steamer lines, is now- a-days during the cold season made up of persons taking a tour round the world, or going out and home again as a change for the benefit of their health. There is however just one drawback to the enjoy- ment of sea-life, which acts as a deterrent to many timid persons — that is of course "Sea-sickness." We do not propose at present to discuss this question in its medical or scientific aspects. We shall therefore merely say that long experience has taught us to regard it as to a great degree mental. We mean by that — people come aboard certain that they are going to be sick — and they are so. This is not a matter, however, in which it is of any use to " argue the question, " as in some cases the least little motion seems to upset individuals; and we may just say that as a youngster no one has probably ever suffered more severely than we have: and yet for more than thirty years past, in the heaviest weather and under all sorts of trying circumstances, we have never once been sea-sick — we have " grown out of it " in fact. A man much accustomed to the sea really ceases to feel or think of the motion of the ship, unless when it is of a very decided character; and we have fre- quently known our attention to be called to the fact that there was increased motion, by the lugubrious remark of a fellow-traveller — " Oh, the ship is beginning to roll again! Do you think it is going to be rough?" — As a rule however we have generally observed that after three or four days, most of the people find their sea legs, and cease to be affected, unless the weather is really bad. But it is often quite deplorable at the 38 THE BRITON AS A SEA-DOG. outset of a voyage, to see how a comparatively moderate breeze will clear the tables at meal times. At the end of a week however, it takes a pretty considerable blow to upset the nerves of the great majority, of the male passengers at all events; and at the end of a long voyage, a storm at sea causing the plates and dishes to rush violently backwards and forwards among the "fiddles,"* has no other effect than to produce general hilarity among British passengers. Nowhere is the superiority of the Briton as a sea- dog more conspicuous than in bad weather at sea. The foreigner, as a rule, is nowhere, in it. Nearly all the people belonging to the continental nations are as poor sailors as can well be imagined ; f whereas the sea comes like second nature to the children of Great Britain, in the majority of cases. We have made it our business to take particular note of these things, and can say that this fact is neither imaginary nor the result of insular prejudice. In it lies one of the secrets of our naval pre-eminence. When persons are really very bad sailors, wherever the weather admits of it, the sufferer should be got up and kept in the open air as much as possible, and in a reclining position, on deck. They should not attempt to come down to meals, but have their food brought to them there; and it should be borne in mind that if the sea-sick person feels cold, or is in any way allowed to become chilly, it will always make him worse. * Wooden frames, laid across dining tables, made in compartments to prevent things flying off the surface during rough weather. j- For fear these observations should give umbrage to our American cousins, we may just say that most of them are of our own race and lineage — our own people in fact, whom in this respect we do not number among the foreigners. TREATMENT OF SEA-SICK PATIENTS. 39 How entirely our nervous systems are under the influence of habit receives a good illustration, by the delicate becoming quickly accustomed in most cases to the stormy ocean, and ceasing to think of his sea- sickness, or to suffer from it. So again on landing, after many days at sea, it is no imagination to say that one requires to look to one's "land legs." The earth at first seems to rock to and fro under the feet, in the most extraordinary way; so that after a spell of bad weather we have many times felt quite ashamed, when first attempting to walk along the streets, for fear people should notice any unsteadiness of gait, and put it down to a different cause. The sensation, how- ever, disappears after a few hours. But its presence denotes how entirely, unconsciously to themselves, men become habituated to the heaving of the seas, and actually feel uncomfortable when they return to terra firma again. Then as regards the restorative effect of the ocean breezes, after illness or overwork, that is long since a well-ascertained fact; but to obtain the maximum of benefit from a trip, it is of course of great importance to be well fed and well lodged. A sea-sick invalid confined to a crowded, stuffy, and perhaps dirty cabin, and fed on badly prepared food, besides being exposed to unpleasant noises and vibration, or unsavoury odours, cannot expect to reap the benefits of sea-life. These things used to be common, and on the less well appointed ships are by no means extinct even now. Care in the selection of ships and accommodation is therefore always most necessary to ensure comfort. But where proper care is exercised, one of the greatest and most efficient of all medicines is a long sea-voyage ; 40 LONG SEA VOYAGES FOR HEALTH. except of course in those cases where it is contra- indicated. Now from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope and to Australia, are both good examples of health-giving voyages — the first takes about 17 days, and the latter about 46 to 48 days, via the Suez Canal. Both may be regarded as generally fine weather trips. Any stormy time is usually confined to the British Channel and the Bay of Biscay ; but after about three days out, when that is safely passed, as a rule the most perfect weather is enjoyed for the rest of the voyage. Those who like bracing climates and do not mind cold winds, will perhaps prefer the route to Australia via the Cape ; but the winds of the great Southern Ocean are mostly very chilly and penetrating, and plenty of warm clothing is necessary, as from latitude 40° S. the weather is generally stormy, with strong westerly winds blowing throughout the year. For hot weather light flannel or woollen garments are the best. It is often advised to look out for cabins on a par- ticular side of the ship, as regards the trade winds; but our experience is that so many circumstances may occur to modify these supposed advantages, that it is a question as to whether it is worth while giving much weight to these fancies. If the wind is too strong for instance, it may oblige ports to be kept shut on that side, in which case the supposed advantage is nullified; or unexpected variations of wind may cause it to veer away, and leave the favoured cabin no better off than less carefully selected ones. In hot weather, the worst thing that can occur is when the wind is moderate, and blowing aft, i.e., with the track of the steamer; in such case, the ship running rapidly away before the wind, neutralizes the breeze, and leaves it HOT WEATHER AT SEA. 41 a dead calm on board. On the other hand, on a swiftly moving, powerfully engined steamer, even when there is no wind, her transit through the air at 18 or 20 statute miles per hour, creates its own breeze, so that on deck it feels comparatively cool, under awnings. The sea breezes are also almost always freshened by their passage across a vast extent of water; hot weather is therefore rarely felt very severely at sea. Moreover passengers can safely sleep on deck, when their cabins prove disagreeably close at night, as there is no fear of malaria on blue water. On the other hand, when lying in river estuaries or harbours off malarious coasts, the practice is an exceedingly dangerous one, and there is no surer way of getting a bad attack of fever. Our experience is that on first entering the hot weather after leaving the British coasts, almost an epidemic of colds and coughs frequently breaks out among pas- sengers; this is due to foolishly exposing themselves in evening dress and other light clothing, to the night air, which is almost always chilly at sea. Simple precautions will prevent this, and should be attended to, as hot- weather colds are often difficult to get rid of. If however the weather is fine, and the life on board comfortable, nothing can be more lovely than the tropical nights and brilliantly star-lit skies. So also are the early mornings clear, fresh, and beautiful. It is quite worth while being up on deck by six to enjoy them. The decks will be in process of washing at this hour, but men can walk about bare-footed through the water without heeding this otherwise in- convenient interruption — and a good walk at this hour is pleasant and invigorating. There are generally plenty of amusements of dif- 42 A BALL AT SEA. ferent kinds, going on on board a modern first-class steamer— consisting of games by day, and music or dancing by night. A ball at sea begins early, soon after dinner, and dancing is rarely kept up till a late hour. One of the prettiest scenes that it is possible to witness is a " ball night " during hot weather, upon one of our first-rate Indian passenger boats; the immense deck cleared for action, and enclosed by awnings decorated with flags of many colours, and brilliantly illuminated by electric lights, make an almost ideal ball- room, where perhaps over two hundred ladies and their partners may be seen parading up and down between the dances, in full evening dress ; making not uncom- monly quite a fairy scene. Few landsmen have an idea of the vast floating hotels some of these ships are, and the immense popu- lation they convey to and fro, in safety and comfort, across wide stretches of ocean. The firemen alone, on the engine-room staff, will be well over 100 in number. In some big ships quite 80 stewards are kept for attendance on passengers. Cold storage chambers below carry fresh meat, poultry, fish, game, milk, and vege- tables, in almost unlimited quantities, and even a supply of the most approved ice creams frozen in shapes, are taken from England, which only require to be turned out of the mould to be ready for use. Such is life upon a modern, first-class ocean steamer. Before passing from this subject we desire to draw attention to the panorama of the star-lit heavens, as seen at sea, and may just remark here that nowhere can the study of the stars be carried on by amateurs so well and easily as at sea; for there is nothing to interrupt the view of the whole horizon, and with a THE STARS SEEN AT SEA. 43 good star map, and some book giving a short descrip- tion of the principal stars and constellations, the intel- ligent traveller can soon learn to recognise all the principal features of the celestial expanse that may be at the time exhibited. One little bit of information leads on to another, until a very fair acquaintance with the leading stars is obtained. We have often noticed that anyone possessing a g'ood knowledge of these things becomes at times quite a centre of attraction on board ship; and certainly to all who travel in wild countries no species of knowledge is more generally useful than a practical acquaintance with astronomy. We had in consequence prepared some data with reference to "The innumerable worlds that night unfolds to view," but the great length to which these volumes have spread out has obliged us to omit any further notice of this great subject from these pages. We shall therefore at once proceed without further comment to the consideration of the Wild Game of the Wilderness. CHAPTER XIV. GREAT HERDS OF GAME. Author's Reasons for Collecting these Details. Ancient Records generally Regarded as Exaggerated. Reasons for accepting them as True in many Cases. How Immense Herds come to be Found in Sterile Tracts. Assemblages of Great Herds caused by Drying up of the Waters, or Famine. Alternatives to Game, when Flying before Drought and Famine. Human Settlers and Migrator)' Herds. The " Fly" in the Bush Country. Antelopes Unable to Remain Stationary there. The Great Buffalo Herds of Texas. The Northern and the Southern Migrations. The True Cause of the Assemblage of Great Herds is Want of some Kind. The Fallacy that Large Animals Require a Luxuriant Vegetation. Tree Feeders. Mr. Burchell and Capt. Burton on the Scarcity of Large Quadrupeds in Great Forests. Average Weight of the Principal Big-Game Animals. The Desert Vegetation During Droughts. Fragrance of Aromatic Herbage. Perfume Emitted by Skins &c. of Desert Game. Grass Fires as a Cause of Formation of Herds of Game. Retrospect of the Great Hunting Days. A Day's Game Display on the South African Veld 60 Years Ago. Capt. Cornwallis Harris in South Africa in 1836 (Sketches of Great Herds). Mr. Gordon Gumming on the Migration of Springbucks. Sir Samuel Baker in Defence of Mr. Gordon Gumming. Boer Battue of Antelopes. Sir Samuel Baker upon Herds of Game in Ceylon. Hartley the English Hunter. Mr. James Chapman at an African Drinking Pool by Night. The Same on a Great Herd of African Buffalo. The Same on Great Herds on the Botletli River. Herds upon the Lake Ngami Plains. Dr. David Livingstone on Great Herds on the Zambesi. Description of a Day and a Night in the African Wilderness in a Great Game Country. Elephants and Elephant Hunting. Mr. F. C. Selous on a Vast Herd of Buffalo. Game on the Chobe River. The Great Buffalo (Bison) Herds of North America — Francis Parkman the Historian upon. Lieut. Ruxton on Great Buffalo Herds. A Buffalo Stampede. The Buffalo Robe Crop of the Far West. Herds of American Elk and Cariboo. Herds of Deer in Persia. Australian Rabbits. Game at the Present Day. Mr. Pringle, the Poet of South Africa. Ode "Afar in the Desert." Literary Reminis- cences of Pringle. Coleridge's Admiration of His Desert Poem. 44 GREAT HERDS OF GAME. 45 EFORE entering into the general subject of wild -L'sports, or the use of the rifle as a sporting weapon — as this book aspires in some degree to form a record of the grand old hunting days, which were in the zenith of their fame during the early and middle portions of the igth century— we have thought it desirable to collect together into a special chapter some accounts of the vast herds of game which are recorded as having been seen by great hunters and travellers in different parts of the world. We have endeavoured to select these instances from the works of writers of acknowledged repute, whose books are always likely to form standard authorities upon such subjects. People are however very apt to judge of the past by the present, and to regard with more or less incredulity accounts transmitted to them from former times, concerning masses of animal life and other phenomena, to which it would be impossible to find a parallel in the present day. It is quite an admitted fact that the quantities of game are everywhere steadily becoming less, and that sport is very far from being what it was ; nevertheless the astonishing accounts that have been given as to the great herds which used at certain seasons to assemble together, in the experience of sportsmen and travellers of former days, are generally regarded, either as great exaggerations, or perhaps as altogether fabulous. How could any country possibly support such countless swarms of large animals? is a common objection to the accuracy of such narratives. Perhaps the best reply to make to a query of this kind is by asking another question, namely— " If our ancestors could be recalled from the tomb, what would 46 RESPECTING " TRAVELLERS' TALES. " they think of a book describing modern conditions ot life ? " Surely, prima facie these things seem even more improbable than any " traveller's tale" of former days. We will ask our readers to conceive, if they can, what their predecessors of a century ago would say if they could be told of the great herd of humanity now collected together in greater London? — to say nothing of such things as railway trains running up- wards of a mile a minute, telegraphs, telephones, and many other modern inventions,' every one of which would sound in their ears, like " talk" (to use an Americanism) of " the very tallest description. " We believe that the greater number of these old gentlemen would be very apt to doubt the accuracy of their respected grandson's yarns, and to say, " You have breakfasted, or dined, too well, my boy ! " We therefore desire to explain the real facts, and show that it is a very mistaken view of the case to suppose that these wonderful accounts respecting the mighty herds of game that have occasionally been seen in South Africa and elsewhere, were generally overdrawn. While we do not mean to say that fictitious reports may not at times have been circulated about them, we think there can be no doubt that in the main the accounts given by writers of repute were substantially correct. As regards the apparent impossibility so frequently and positively asserted, of all these myriads of animals being able to find subsistence upon the generally arid, sterile country, where they were seen in former days, it may, we think, be very safely asserted that an entire popular fallacy exists upon such subjects. It is not a question of permanent pasturage. Wild game THE FORMATION OF A GREAT GAME HERD. 47 seldom or never remain long in any one place, but roam over the plains in all directions, as grass and water happen to be plentiful, or otherwise. Therefore the question of any particular district being or not being able to maintain numerous herds, does not arise. In reality however, these great assemblages of animals represent the migratory movements of game in search of fresh pasturage, because of a scarcity of food in the country behind them. Were a famine, an invasion, or any other great catastrophe to take place in London, it can hardly be doubtful that similar enormous assemblages of its inhabitants would pour out of the metropolis in hopes of finding provisions or safety in the country parts. Every road would thus be seen crowded with its stream of fugitives. So it is with the game. As long as food and water are plentiful, they are scattered in small bands over the face of the country; but as supplies begin to fail they are compelled to shift their quarters; and these several streams of animal migrants, meeting together in the course of their passage from one dis- trict to another, form the mighty herds of game which created such universal surprise among the human spectators. As this movement is probably simultaneous and general over a very large area of country, it of course follows that the assemblage will be a numerous one. Viewed in this light, there does not seem to be anything very extraordinary in this phenomenon, or which cannot be easily accounted for by this simple explanation of the facts. The assemblage of these great herds however, was 48 DROUGHT AND GREAT GAME HERDS. not an ordinary, but an altogether exceptional occur- rence— which only took place at certain seasons of the year. In South Africa this was during the long drought which occurs between the periods of the rains. In years when the rainfall was scanty, or failed altogether, the prolonged spell of dry weather caused the rivers and springs to become dried up, and the whole country assumed the appearance of a desert. It will be at once obvious that this entailed the emigration of almost every living creature. These in- numerable herds were then constantly driven onwards by the stress of want; they came as the swallows, or as the snows of winter: and they disappeared again in like manner, and not one of them was left. Drought, or famine, like a destroying angel, was for ever on their track, and like a swarm of locusts in passing over the country they consumed every edible sub- stance in their course, leaving nothing but barrenness behind. As a general rule, where the direction of their wanderings could be traced, it was found that these destructive armies of beasts moved somewhat in the form of a great oval, going out one way and returning by another: thus their whole route passed over different sections of country and often proved a great scourge to the early colonial settlers. During dry years even at the present time, stock farmers in the interior of South Africa, in the same country where these great assemblages of game used to congregate, sometimes have the greatest difficulty in preserving the lives of their stock until the return of the rains, and in some parts of the country large areas of land have to be abandoned and great losses of cattle etc. occur. THE MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF GAME. 49 Many kinds of wild game, however, do not require water so constantly as domestic animals, they are there- fore able to maintain themselves in the thirst-lands much longer than the human settler and his flocks. It has often been known that in districts where travel- lers and the oxen drawing their waggons have been perishing of thirst, considerable numbers of certain kinds of antelope have still been seen and when shot have proved to be quite fat, and in fine condition. Drought, however, is only one cause of game migra- tions ; and it may be desirable to shortly state the prin- cipal remaining phenomena connected with these movements, which form a very interesting subject of enquiry in all its details. In the great South African game country, for in- stance, there are two ways in which game can escape from the thirst-lands into well- watered and fertile grazing countries — first by a flight towards the north- wards, which carries them towards the region of the equatorial rains ; secondly by travelling southwards into the Cape Colony, where they enter the temperate zone, and by so doing pass into the region of the variable rains. Though these rains are not always very well marked, still this extreme southern part of Africa, as a general rule, is not subject to the severe droughts of the Karoo region, partly because of occa- sional variable rains, and partly because of the temper- ing influence of the sea breezes. Of course in these migrations into the Cape Colony the game soon came into contact with the Boers and other European settlers, and it was from this section of country in general that the earliest reports of the great herds have been handed down to us. VOL. III. A 50 INVASION OF SETTLED DISTRICTS BY HERDS. But in each of these cases immense migratory jour- neys had to be performed, and the difficulties as to subsistence were only temporarily relieved. The arrival of one of these invading hordes among the settled districts was of course always regarded by the inhabitants as a serious calamity, and every one who could handle a gun was fully employed in firing " into the brown of them" as soon as they came within shot. If, on the other hand, they fled towards the north, they soon passed out of the plains regions of short grass, and got into the bush country of long grass. The further northwards they went, the thicker the bush became, and the taller the grass. Here they were attacked by the Fly, and numerous other insect pests, which at certain seasons render much of this country almost uninhabitable, for the smaller and thinner skinned animals, at all events. Moreover the thick nature of the country prevented them from detecting the approach of beasts of prey, and other enemies, which kept all except the very largest and most powerful animals in a continual state of alarm, so that they got no rest, either night or day. To remain long in such a country was therefore for them impossible ; especially as most animals of the antelope tribe endeavour to avoid the neighbourhood of cover, and frequent only the openest plains. Most of the game therefore, was kept constantly on the run, and wandered from one district to an- other in search of sustenance: hence the great herds were never stationary, and they may always be regarded as wandering, migratory companies. In the Northern Hemisphere of course, these move- ments of game are the reverse of what they are in THE GREAT GAME COUNTRY OF NORTH AMERICA. 51 the Southern, and we shall briefly sketch their course as seen in the great continent of North America. The great game country there may be regarded as the dry regions of Texas, New Mexico, etc. Here the renowned buifalo (or more correctly speaking bison) had his natural home, and congregated in former days in incalculable multitudes during the winter season. But these animals being thick robed, preferred the cooler air of the northern prairies in summer to the great heats of the southern plains; thus with the ad- vent of spring an immense northerly migration set in, which continued right through the great prairie region, and up into the barren grounds of Northern Canada, into what was then known as the Hudson Bay Territory. Soon after their arrival there, however, the buffalo encountered the constantly increasing cold of the autumn nights, which warned them that the snows of winter were approaching. This caused them to retreat towards the south, and what was known as the autumn migration set in. Nevertheless considerable bands of these hardy animals used to brave the rigours of the northern winter; they soon, however, found themselves enveloped by the heavy snows which after the middle of November as a rule covered all that country with its icy mantle. The consequence was one might travel long distances there in winter time without seeing a living bird or beast, except perhaps a few bull buffaloes belonging to these bands. The game, as a whole, save and except these buffaloes, and the regular arctic habitants, had all been driven back again in another great migratory stream far to the southward. As these matters will be treated of more fully else- 52 BUFFALO MIGRATIONS. where in this work, we shall not pursue this subject further at present, but shall merely take occasion to remark that the experience of old hunters, naturalists, and travellers, and all those who have made a special study of animal migrations, is now pretty nearly unanimous in recognizing that great herds of game are almost always seen either in regions of scanty vegetation or else in climates where the rigours of the winter drive all except the arctic fauna away in search of milder climates. It may safely be received as an axiom, that it is invariably the stress of want of some kind which in the first instance, causes them to assemble ; and afterwards prevents them from ever remaining stationary for more than a very short time, while congregated together in numerous companies. As regards the fact that great herds of game are seldom met with in regions of luxuriant vegetation— the researches of the late Charles Darwin have pointed this out in the clearest way, and show upon the most conclusive evidence that vast herds of game are found for the most part upon open plains covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. With respect to this Mr. Dar- win goes on to observe — " That large animals require a luxuriant vegetation has been a general assumption which has passed from one work to another — but I do not hesitate to say that it is completely false; and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some points of great interest, in the ancient history of the world. If we refer to the works of travel through the south- ern parts of Africa, we find allusions in almost every page, to the desert character of the country, and to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evi- MR. DARWIN ON GREAT HERDS OF DESERT GAME. 53 dent by the many engravings which have been published of the various parts of the interior. The fact that bullock wag- gons can travel in any direction, excepting near the coast, without more than an occasional half-hour's delay in cutting down bushes, gives perhaps a more definite notion of the scantiness of the vegetation. Now if we look to the animals inhabiting these wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk immense. We must enumerate the elephant: three species, and probably five of rhinoceros; the hippopotamus, giraffe, buffalo, two zebras, the quagga, two gnus, and several antelopes, even larger than these latter animals. Besides these large animals every- one has read of the herds of antelopes which can be com- pared only with flocks of migratory birds, while the numbers of lions, panthers, and hyaenas, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the small quadru- peds." * Mr. Darwin thinks that there can be no doubt that our ideas as to the amount of herbaceous food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated, many of the larger kinds of animals being tree-feeders, whose food chiefly consists of underwood. Now the twigs of this class of small trees and shrubs have a very rapid growth in the regular jungle region especially where the}^ grow in the neighbourhood of springs, etc., and as fast as a partis con- sumed, its place is supplied by the growth of a fresh stock. Another of the characteristics of many of these shrubs is that they send down their roots to very great depths into the subsoil, so that they frequently tap the subterranean springs, and so obtain an abundant supply * 4 Naturalist's Voyage rottnd the World in H.M.S. " Beagle, " during the years 1832 to 1836, by Charles Darwin, 1 5th Edit., 1879, pp. 85 and 86. 54 TREE GROWTHS IN WATERLESS TRACTS. of moisture in districts which appear to be and in fact are otherwise entirely waterless. Most of the desert grasses and other herbage possess similar powers, and where the sand is deep and the soil porous, there does not seem to be any practical limit to the depths to which their fine, hair-like rootlets may not penetrate. Personally we have always held to the opinion that where considerable quantities of arborescent growths are found existing in apparently waterless tracts, it is an almost certain sign that water will generally be discovered by digging at no very great depths beneath the surface (for wells)— above all, if upon examination of the twigs of these shrubs, it is found that they produce moderately long season-shoots of young wood. These opinions, we may add, have recently been to a great extent borne out by the results of borings made in the Kalahari, the French Sahara, and other desert regions. Mr. Darwin also points out that probably this class of food represented by twigs etc., cropped from the desert bush, " contains much nutriment in a small bulk." This is now an ascertained fact ; and he calls our atten- tion to the well-known case of the camel, an animal of no mean bulk, which has always been an emblem of the desert. And as we know, the camel obtains its nourishment from dry twigs, and tufts of dusty grass, and other desert products of the most appar- ently indigestible and unpromising character. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica elephants in Africa are almost exclusively tree-feeders — espe- cially of mimosas. Some of the largest birds too, follow the example of the quadrupeds, and are found only on desert plains— WEIGHTS OF HEAVY GAME ANIMALS. 55 of these the ostrich, and the emu, are well-known and notable examples. Mr. Burchell, the naturalist and well-known South African traveller of the early part of the present century, states that nothing struck him more forcibly, when he afterwards entered Brazil, than the splendour of South American vegetation as contrasted with that of South Africa, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. Captain Burton, the African traveller, in one of his papers published in " The Journal of the Royal Geogra- phical Society," has been struck with the same remark- able fact, for speaking of the great African equatorial forests he remarks that, " The deep African forest is everywhere unfit to support animal life, unless it is broken by large clear spaces, where beasts can enjoy sun and air." In illustration of these facts, Mr. Darwin, in his " Naturalist's Voyage, " mentions some curious details respecting the results of some observations which have been made as to the relative weights of the largest game animals found in South Africa and South America respectively. He says — " We may take 5 tons as the average weight of a full-grown elephant. The elephant killed at the Exeter Change was estimated (being partly weighed) at 5^ tons; at the Surrey gardens a hippopotamus cut in pieces was estimated at 3^ tons. We may give 3| tons nearly to each of the 5 rhinoceri,, i ton to the giraffe, half a ton to the Bos Kaffir (Cape buffalo) and eland. This will give an average of 2.7 tons for the 10 largest herbivorous animals of South Africa. In South America we have 2 tapirs, say 600 Ibs. The guanaco 550 Ibs. The vicuna 550 Ibs. 3 deer 500 Ibs each. The 56 WEIGHTS OF SOUTH AMERICAN GAME. peccari and capybara 300 Ibs. The monkeys complete the number. The ratio will therefore be about 24 to I for the ten largest animals of the two continents.* The foregoing details may be accepted as pretty con- clusive evidence of the fallacy of the popular idea that a rich country is most productive in the amount of its animal resources. But when we come to deal with the Wilderness and its Tenants, we find we have to change a great many of our previously conceived ideas on these subjects. The extent of country is usually so vast, and the habits of game so migratory and so little understood, that it is very hard to form any reliable opinion as to the amount of resident animal life which a country is capable of supporting, because in the dry season, when the tremendous power of the sun, combined with hot winds, scorches up everything like the blast from a furnace, vast districts may appear to be mere desert wastes — but by a wise and beneficent provision of Nature, the surface then becomes converted into a species of sun-dried brick, which affords complete pro- tection to the various roots and bulbs of the desert plants beneath. These are mostly all possessed of immense, though dormant vitality, so that on the first approach of the rains they are ready at once to spring into growth. All these countries, however destitute of animal and vegetable life they may at times appear to be, have each of them their season of fertility, however short, and the rapidity with which dry plains, in tro- *A Naturalist's Voyage round the World in H. M.S. u Beagle S during the years 1832 to 1836, by Charles Darwin, I4th Edit., 1879, p. 87. SCENTED SKINS OF DESERT GAME. 57 pical countries, are sometimes converted into luxuriant pastures, after the onset of the rainy season, is incredi- ble, except to those who have witnessed it. No sooner do the life-giving streams of water descend upon the parched-up earth, than the prison doors are unlocked. Everything awakens to a new life, as if from the sleep of death itself. The dry, hard crust is broken up and converted into fertile mud, and as if by the touch of a magician's wand, the thirsty desert is made to blossom as the rose. The beauty and fragrance of many of the desert flora at this period has been noticed in the works of numerous travellers — a great part of the herbage. in fact consists of different kinds of aromatic plants, which give off their peculiar fragrance the moment they are either wetted, stepped upon, or touched, and during the deliciously cool hours of the lovely tropical nights and early mornings, their scent is generally peculiarly remarkable, the whole air being often at such times laden with their perfume. The skins etc. of the wild animals inhabiting these desert regions are in the same way saturated with the prevailing perfume, and Mr. Gordon Gumming, the South African hunter, in several passages throughout his book makes mention of this fact. Giraffes, for instance, he tells us, emit a powerful aroma, like the smell of heather honey, as also do elands and blesbucks. Like most other African ante- lopes the skins of these animals when freshly killed exhale a most delicious fragrance, highly scented with the perfume of the flowers and sweet-smelling herbage upon which the animals have been accustomed to lie and feed. 58 SCENTED DESERT HERBAGE. A secretion also issues between the clefts of their hoofs, which likewise has a pleasing perfume, doubtless caused by constantly crushing aromatic herbage with their feet. * Thus when watered with the dew of the celestial bounty, the wilderness is transformed into a species of terrestrial paradise, brightened with exquisite flowers of powerful and delicious fragrance. It may be well also to mention that many of the desert Arabs of Northern Africa use the dry powdered droppings of the gazelle, which graze upon the Thymacece, as a species of powerfully aromatic and pungent snuff. This in some parts of the Sahara forms a regular article of trade, for which a high price is given. Before closing this portion of our subject another cause ought to be mentioned which sometimes produces considerable assemblages of game animals. This is the practice of natives in hot and arid climates of firing the grass towards the end of the dry season, in order to ensure the springing up of a luxuriant crop of herbage for their domestic animals upon the appearance of the rains. These fires frequently devastate large areas of country, both of forest and prairie, and leave nothing behind them but a blackened, ash-strewn desert, and this causes large numbers of animals to congregate along the course of some of the rivers, where the succulent nature of the herbage has prevented its de- struction by fire. This, however, is clearly nothing more than another form of want, artificially created by these fires, which compels the temporary abandonment * Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa (1843 to 1848), by Roualeyn Gordon Gumming, 1850, Vol. i., pp. 183, 253 and 271. GRASS FIRES AS A CAUSE OF MIGRATION. 59 of certain districts by their animal inhabitants, and their assemblage in herds in the unburnt tracts. The principal causes which impel the formation of the herds and their subsequent migratory wanderings having been duly related, we shall now proceed to recount descriptions of some of these great collections of game animals collected from diiferent works of travel, which seem to furnish good historical examples of these grand panoramas of wild life as seen in times gone by, but still of comparatively recent date. This is a subject upon which, from a sportsman's point of view, it is perhaps permissible to look back with enthusiasm, which is however not unmingled with regret, because for the most part these noble hunting scenes are gone never to return. Not at all, however, do we desire to regard them in the savage spirit of the mere slaughterer of hosts of harmless and beautiful creatures, with which the beneficence of the Creator had origin- ally peopled and adorned the pathless wilderness: but rather to record them in unfeigned admiration of these grand scenes of wild life, which it has been the privi- lege of but few to witness, and which have now become for posterity a matter of historic interest only. Our view of this matter is that it would be a pity to let these things pass into oblivion, and therefore we have determined to collect together these narratives as memorials of such events — most of which, it will be observed, have occurred during the lifetime of persons yet living upon the earth. The following describes the aspect of the great game country in South Africa, during a single day's march made some 60 years ago, as recorded by Mr. Charles Darwin in his "Naturalist's Voyage." 60 SOUTH AFRICAN GAME COUNTRY 60 YEARS AGO. " Dr. Smith informs me that in Lat. 24°, in one day's march with the bullock waggons, he saw without wandering to any great distance on either side, between 100 and 150 rhinoceri, which belonged to three species. The same day he saw several herds of giraffes amounting altogether to near a hundred, and that though no elephants were observed, yet they are found in that district. " At the distance of little more than one hour's march from the camp on the previous night, his party actually killed, at one spot, 8 hippopotami, and saw many more. " Dr. Smith describes the country passed through that day as being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about 4 feet high, and still more thinly with mimosa trees. " The waggons were not prevented travelling in a nearly straight line." * The 24th parallel of latitude runs through the northern part of what is at present the Transvaal Republic, which exactly answers to this description of country. This open bush region runs from the neighbourhood of Pretoria northwards ; and Lat. 24° S., then crosses the Limpopo, and runs along the course of the " Oli- fant's" (i.e., Elephant's) River, for a considerable distance. This river is very beautiful and runs through wild and romantic gorges, and was celebrated in com- paratively recent times as a great g-ame country: at one time the whole of this region swarmed with elephants and other heavy game animals. Not to go too far back into what might be termed ancient history, the remainder of these sketches of great herds of game have been restricted to instances within the last 50 or 60 years— but as will be observed the majority are of quite modern date. * A Naturalist's Voyage round the World in H.M.S. "Beagle, " 1833 to 1836, by Charles Darwin, Edit, of 1879, p. 86. CAPTAIN CORNWALLIS HARRIS'S EXPERIENCES. 6 1 Captain Cornwallis Harris, while travelling near the Meritsame River (South Africa), Oct. 9, 1836 relates the following details of what he saw : " I went in pursuit of a troop of brindled gnoos, and presently came upon another, which was joined by a third still larger— then by a vast herd of zebras, and again by more gnoos with sassaybes, and hartebeests, pouring down from every quarter until the landscape literally presented the appearance of a moving mass of game. Their incredible numbers so impeded their progress that I had no difficulty in closing with them." * We append another sketch by the same officer of the great herds seen by him near this same locality: " We soon perceived large herds of quaggas and brindled gnoos, which continued to join each other until the whole plain seemed alive. The clatter of their hoofs was perfectly astounding, and I could compare it to nothing but the din of a tremendous charge of cavalry or the rushing of a mighty tempest. I could not estimate the numbers at less than 15,000, a great extent of country being actually chequered black and white with their congregated masses. The long necks of troops of ostriches were also to be seen, towering above the heads of their less gigantic neighbours, and sailing away with astonishing rapidity. Groups of purple sassaybes and brilliant red and yellow hartebeests likewise lent their aid to complete the picture, which beggars all attempts at description." f The following sketches are from the pen of Mr. Roualeyn Gordon Gumming of Altyre, African Traveller and Hunter. This celebrated man, a scion of an ancient Scotch family, was a born hunter and sportsman. * Wild Sports of Southern Africa. Exploration from the Cape of Good Hope to the Tropic of Capricorn in 1836 and 1837, by Capt. William Cornwallis Harris, Bombay Engineers, H.E.I.C.S., publ. 1841, pp. 54 and 55. f Ibid., p. 60. 62 MR. GORDON CUMMING'S EXPERIENCES. Retiring from the Cape Mounted Rifles, he took his departure for the wilderness from Grahamstown (Cape Colony) Oct. 23rd, 1843. There he subsequently spent 5 years, wandering in his waggon through the far interior of South Africa, until, his health having been shaken by overwork and exposure, he finally returned to Europe in May 1849. He first entered the great game country a few days' march to the north of the present town of Cradock, where he encountered vast herds of migratory springbuck (Gazella Euchore) whose move- ments and appearance we shall leave him to describe in his own words: " Upon our crossing a ridge I beheld the country as far as my eye could reach, actually white with springbucks, with here and there a herd of black gnoos or wildebeests pranc- ing and capering in every direction, and lashing their white tails as they started off in long files at our approach. * — I felt at last I had reached the borders of those glorious hunting grounds, the accounts of which had been my chief inducement to visit this remote and desolate corner of the earth." f Mr. R. Gordon Gumming (further describing Migrations of Springbucks): "The accumulated masses of living creatures which the springbucks exhibit, on the greater migrations, is utterly astounding, and any traveller witnessing it, as I have, and giving a true description of what he has seen, can hardly expect to be believed, so marvellous is the scene. They have been well and truly compared to swarms of locusts, and like them they consume vast districts in a few hours. The course * Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa (1843 — 1848), by Roualeyn Gordon Gumming, publ. 1850, Vol. i., p. 62. f Ibid., Vol. i., p. 63. A GREAT MIGRATION OF SPRING-BUCKS. 63 adopted is generally such as to bring them back into their own country by a different route from that by which they set out. Thus their line of march forms a vast oval, of which the diameter may be some hundreds of miles, and the time occu- pied by the migration may vary from 6 months to a year. * "On the 28th (of December 1843) I nad. the satisfaction of beholding for the first time, a trek-bokken, or grand migra- tion of springbucks. This was I think, the most extraordinary and striking scene, as connected with beasts of the chase, that I have ever beheld. For about two hours before the day dawned I had been lying awake in my waggon listening to the grunting of the bucks within 200 yards of me." — " On my rising and looking about me, I beheld the ground to the northwards of my camp, actually covered with a dense living mass of springboks, marching slowly and steadily along, extending from an opening in a long range of hills on the west, through which they continued pouring, like the flood of some great river, to a ridge about a mile to the N.E. over which they disappeared. The breadth of the ground they cover- ed might have been somewhere about half a mile. I stood upon the fore chest of my waggon for nearly two hours, lost in wonder at the novel and wonderful scene which was passing before me, and had some difficulty in convincing myself that it was reality which I beheld, and not the wild and exag- gerated picture of a hunter's dream. During this time their legions continued streaming through the neck in the hills, in one unbroken compact phalanx." f During the whole of the day's march, the masses of these antelopes, Mr. Gordon Gumming assures us, became denser and denser, till their astonishing numbers baffled all attempts at description. " Vast and surprising as was the herd of springboks which * Five Years of a Himter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa (1843 — 1848), by Roualeyn Gordon Gumming of Altyre, 1850, Vol. i., p. 70 (part of a footnote). T Ibid., Vol. i., p. 122. 64 SPRING-BUCKS OF THE TREK. I had that morning witnessed, it was infinitely surpassed by what I beheld on the march — for on our clearing the low range of hills through which the springboks had been pouring, I beheld the boundless plains, and even the hill sides, which stretched away on every side of me, thickly covered with one vast herd of springboks ; as far as the eye could strain, the landscape was alive with them, until they softened down into a dim red mass of living creatures. " * There were, he considers, some hundreds of thousands within view, yet on reaching an encampment of Boers, and talking to them about it, they said it was as nothing compared with what they had frequently seen. There is no reason to suppose that they stated what they believed was untrue. "You this morning," said an old Boer, "beheld only one flat covered with springboks, but I give you my word, that I have ridden a long day's journey, over a succession of flats, covered with them as far as I could see, as thick as sheep standing in a fold." f Mr. Gordon Gumming is one of those whom stay- at-home theorists have ridiculed as a " master of the long bow," denouncing his book as filled with the most monstrous exaggerations. Personally we feel convinced that his accounts may safely be received as substantially correct. All subsequent information about the South African game merely goes to corroborate what Mr. Gordon Gumming has said. We are there- fore glad to be able to quote the opinion of a master in the sportman's art, who seems to have been entirely of the same opinion: * Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa (1843 — 1848), by Roualeyn Gordon Gumming of Altyre, 1850, Vol. i., p. 123. t Ibid., Vol. i., p. 124. GREAT BATTUE OF ANTELOPES. 65 " Often," says the late Sir Samuel Baker," have I pitied Gordon Gumming, when I have heard him talked of as a palpable Munchausen, by men who never fired a rifle, or saw a wild beast, except in a cage ; and still these men form the greater proportion of the 'readers' of these works." — "Men who have not seen, cannot understand the grandeur of wild sports in a wild country." * Sir Samuel Baker speaks feelingly on this subject, and remarks, that this species of unfair criticism, " is one great drawback to the publication of sporting adven- tures," for "they always appear to deal not a little in the marvellous; and this effect is generally heightened by the use of the first person, in writing" — "It is this feeling (he says) that deters many men who have passed through years of wild sports, from publishing an account of them." f We may here observe that so lately as August 24, 1860, during the visit of one of our Royal Princes to South Africa, according to Dr. Schweinfurth, the Boers, assisted by a whole clan of Kaffirs got up a battue in honour of his arrival in their country, and between 20,000 and 30,000 antelopes are said to have been enclosed. § This shows the vast quantities of game still existing in quite modern times. Sir Samuel Baker himself gives the following account of game seen in one of the noble open forests in the vicinity of the Yalle River, Ceylon: " I never saw game in such masses as had now collected in this neighbourhood/' — "There was too much game. Dur- ing the whole day's walk I was certainly not five minutes without seeing either elk, deer, buffalo, or hog. The noise of * The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon, by Sir Samuel W. Baker, Edition of 1874, Chapter i, p. 5. f Ibid., p. 4. § See Schweinfurth's Heart of Africa, 1874, Vol. i., p. 358. VOL. III. .S 66 GREAT HERDS OF GAME IN CEYLON. the gun did not appear to scare them : they would simply retreat, and fresh herds were met with in following up the one that had been disturbed." * Sir Samuel Baker and two friends killed fourteen elephants in one day in Ceylon on December 6th, 1851, f and in a three weeks' jungle trip this party killed fifty elephants, five deer, and two buffaloes. § Referring to the vast numbers of elephants in that island sixty years ago (say about 1835) Sir Samuel Baker says: " Three men in three days bagged 104 elephants. This was told me by one of the parties, and throws our modern shoot- ing into the shade. — This was at a time when guns were first heard of in the interior of Ceylon, and the animals had never been shot at." ** Returning now to the consideration of the great African game country Mr. Edward Mohr, a German traveller, in his " Victoria Falls of the Zambesi" men- tions the case of a celebrated elephant hunter and ivory collector belonging to the Cape Colony, named Hartley, whom he met in the course of his travels and who is thus described by him: " Hartley is an old man of about seventy, with a long silver beard, who has been an elephant hunter since his 26th year, and is well known from Potchefstrom to the Zambesi. He told me that he had shot altogether over 1000 elephants, and he is at present the oldest and greatest hunter of Africa, south of the Zambesi. .He is of middle height, very muscular, and strongly built, and still mounts his horse with * The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon, by Sir Samuel W. Baker, Edition of 1874, p. 163 ; (originally published 1854). t Ibid., p. 342. See Chap. xii. — Account of "A Jungle Trip." ;< Ibid., p. 351. See same. ** Eight Years in Ceylon, by Sir S. W. Baker. Edition of 1874, p. 114 (originally published 1855). GAME AT AN AFRICAN DESERT- POOL. 67 great agility. His face, arms, and hands are bronzed by constant exposure to the tropical sun." * The old hunter finally succumbed to the effects of malarial fever, in March 1870, and was buried in the African wilderness, in which the greater part of his life had been passed. Mr. James Chapman (Traveller and Explorer) gives the following description of the quantities of game seen coming to drink at a desert pool, known as the Mamtsoe Spring, situated in about Lat. 2 1 ° S., Long. 25° E. on the night of September 8th, 1854. A number of lions being in the habit of resorting nightly to this spring, either to drink or waylay the game, he went to lie in wait for them, in a shooting hole which he had constructed for this purpose: "Soon after dark, and before the moon rose, I observed some objects crouching towards his (hunting companion's) post, and my cry of warning was lost in the report of his rifle. Five other lions now got on their legs, while two others were observed moving round the pool above the wind." f The troop, numbering ten in all, actually besieged them for a short time, but were finally driven off by the firing: " Game of all sorts came and went in vast multitudes all night, many passing within a few feet of us. I feel no scruple in affirming that, since the previous evening before sunset, till next morning after sunrise, except during the time of our being besieged by the lions, no less, at a very * To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, translated from the German of Edward Mohr by N. D'Anvery, 1876, pp. 201 and 202. f Travels in the Interior of South Africa — comprising Fifteen Years'1 Himting and Trading (1849 — 1864) by James Chapman. F.R.G.S., 1868, Vol. i., pp. 238—9. 68 MR. CHAPMAN'S EXPERIENCES. moderate computation, than 100 head of game, drank at the spring every five minutes. This in ten hours would make 12,000, which however enormous it may appear is, I feel confident, far within the mark. This pool, about 400 yards in circumference, was all night kept in commotion: the splashing of water, the din of clattering hoofs, and the lowing and moaning of gnus and their calves, being mingled in discordant notes. The braying of quaggas was terrible, and the pond, except at one or two short periods when we fired, was never clear." * The following is another hunting scene, narrated by the same authority, of an immense herd of buffalo, witnessed October gth, 1854, at Mokee Fountain: " While in pursuit of a troop of about 400 pallahs, we found the spoor of an immense herd of buffaloes. Of these we fell in with a troop of eight, out of which M. and I bagged one each. While cutting up the buffalo, a rumbling noise like that of an earthquake broke over our ears, and we perceived a dense mass of black living game, like a troubled sea, extending over a large tract of plain approaching us. Moving out of the way, no less than from 800 to 1000 buffalo passed us at full speed, and fearful of being trodden to death in case of a change in their course, we waited till the whole herd had passed, and giving chase at their heels, we killed four and wounded several others. " f Mr. Chapman also relates the following respecting some great herds of game seen by him on the Banks of the Botletli river, South Africa : " Troops of leche varying from 50 to 100, their warm colours heightened by the sinking sun, contrasted with the * Travels in the Interior of Sottth Africa — comprising Fifteen Years* Hunting and Trading (1849 — 1864, by James Chapman, F.R.G.S.,. 1868, Vol. i.f p. 240. f Ibid., Vol. i., p. 265. GAME IN AN AFRICAN DESERT. 69 green carpet as they grazed peacefully within 300 yards of me. After dark I heard a troop of buffaloes butting each other. Buffaloes and rhinoceri quarrelled all night. At midnight elephants came. I let them go to the water. Three or four large bulls passed on fearlessly, but the females stopped on my spoor, and examined it. At length seeing the males were all right they also ventured down, and bathed for fully half an hour, during which I sat patiently waiting for them, having stalked to within fifteen paces of where they came down. A troop of 200 buffaloes, besides smaller parties had been drinking. It was a striking spec- tacle that ensued— buffalo followed buffalo, in a long un- broken line; when they come down the steep bank, they run down full trot, and dash into the water. The long file of elephants as they approached reminded me of a grand Indian military procession."* Speaking of the desert tract between the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi and Lake Ngami, which Mr. Chapman crossed in 1863, he observes, " The desert yields fruits for the use of man in greater abundance than might at first be supposed— berries of several kinds, edible roots, bulbs, etc. During the greater part of the year it is overrun by thousands of elephants, giraffes, rhinoceri, elands and other animals, who stay in it until driven away by the drying up of the waters ; but no sooner do the clouds begin to gather than they turn their faces thither again, linger- ing on its borders until the rain falls on its loose and thirsty sands, when they re-enter triumphantly and dispersing in every direction soon fill it with life, revelling in the sweet luxuriant vegetation." f These thirst-lands contain numerous tracts of waterless bush, and some belts of forests consisting of large trees. * Travels in the Interior of South Africa — comprising Fifteen Years1 Hunting and Trading (1849 — 1864), by James Chapman, F.R.G.S., 1868, Vol. ii., pp. 56 and 57. f Ibid., Vol. ii., pp. 297 and 298. 70 DR. LIVINGSTONE'S EXPERIENCES. Most of the natural reservoirs of rain water are found, as might be expected, in the depressions in these forests. * Dr. David Livingstone during his expedition to the Zambesi, states that near the mouth of the Kafue River, " Game of all kinds is in most extraordinary abundance. The drought drives all the game to the river to drink. An hour's walk on the right bank morning or evening reveals a country swarming with wild animals. Vast herds of pallahs, waterbucks, koodoos, buffaloes, wild pigs, elands, zebras and monkeys appear; while francolins, guinea fowls, and myriads of turtle doves attract the eye in the covers, with the fresh spoor of elephants and rhinoceri. Every few miles we came upon a school of hippopotami asleep on some shallows and bank, their bodies nearly all out of the water appeared like masses of black rock in the river." f A native hunting party, shortly before Dr. Living- stone's arrival, under the chief Sequasha, had killed 210 elephants in 'this same neighbourhood. In a marsh on the River Shire, Lat. 16° 30' S., Dr. Livingstone says that on one occasion he counted 800 elephants in sight at once in August 1859. He says, " the marsh is frequented by vast herds of these animals and prodigious numbers of many kinds of waterfowl. " On another occasion in this marsh he saw — "Nine large herds of elephants, which formed a line two miles long." § The following is a description of the game as seen * Travels in the Interior of South Africa — comprising Fifteen Years' Hunting and Trading (1849 — 1864), by James Chapman, F.R.G.S. 1868, Vol. ii., pp. 296-7. •j- Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi (1858 — 1864), by David Livingstone, edit, of 1875, p. 225. § Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa (1858 — 1864), by David and Charles Living- stone, pubd. 1865, p. 97. IN THE AFRICAN WILDERNESS. 71 by Dr. Livingstone during a day and a night in the African Wilderness in 1860, in the game country: "We slept near a lovely spot, with the Zambesi in front, backed by a semicircle of hills, leading to lofty mountains. The number of all sorts of game increases wonderfully every day. As a specimen of what may be met with, we may mention what has actually been seen. "On July 3 (1860) a herd of elephants passed within 50 yards of our sleeping place, going down to the river. Starting a few minutes before the main body, we come upon large flocks of guinea fowl, and shoot what may be wanted; as we proceed, francolins of three varieties run across the path, and hundreds of turtle doves rise with great blatter of wing, and fly off to the trees. Guinea fowls, francolins, turtle doves, ducks, and geese are the game birds of this district. At sun- rise a troop of pallahs, standing like a flock of sheep, allow the first man of our long Indian file to approach within about 50 yards, but having meat we let them trot off unscathed. Soon after we come upon a herd of waterbucks ; we pass on, and see a herd of doe koodoos with a magnificently horned buck or two. Just as we were thinking of breakfast, we meet some buffaloes grazing by the path, but they make off at a heavy gallop at the sight of man. After breakfast we draw near a pond of water, a couple of elephants stand on its bank, and, at a respectful distance behind these monarchs of the wilderness, is a herd of zebras, and another of waterbucks. On plains between us and the river, many antelopes of different species are calmly grazing. Wild pigs are common, and walk about during the day. A mile beyond the pool, three cow buffalo and their calves come from the woods. A troop of monkeys on the edge of the forest, scamper back with loud and angry bark. Early in the after- noon, we see buffalo again and other animals. We camp on the dry higher ground, after driving off a solitary elephant. The nights possess nearly as much of interest as the days. 72 MODERN ELEPHANT HUNTING. A new world awakes and comes forth more numerous, if we may judge by the noise, than that which is abroad by day. Lions and hyaenas roar around us. Strange birds sing their agreeable songs, while others scream and call harshly, as if in fear, or anger. Marvellous insect sounds fall upon the ear ; one, said by the natives to proceed from a large beetle, resembles a succession of musical blows on an anvil, while many others are indescribable. " * Coming now to more recent experiences Mr. F. C. Selous, African Hunter, in 1872, states that he made a clear profit of nearly £300, on ivory obtained from elephants killed in a trip of three months, f In the fol- lowing year, 1873, in the Matabele country, between the Gwai and to the south of the Shangani Rivers, about Lat. 19° S. and Long. 17° E., in four months Mr. Selous states that he killed 42 elephants to his own gun, whose tusks averaged 70 Ibs weight, the largest being 74 Ibs. During the same time, he says, George Wood shot about 50, and the Kaffir hunters about 40 more — that would make a total of i32.§ On one occasion, on September i7th, 1878, during a later trip, they secured 2 2 elephants in one day ; and on another occasion (in 1878) a party of Kaffirs on a plain killed 19." ** At the end of his book, Mr. Selous gives a game list, specifying the various descriptions of game shot between January i, 1877, and December 31, 1880, by * Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and of the Discovery of Lakes Shiriva and Nyassa (1858 — 1864), by David and Charles Livingstone, 1865, pp. 210 to 213. f See A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, a Narrative of Nine Years among the Game of the Far Interior (1871 — 1880), by Fredk. C. Selous, 1 88 1, p. 51. § See Ibid. p. 56. ** See Ibid. p. "343. GREAT HERDS OF BUFFALO. 73 which it appears, that he killed altogether 548 head of large game (including the smaller antelopes and deer) during those four years. The number of elephants killed was 20, rhinoceri 12, giraffes 18, buffalo (Bos Kaffir] 100, lions 13. * In another list of game killed from June 5 to De- cember 5, 1874, the bag foots up to 93 head of large game, inclusive of 24 elephants, 9 rhinoceri, 19 buffalo and other animals ; f this six months seems to have been a very successful period. Mr. Selous appears to have shot a great deal of his game on foot, which makes the record of work done, considering the means at his disposal, the more remarkable. With two common No. 4 smooth bore duck guns, purchased for £6 a piece, and a third at a trifle more, loaded with a handful of common Kaffir trade powder, he states that he killed 78 elephants in three seasons, all but one of which was shot on foot. § Mr. Selous gives the following description of a great herd of buffaloes (Bos Kaffir) seen near the Chobe River in 1874: "Just as I was about to commence supper, one of the Kaffirs reported that a large herd of buffaloes were coming down from the valley to the drinking place, on which I got up and went to the edge of the bush to have a look at them. The whole of the open ground was literally covered with their massive dusky forms, which in the dim twilight appeared twice their natural size. Though it is difficult to speak with any degree of accuracy as to numbers I think * A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, a Narrative of Nine Years among the Game of the Far Interior, by Fredk. C. Selous, 1881, Appendix, pp. 447, 448. § Ibid., p. 448. } Ibid., p. 10. 74 GAME ON THE CHOBE RIVER. there could not have been less than from three to four hundred." — "They were advancing rapidly towards the river, and soon their foremost ranks stepped knee-deep into the water, and after drinking their fill gradually gave place to those in the rear. Until twilight had given place to a clear starlight night I watched this interesting scene, standing just on the edge of the jungle and not twenty yards from the nearest of them."— "About an hour later, a troop of lions commenced to roar not far down the river. They seemed to be advancing towards our camp, roaring grandly at inter- vals, and at length reached the place where the buffaloes had drunk." * The whole of the country in this locality along the banks of the Chobe Mr. Selous describes as being full of game. Before sunrise next morning he says: "I started into the jungle in search of elephants and had not proceeded 300 yards, before crossing the fresh spoor of two bulls that had drunk during the night close to our camp, but so noiselessly as not to have awakened myself or any of my Kaffirs." And again, "The number of buffaloes about this part of the Chobe is really astonishing, and in no other part of the country have I found them so numerous. They are quite a nuisance to the elephant hunter." f Some flat open plains, near by, were also covered with porkoo, antelopes, and other game : " The number of porkoos on this flat quite surprised me. Owing to the great numbers I christened this place the Porkoo Flats. "§ As regards the herds of game seen on the Mababe and Chobe Rivers, October 26, 1879, Mr. Selous observes, * A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, a Narrative of Nine Years among the Game of the Far Interior of South Africa (1871 — 1880), by Frederick C. Selous, 1881, pp. 126 — 127. f Ibid., pp. 127 — 8. § Ibid., p. 128. HERDS OF GAME COMING DOWN TO DRINK. 75, " Being tired of shooting the zebras, blue wildebeests and tsessebe antelopes, which owing to the drought, had assem- bled in large herds from an enormous area of country to- drink in the Mababe— hundreds of which might be seen at any moment from the waggons, I determined to make an- other journey on foot in search of elephants to the Chobe." — " The weather was most intensely hot both day and night." — "In the evenings it was quite a sight to see the herds of game coming down to drink. In cooler weather these ani- mals would most of them have waited for the protecting cover of night, before venturing down to the river, but the intense heat made them forget their usual caution. Every evening, from about five o'clock till dusk, I was seldom out of sight of game of some kind — buffaloes, impalas, koodoos, lech- wes, reedbucks, blue wildebeests, tsessebes, and wild pigs being the commonest; whilst sable and roan antelopes, zebras, and an occasional giraffe or eland were also to be seen." * Here again, Mr. Selous describes the neighbourhood as swarming with heavy game, such as herds of ele- phants, and herds of giraffes, also many lions, troops of the latter being heard roaring grandly at intervals during the night. Passing no\v to the consideration of the great Herds of buffalo (Bos Americanus) on the prairies of North America, accounts of these assemblages show that the vast numbers of these animals seen during the first half of the present century, seem to surpass- anything in the way of really heavy game quadrupeds that has been recorded elsewhere. "At any time between 1824 and 1836," says Colonel Fre- * A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, a Narrative of Nine Years among the Game of the Far Interior of South Africa (1871 — l88o)r by Frederick C. Selous, 1881, pp. 402 — 3. 76 THE GREAT NORTH AMERICAN BUFFALO HERDS. mont, U.S.A., " a traveller might start from any given point in the Rocky Mountains, journeying by the most direct route to the Missouri River, and during the whole distance, his road would always be among large bands of buffalo, which would never be out of his view, until he arrived almost within sight of the abodes of civilization." * According to Mr. Fitzpatrick, and from his own cognisance of the facts, Colonel Fremont states that — u Our knowledge (of this great plains region) does not go further back than the spring of 1824," about which time the buffalo roamed in immense herds all through the country both to the east and west of the Rocky Mountains. "About the year 1834 or 1835 they began to diminish very rapidly" and by about 1840 had entirely abandoned the country watered by the Colum- bia and its tributaries. In 1843, at the time Colonel Fremont visited these regions, the rapidity with which they were decreasing was the general subject of remark, as at that time the principal business of the American trading posts in the Far West was being carried on in buffalo-robes. In 1846 however, their numbers were still so vast, that the late Mr. Francis Parkman (the American Historian of Canada) describing the numbers seen by him on the Arkansas River, and the confused medley of sounds that were heard by night, coming from the mighty assemblage of these animals collected upon the adjacent plains near his camp — says, " We encamped close to the river. The night was dark, and as we lay down we could hear, mingled with the howling * The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mottntains, Oregon, and California, by Brevet Colonel John C. Fremont, published Buffalo U.S., 1853, pp. 187 and 188. LIEUTENANT RUXTON'S EXPERIENCES. 77 of wolves, the hoarse bellowing of the buffalo, like the ocean, beating upon a distant coast." * The previous day the plain before them had been alive with innumerable herds of these mighty beasts — "From the river bank," says Mr. Parkman, " away over the swelling prairie as far as the eye could reach, was one vast host of buffalo. The outskirts of the herd were within a quarter of a mile. In many parts they were crowded so densely together, that in the distance their rounded backs presented a surface of uniform blackness ; but elsewhere they were more scattered, and from amid the multitude rose little columns of dust where some of them were rolling on the ground. — Here and there a battle was going on among the bulls; we could distinctly see them rushing against each other, and hear the clattering of their horns, and their hoarse bellowing — " f George Frederick Ruxton (formerly Lieutenant of the 8 Qth regiment) relates the following details respecting some great herds of American bison seen by him in Texas — " We were now day after day passing through countless- herds of buffalo. Some idea may be formed of their numbers, by mentioning that one day passing along a ridge of upland prairie at least 30 miles in length, and from which a view ex- tended at least eight miles in length on each side, not a patch of grass ten yards square could be seen, so dense was the living mass that covered the country, in every direction. § " One night while standing guard round the camp I heard an inexplicable noise like distant thunder, but too continuous- to proceed from that source, which gradually increased, and drew nearer to the camp. Placing my ear to the ground, I * The Oregon Trail — Sketches of Prairie and Rockv Mountain Life? by Francis Parkman, 8th edit. 1885, p. 336. f Ibid., p. 331. § Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, by Geo. F. Ruxton, 1849, p. 299. 78 A GREAT BUFFALO STAMPEDE. distinguished the roaring tramp of buffalo, thundering on the plain ; and as the moon for a moment burst from a cloud, I saw the prairie was covered with a dark mass, which undulated in the uncertain light like the waves of the sea. — I at once became sensible of the imminent danger we were in, for when thousands and hundreds of thousands of these animals are pouring in a resistless torrent over the plains, trampling down all opposition to their advance, it is almost impossible to change their course, particularly at night. Even if we ourselves were not crushed by the mass of beasts, our animals would most certainly be borne away and irrecoverably lost. In the day time even our cavallada was in continual danger, for immense herds of buffalo dashed repeatedly through the waggons, scarcely giving us time to rescue the animals before they were upon us. Between Pawnee Fork and Cow Creek all our former experiences with buffalo were thrown into the shade, for here they literally formed the whole scenery, and nothing but dense masses of these animals, was to be seen in every direction, covering valley and bluff, and actually blocking up the trail." * (These events doubtless describe the transit of one of the great migratory herds, of which we have already spoken). We must now briefly describe the decline and dis- appearance of the American buffalo (or bison) as a wild denizen of the Wilderness. Up to 1871 at all events, buffalo still continued to appear in masses during their migratory movements at certain points of the Western Wilderness. Colonel Dodge for instance states that in May of that year he— "drove from Old Fort Larned on the Arkansas, 34 miles. At least 25 miles of the distance was through one immense herd composed of countless smaller herds of buffalo on their journey north" — " The whole country appeared one mass of * Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, by Geo. F. Ruxton, 1849, pp. 300—306. COLONEL DODGE'S EXPERIENCES. 79 buffalo"— presently Colonel Dodge goes on to relate, that some of these animals seeing him in their rear — "started at full speed directly towards him, stamping and bringing with them the numberless herds through which they passed, and pouring down upon him in one compact mass of plunging animals, mad with fright, and as irresistible as an avalanche. " A few rifle shots however, split the herd into two streams, and he escaped from a most serious and awkward position : the same thing however " occurred so frequently within the next ten miles " that on arrival at Fort Larned he found he had 26 tongues in the waggon representing the numbers of animals he had killed in sheer self-defence. For Colonel Dodge says — " I was not hunting, wanted no meat, and would not voluntarily have fired. I killed only in self-preservation, and fired almost every shot from the waggon." * Fortunately for himself, the Colonel's horse was a steady old buffalo runner, which kept quiet, and regarded the buffalo with un- concern. A restive horse is always a great danger on such occasions. This great herd, we may remark, is cited as a recent example of the buffalo migrations already spoken of some pages back in this chapter. By this time (1871) the great buffalo range had be- come permanently divided by the Pacific railways ; the animals thus found themselves more or less confined to certain restricted areas of country; and in 1872 on this becoming generally known, that deplorable slaughter of these splendid animals by greedy " skin hunters" began, which has ended in their practical extinction. * The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Richard Irving Dodge, Lieut.-Col. U.S.A., 1877, pp. 120 and 121. 8o GREAT BATTUES OF BUFFALO. Colonel Dodge gives full details about the wicked massacres, of which some account has already been given in these pages. * We shall therefore merely mention that what was called " the robe-crop " of the years 1872 — 73 and 74, is stated by Colonel Dodge to have amounted to the " almost incredible number of nearly 4^ millions, killed in the short space of three years." f No account is taken in this, of the immense numbers killed by whites and Indians, whose skins did not come into the market ; nor of the British trade returns of skins from the Hudson Bay Territory — and thus in a few years the buffalo, the finest representative of the large game of America, perished, and as a wild animal is now extinct. The American elk, or wapiti (Cermis Strongy- locerus] is the most magnificent of the wild faunae of North America, which still survives the ravages of the professional skin-hunter. — We believe it to be abso- lutely the finest animal of the deer tribe in existence. Colonel Dodge mentions one noble stag, which is said to have tt weighed, as it fell, 800 pounds ; whose antlers attached only to the frontal bone, weighed of them- selves 6 1 pounds." § This splendid species of big game animals; used however rarely to assemble in large numbers, though frequently seen in small herds. In 1847 however, Captain Palliser, a British officer, and a personal ac- quaintance of our own early days mentions that— " Near the mouth of the Yellowstone, we came in sight * See chapter viii., Vol. ii. The Region of the Great Plains. f The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Richard Irving Dodge, Lt.-Col. U.S.A., '1877, p. 143. § Ibid., p. 155. ASIATIC GAME HERDS. 8 I of a splendid band of upwards of 100 elk. Never shall I forget (he says) the grand and imposing appearance they presented, like a regiment of cavalry as they passed along the plain, the old stags with branching antlers leading the van. " * The cariboo (Cervus Tarandus) however (the American variety of the reindeer), during their annual migrations occasionally appear in immense assemblages in the sub-arctic regions of North Western Canada; f so also the prong-horned antelope (A. Fucifer) in the fall of the year is, or rather was, occasionally seen in large herds upon the western plains. In Asia, likewise, these migratory assemblages of game have occasionally been recorded as occurring upon its boundless central table-lands ; thus near Kaviz in eastern Persia, Ferriers reports numerous herds of many kinds of game being seen. " The deer (he says) were feeding in herds of several hundreds, and at no great distance from each other. They were not frightened at our approach and frequently remained within gunshot. The wild asses were quite numerous but fled at the least noise." — "Near Kassan the game is collected in prodigious quantities, pheasants, blackcock, hares, par- tridges; also boars, deer, wild asses and carnivorous animals in great numbers." § We might go on to chronicle truly marvellous assemblages of small game, and of wild fowl, in dif- ferent parts of the world — some anecdotes of bird life of this kind will however be mentioned in our chapter on Wild Fowl and Wild Fowl Shooting. The rabbit, in Australia for instance, alone, would * The Solitary Htinter on the Prairies, 1856, by Captain John Palliser. f See our Chapter on "The Arctic Zone." Chapter x. Vol. ii, § Caravan Jozirneys, by J. P. Ferriers, 1856, p. 141. VOL. III. 6 82 THE RABBIT IN AUSTRALIA. furnish materials of the most extraordinary description, which would occupy a chapter to itself had we space for such details. This however would be the history of an imported pest overrunning and destroying thou- sands of square miles of bush lands in that continent. In some districts they became so bad, that having destroyed every green thing throughout large areas of country, they subsequently perished of starvation, and their decaying carcases poisoned the whole atmo- sphere over many square miles. The rabbit in Australia probably furnishes the most curious example that has ever been chronicled of an animal becoming* a pest through sheer numbers. The State had to fight them, like an army of foreign invaders. These instances of great herds of game, already furnished, are sufficient to show the magnificent charac- ter of the sport which even quite recently was obtain- able— and indeed may still be had in Africa and else- where, by sportsmen who care to go far enough in search of it. For it must be remembered a very large portion — both of the Asiatic and African continents- is still very imperfectly known, and the recent experi- ences of numerous hunting parties show what can be done in Africa, at all events, even at the present day, by energetic and fearless hunters. Probably this chapter could not be brought more appropriately to a close, than by the reproduction of the poem " Afar in the Desert" by Mr. Thomas Pringle, the Poet of South Africa, which was first published in The South African Journal, in 1824. A really good hunting piece, such as this, is rare -perhaps because few men of poetic genius have PRINGLE, THE POET OF SOUTH AFRICA. 83 had sufficient opportunity to enable them to write with accuracy upon such subjects. Mr. Pringle's poem however, has long been extolled in the Cape Colony as a masterpiece of its kind, and by common consent it is generally admitted to be a most picturesque and lifelike description of South African deserts and desert game. This is sufficiently proved by the numerous quotations that have been given from it in the various works of African travel — and this must serve as our excuse for inserting it here. The majestic character of the theme itself will be readily apparent, and as a graphic description of Desert Life it would probably be hard to match Mr. Thomas Pringle's Poem, as given in George Thompson's " Travels in South Africa " (i Vol. 4to, pub- lished London 1827). AFAR IN THE DESERT. Afar in the desert, I love to ride, With the silent bushboy alone by my side, When the sorrows of life the soul o'ercast, And, sick of the present, I turn to the past; While the eye is suffused with regretful tears, From the fond recollection of former years; And the shadows of things that have long since fled, Flit o'er the brain, like the ghosts of the dead. Bright visions of glory, that vanish'd too soon; Day-dreams that departed, ere manhood's noon; Attachments by fate, or by falsehood reft; Companions of early days— lost or left; And my Native Land ! whose magical name Thrills to mv heart like electric flame, 84 "AFAR IN THE DESERT." The home of my childhood, the haunts of my prime, All the passions and scenes of that rapturous time, When the feelings were young, and the world was new, Like the fresh bowers of Paradise opening to view. All, all now forsaken, forgotten, or gone, And I— a lone exile — remember'd of none; My high aims abandon'd, my good acts undone, Aweary of all that is under the sun; With that sadness of heart which no stranger may scan I fly to the Desert, afar from man. 2. Afar in the Desert, I love to ride, With the silent bushboy alone by my side, When the wild turmoil of this wearisome life, With its scenes of oppression, corruption, and strife: The proud man's frown, the base man's fear, The scorner's laugh, and the sufferer's tear, And malice, and meanness, and falsehood and folly, Dispose me to musing, and dark melancholy; When my bosom is full, and my thoughts are high. And my soul is sick, with the bondsman's sigh : Oh then ! there is freedom, and joy, and pride, Afar in the Desert, alone to ride. There is rapture to vault on the champing steed, And to bound away, with the eagle's speed; With the death-fraught firelock in my hand, (The only law of the Desert land) But 'tis not the innocent to destroy^ For I hate the huntsman's savage joy. Afar in the Desert, I love to ride, With the silent bushboy alone by my side. MR. PRINGLE'S TOEM. 85 Away, away, from the dwellings of men, By the wild deer's haunt, and the buffalo's glen, By valleys remote, where the oribi plays: Where the gnoo, the gazelle, and the hartebeest graze, And the gemsbok, and eland, imhunted recline By the skirts of grey forests, o'ergrown by wild vine: Where the elephant browses at peace in his wood, And the riverhorse gambols, unscared in the flood, And the mighty rhinoceros wallows at will, In the " vley " where the wild ass is drinking his fill. 4- Afar in the Desert, I love to ride, With the silent bushboy alone by my side, O'er the brown "Karoo," * where the bleating cry Of the springbok's fawn sounds plaintively; Where the zebra wantonly tosses his mane, In fields seldom freshened by moisture or rain; And the stately koodoo exultingly bounds, Undisturbed by the bay of the hunter's hounds, Where the timorous quagha's wild whistling neigh Is heard by the brack fountain, far away; And the fleet-footed ostrich, over the waste, Speeds like a horseman who travels in haste: Hieing away to the home of her rest Where she and her mate have scooped their nest, Far hid from the pitiless plunderer's view In the pathless depths of the parched Karoo; f While the vulture in circles wheels high o'erhead, Greedy to scent, and to gorge on the dead; And the grisly wolf, and shrieking jackal, Howl for their prey at the evening's fall; * Karoo = desert or dry place (a Hottentot word). f This and the three previous lines are from Noble's edition. 86 "AFAR IN THE DESERT." And the fiend-like laugh of hyaenas grim Fearfully startles the twilight dim. Afar in the Desert, I love to ride, With the silent bushboy alone by my side, Away, away, in the wilderness vast; Where the white man's foot hath never passed, And the quivered Koranna, or Bechuan, Hath rarely cross'd, with his roving clan. A region of emptiness — howling and drear, Which man hath abandoned, from famine and fear; Which the snakes and the lizard inhabit alone, And the bat flitting forth from his old hollow stone; Where grass, nor herb, nor shrub, takes root, Save poisonous thorns that pierce the foot; And the bitter melon, for food and drink, Is the pilgrim's fare, by the salt lake's brink: A region of drought where no river glides, Nor rippling brook, with its osier'd sides, Where no reedy pool, nor bubbling fount, Nor shady tree, nor cloud-capped mount, Are found — to refresh the aching eye: But the barren earth, and the burning sky, And the blank horizon, round and round, Without a living sight or sound, Tell to the heart, in its pensive mood, That this is— Nature's solitude. 6. And here, while the night winds round me sigh, And the stars burn bright in the midnight sky : As I sit apart, by the cavern'd stone, Like Elijah at Horeb's cave alone, COLERIDGE'S APPRECIATION OF PRINGLE'S POEM. 87 I feel as a moth in the Mighty Hand, That spread the Heavens and heaved the land, A "still small voice" comes through the wild (Like a father consoling his fretful child) Which banishes bitterness, wrath, and fear, Saying ''''Man is distant, but God is near." After Mr. Pringle's death which took place in London in Dec. 1834, a new edition of his poems with a sketch of their author's life was published, edited by Leitch Richey (8vo. London 1839), who comments upon this poem in these terms— " The finest and most finished of the larger poetical pieces in this collection undoubtedly is 'Afar in the Desert.' — This is a poem, which once having read, it is difficult to forget — It lingers in the ears, like one of those old melodies that are associated with ideas at once of sadness and of beauty." Coleridge on seeing it in Thompson's travels, wrote to Mr. Pringle respecting it, in the following terms — " I was taken so completely possession of, that for some days I did little else but read and recite your poem " (Extract Coleridge's letter to Pringle). (N.B. — Since these pages were written, a new edition of Thomas Pringle's poetical works has been published by Messrs. J. C. Juta & Co. of Cape Town, edited by John Noble, Clerk to the House of Assembly.) CHAPTER XV. FOREST AND JUNGLE SHOOTING. Why the Subjects of Forest and Plains Hunting are Treated of Separately. Home Shooting Parties versus Game Shooting in the Wilder- ness. Why Novices should never Go out Alone. Necessity for Securing the Services of Native Hunters and Trackers. Fly Time in the Woods. The Erratic Movements of Game. Wood-Craft as a Special Art. Equatorial Forest Tribes. The Density of these Forests a Bar to Hunt- ing. Scarcity of Game in Dense Forests. Looking for "Sign" or Marks of Game. Footprints. Droppings. Trails Leading to Water. Game Paths. Game and Still Hunting. Intercommunication of Ideas among the Animal Creation. Hunting with Hounds, not found to Alarm Game like Still Hunting. The Question of the Fear of Man among the Animal Creation. Game more Alarmed by the Scent than by the Sight of Man. Savage Tribes distinguishable by their Different Peculiar Odours. Terror of Animals in the Arctic Regions on Catching the Scent of Man. The Wind in Stalking Game. Curious Facts in Natural History with reference to Scent. Absence of Scent in Young and Helpless Animals. Birds' Power of Retaining their Scent. The Scent of Dead Birds — Power of Retaining Scent ceases with Life. The Aroma of Plants. Plants which emit Aroma only by Night. Tame Game. Animals etc. that have never seen Man Startled at His Scent. Horses Stampeded by the Scent of the Camel. The Visual Powers of Wild Birds and Animals. Birds of Prey in Forests. Heavy and Powerful Animals Generally less Keen-Sighted than Weaker Creatures. The Powers of Vision of Forest and Plains Animals Contrasted. Objects in Motion. Deer and Moving Objects. "Stopping to Listen" in the Forest. Taking up a Stand to Watch for Game. Startled Animals and Birds alarm the Neighbourhood in their Flight. Wild Animals in their Lairs. Game Doubling on their Trails before Lying down. "Windfalls" and Young Trees in Forests. Forest Sloughs and Swamps. Game on Mountain Slopes — in Ravines etc. "Running Shots." Deer Stopping Short on Hearing a Noise. Flies and Game taking refuge in Pools. Beasts of Prey at Watering Places. Rarity of Herds of Game in Forests. The Morning Hours for Forest Hunting. Depredations of Game on Crops. Advent of Dawn and Movements of the Jungle Game. Night Shooting on Cultivated Lands adjoining Forests. Nocturnal Habits of Forest Game. Beasts of Prey as Game. Extraordinary Boldness of Deer and Other Timid Animals in Quest of Food by Night. Beasts of Prey much less Daring. Difficulty of Getting Shots at Them. 88 FOREST AND JUNGLE SHOOTING. 89 Man-Eating Tigers. How they become Man-Eaters. Lions in Somaliland. Loss of Life by Wild Animals in Russia. Travellers Devoured by Wolves in Hungary. Rewards for Destruction of Wolves in France. Packs of Wolves in the Hudson Bay Territory. A Party of 18 Persons Devoured. The Sense of Fear in Animals versus the Stress of Want. Birds and Beasts of Prey as the Friends of Sportsmen. Beasts of Prey Scarce in Great Forests. Noises in the Forest. The Footfalls of Hunters. The Great Stillness of the Primeval Woods. Scarcity of Singing Birds. Still Weather bad for Forest Hunting. Foot-Gear for Forest Hunting. Moccassins. Why Savages turn their Toes in. The Hunter's Dress. How Game catch Sight of Hunters The Hunter's Eye and Objects in Motion. The Hunter's Countenance. Restless-Eyed Men. The Power of Vision in the Wild and Civilized Man Contrasted. The Facility with which Forest Animals Hide. Big Game Standing Motionless Among Thick Bush. Protective Colourings. Deer and Antelope. Deer seek the Bush. Antelope the most Open Plain. Game among Bush. Thorny Bush. Thorns and the Thick Skins of Heavy Game. Tree-feeding Animals. African Buffaloes. Silent Movements of the Great Animals. Wounded Buffalo. Noiseless Tread of Elephants. A Drinking Pool in the Ceylon Forest by Night. Stormy Weather in the Forest. Lulls in the Wind. The Best Hunting Grounds in Forests. Blow Downs. Driving Game. Detatched Covers. Salt Licks. Waterless Forests and Desert Pools. Tropical Hot Weather Shooting. Shooting from Trees. Habits of Wild Animals Unchanged throughout Historic Time. The Law of Force in Nature. Forest Hunting in Snow Time. Winter Camps in the American Forest. The Fall in American Woods. Moose Calling. Moose Yards. Snow Storms in the Forest. Grandeur of the Snow-clad Pine Forest. Camping during Intense Cold. Blizzards. Trails of Game in the Snow. Travelling over Ice. Small Noises heard in the Stillness of the Forest. Carrying Things through the Forest. "V T TE, must preface our opening remarks upon sport- * * ing matters by saying that we have thought it desirable to separate the subject of forest and jungle shooting from hunting and sporting on plains which is pursued in the open country. We must leave our readers to form their own conclusions as to the wisdom or unwisdom of that course, the reasons for which we shall endeavour to make apparent as we proceed. We have also added a chapter on bird shooting, where the shot gun comes into play, in place of the rifle; we have moreover taken the liberty of speaking of 90 THE RIFLE AS A SPORTING WEAPON. the feathered tribes collectively as " Wildfowl " for reasons which will appear in due course — and we trust that the reader will kindly forgive this departure from the usual practice. The use of the rifle as a sporting weapon, from our point of view, is an accomplishment whose value extends far beyond what is generally regarded as its employment as a mere accessory to making a bag of game. While we have no hesitation in asserting that the skilful hunter forms the raw material for the most formidable soldier in the world, space, and the fear of extending these volumes too greatly, induces us to remain silent upon these considerations in the pages of our present work. We shall therefore confine our observations to the rifle as a sporting weapon only; and while endeavouring to explain so far as that may be possible in words, what appear to us to be the leading secrets of the hunter's art, we shall at the same time describe the principal characteristics and habits of the forest animals, etc., because without making himself acquainted with these matters the would-be hunter after \vild game in a great wilderness country would prove deficient in one of the most important qualifications which fit a man to follow the art with fair chances of success. So far as our humble experience extends, such shooting as a man gets when invited to a shooting party at home, where the sportsman is attended by pro- fessional gamekeepers who know intimately every yard of the ground, and every circumstance connected with the sport to be had upon it, affords little useful help as to the plan of campaign in a wild country. HOME AND FOREIGN SHOOTING. gi Gentlemen who live at home at ease are generally able to go out on such occasions accompanied by every element of comfort and convenience which wealth and an ultra-civilization can place at their disposal, and we are among the very last persons who feel disposed to depreciate in any way the good things of this kind, which come in as aids to enjoyment when out for a day's shooting. By all means let us brighten this short life in every way that may be possible, and use to the full every advantage and every comfort which circumstances place at our disposal. At the same time wre must always bear in mind, when we have put the sea between ourselves and home, that conditions such as we have become accustomed to, do not generally apply to the novel circumstances which surround us in a foreign land: especially when, leaving the neighbourhood of civiliza- tion, we desire to penetrate into a wild country about which very little is known, and where it is often next to impossible to obtain information of a really reliable nature about it ; and thus it comes to pass that a man may be accounted a very fair shot at home and, as one of a shooting party, may be able to hold his own with the others remarkably well ; yet if this same individual goes out for his first day's shooting in a great forest country, or upon the vast expanse of the prairie or the desert, he will find himself nearly as helpless and almost as much out of his element as a child taken out by his father to try his first shot at a mark. If it be in the forest, as we shall presently explain, the initial difficulty of making out the game has to be surmounted. It may however at first sight seem almost absurd to suppose that the form of a large animal could be invisible at close quarters; nevertheless we shall 0,2 SHOOTING UNDER NOVEL CONDITIONS. show that until the eye has become trained to recognise animals under these novel conditions, this difficulty is very real and by no means imaginary. If, on the other hand, it be in the midst of a wide plain, why then all the novice's good shooting goes for nothing, and he finds that he cannot hit a haystack (as the com- mon expression goes when a man misses everything), until he becomes accustomed to judge distances upon the great grassy sea, and gets used to the wholly different state of the atmosphere there, to that generally experienced in our dim climates. The glitter of the solar rays and their unwonted lustre so disconcerts his aim, that the new combination of circumstances literally, and not at all metaphorically speaking, put him out completely, and for some little time good shooting is unattainable. Then again the extent of country is so vast, the move- ments, haunts, and habits of the game so uncertain, and the conditions under which it has to be looked for, so different to what he has been accustomed to at home, that the new comer is at first completely baffled in his calculations, and finds his home experiences of little service in teaching him to find — and work his way up to within shooting distance of — the wild game of the wilderness. " It is only when left to ourselves" {says Captain John Palliser, in his " Solitary Hunter on the North American Prairies ") " that we gentlemen of England feel how very little we are in the habit of doing for ourselves, and how helpless we are rendered by our civilization." * If he has never had any experience in guiding his course through a wild country, for one thing the new * Published in 1856. This charming little collection of hunting sketches is now out of print, and very scarce. GETTING LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. 93 comer should always remember that it is a matter of exceeding danger for a novice to go off alone in quest of game, a thing which should never be attempted by anyone unaccustomed to the wilderness. He should never go anywhere out of actual sight of camp unless he is accompanied by some one or more trustworthy persons, competent to act as guides and counsellors in finding his way about. The number of serious and fatal accidents that have from time to time occurred by disregard of such precautions, has been very numerous; indeed after a careful study of the works of great travellers, we find that there is scarcely an individual who has not his own particular tale to tell of the troubles of this kind which have befallen him at one time or another during his career. Even the most experienced white hunters at times seem to lose their reckoning, becoming, what used to be known in the Far West in the early days of exploration, as "turned round." Experienced rangers, if out alone in the woods or on the plains, when they found themselves affected in this way, used to go into camp and wait until this peculiar affection of the nervous system passed off, which it generally used to do of itself after a short time. * On the other hand, the savage seems to be proof against these influences; and excepting during dense fogs, or other altogether exceptional circumstances lasting for a short time, his sense of direction seems never to fail him, and he can no more get lost in his native forests, or on his boundless plains and desertsr than a Londoner in his maze of streets. Another reason why, in the forest especially, no man * See The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Col. R. L Dodge, U.S.A., 1877, pp. 46—48. 94 GOING OUT ALONE. should go out alone, is because any ordinary mishap such as a sprained ankle or other casualty, which might prevent his making his way back to camp, would in that case become a most serious matter. Thus Colonel Dodge, in entering his protest against this dangerous practice mentions, for the benefit of young sportsmen, an instance within his knowledge where a man went out hunting alone in the Black Hills, and fell into a chasm breaking his leg, and so perished miserably by starvation. Some three weeks elapsed before his remains were at length discovered by his friends. * "I have known," says the Colonel, "very many instances of accidents, not very serious in themselves, but which would probably have been fatal had the individuals been alone when they happened. I speak from ample experience. Do not go hunting (on the plains) alone, "f A trustworthy native attendant who knows the lo- cality well is moreover at all times an invaluable adjunct to the European out in the wilds in quest of sport. In America, there are many white men who, bred and born in the solitudes of the forest or upon the plains, have become so accomplished in the art of finding their way, that they are almost as good as any Indian — but if the services of a faithful and reliable Indian hunter can be procured the European tourist who contemplates a forest trip will do well to secure him. In Hindustan European sportsmen almost always act upon this policy, and secure the services of one or more local " shikaris, " or native hunters, whose * The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Colonel Richard I. Dodge, 1877, p. in. t Ibid., p. 112. NATIVE SHIKARIS. 95 assistance is really a sine qua non in finding" and tracking game through the mazes of the Indian jungles. The experiences of Indian sportsmen are unanimous upon this point — the usual practice advocated by those best qualified to judge is that while it may be con- venient and desirable to have one or more native hunters to accompany the sportsmen throughout his expeditions, as gunbearers or personal attendants, the services of the local shikari, in addition to these, can never be dispensed with: he alone knows the habits and haunts of the game animals which inhabit the neighbouring jungles, and without his assistance the prospects of good sport would be so slender as in general to be worth but little. " No Shikari," says Colonel Kinloch, " is of any use, except in the country which he knows, and few have more than purely local knowledge." * So in the American woods, in a great forest region such as British Columbia still is, unless a sportsman secures reliable guides who know the lie of the country and the habits of the game, a man's whole season would be wasted in making his experience, and in trying to find out for himself the best hunting grounds, the locality of the principal lakes, and the courses of the main river channels. These are among the first things that a man requires to know, so as to be able to hunt over a wild country with any prospect of success. Success in forest hunting will also of necessity be largely influenced by the nature of the country, the climate, and the season of the year. If for instance, * Large Game Shooting, inThibet, the Himalayas, and Northern India, by Colonel Kinloch, the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Calcutta 1885, p, 214. g6 GAME AND WEATHER. flies are bad, during certain months, deer, and many other kinds of forest animals run before them and move away to the hills, or to the higher slopes of the mountain ranges, where any such are within reach. While other sorts of animals, such as the Indian and African buffalo, will resort to the waters and wallow in their muddy shallows, in order that the coating of mud and slime which adheres to their skins may form a protection against these pests. Cold weather and the approach of winter will, on the other hand, drive most kinds of game down from the hills into the shelter of the heavy timber. Then if there is a long dry season, as in some of the Indian and African forests, the drying up of streams and pools may at certain times of the year cause whole districts of country which were full of game while water was plentiful, to be entirely abandoned by almost every living creature. The migratory game then congregate, perhaps in very large numbers, in the neighbourhood of the principal waters whose sources are inexhaustible. In this latter description of arid country most of the forest generally consists of dwarf and thorny trees and constitutes the regular bush jungle, which covers vast areas in many sub-tropical lands; and in spots it is often of a very dense and impenetrable character; in other places it assumes the form of a high grass jungle, consisting of bamboos and other giant grasses, which, when the drought has been for some time intense, become as dry as tinder. Those sections of country which still remain in such districts covered with a dense growth of heavy timber, are generally of a damp, well watered character, and are sure to be more or less copiously supplied with springs, where water is found GAME IN HEAVY FORESTS. 97 at all seasons. * In the hot weather, at least during the day time, most of the wild animals here find their resting places, from whence they sally out to the glades and open spaces in the early mornings and evenings — and many of them travel long distances in so doing, returning perhaps before daylight to their secluded retreats in the fastnesses of the forest, where it requires the most perfect knowledge of the country and of their daily habits, to enable the hunter to fol- low them with any chance of success. It is here that the services of the local native hunter come in so valuable; his aid being in fact, as we have said, a sine qua non for the European sportsman. Even the natives of many countries are sharply divided into plainsmen and forest tribes. This is so in many parts of India and Africa. It is also well exemplified among the red men of America; some of whom call themselves " the people of the plains, " as for example the " Tetouan " division of the Sioux or Dakota nation, whilst another division of the same people call themselves " Wah-pe-tou-an " or " the people of the leaves " because they inhabit the con- fines of a bush region on the margin of the great plains. But their hereditary foes, the Chippeways, are more especially a regular forest tribe, who rarely or never stray far from the shades of their native woods, which form for them both a canopy and a home. Thus it comes about that Indians belonging to the plains * There are some exceptions to this rule. But then where heavy timber is, though the surface may be waterless it is practically certain, from a scientific point of view, that the roots penetrate to damp soil — it may be at a great depth — whence the rootlets by capillary attraction can suck up water. The roots of the date palm, for example, will go down certainly over 30, and possibly 40 feet or more, in quest of the life-giving moisture. VOL III. 7 9 8 FOREST TRIBES. tribes rarely venture to trust themselves far into the recesses of extensive forests; and should they attempt to do so in their wars with the forest tribes almost always get the worst of it. It is the same with the forest Indians — the heaviest defeat the Chippeways for instance perhaps ever got in modern times, came about by a numerous war party numbering some two hundred u braves " venturing out upon the prairie, where they were surprised and destroyed almost to a man by the Sioux. * Even among the natives of a country therefore, woodcraft and forest hunting becomes a special art, in which none except members of the forest tribes ever become adepts. A man must live for years in the woods to get an intimate acquaintance with the haunts and habits of the forest game ; this is a speciality therefore in which very few white men excel. Those few who do so, are probably men of the American backwoodsman stamp, who have taken up homesteads in some of the many forest clearings, natural or artifi- cial, which are to be found in all great forest countries. In bygone times, a century ago, history shows that such men were comparatively numerous in Canada and the United States ; but with the destruction of the great primeval woods, professional forest rangers must now-a-days be scarce. Certain however it is, that at the time of the revolutionary war, f there were still many white men of the " Leatherstocking " type, § so graphically described by Cooper, who could find their way almost intuitively through the recesses of the most * This event occurred in or about the year 1855. (Personal enquiries and experiences by the Author in the Indian country). f 1774 to 1783. § See The Last of the Mohicans, by Fenimore Cooper. EQUATORIAL FOREST DWELLERS. 99 extensive woods, and steer a straight course from one point to another with unerring skill, through a great forest country, in any direction, whether the route had ever been traversed by them before or not. Never- theless in these days at all events, this faculty is con- fined almost entirely to the forest Indians, — of which the Mic-Mac tribe of New Brunswick may be cited as a good example ; these men therefore make the best possible guides to sportsmen throughout that province. In the great equatorial forests such tribes are still very numerous, and in the almost boundless expanse of the African and the Brazilian thickets, there are doubtless many native tribes who still believe that the whole world is one vast forest, and in whose minds the idea of a treeless plain could hardly be realized. We know that this is so also in Africa, where whole nations of forest people, according to Mr. H. M. Stanley, exist in the upper waters of the Congo system, who have never seen, or even heard of a grassy plain. * These forests, as we have not failed to point out in our chapter upon the Equatorial Zone, are almost every- where of the densest possible character, so bound together by lianas and creepers of various kinds that a man has to make constant use of the hatchet or slashing hook to make his way along at all — and in such countries where white men have settlements, as for instance in Brazil or Central America, the settler never moves about without a weapon of this kind, as part of his personal equipment — a "machete," as it is called in Spanish. * See Official Report of Dec. 28, 1889, on the results of his expe- dition, by H. M. Stanley, published in the London Times of Feb. 1 8th, 1890. 100 DIFFICULTIES OF HUNTING IN DENSE FORESTS. In these vast forest regions therefore, apart alto- gether from the frequently malarious nature of the country, anything like regular hunting is frequently impossible, for the noise which a man would make in forcing his way through the tangle of cord-like creepers, would almost certainly cause all forest crea- tures to glide silently away before he could possibly get within shot, or even within sight of the flying game. Thus it came to pass that Mr. Stanley during his great forest march of 160 days obtained little or no game. * Not at all because the forest was desti- tute of game, for the trails of game, he says, were exceedingly numerous, but because of the foregoing reasons. Very little hunting therefore has ever been attempted in forests of this description: the chances of getting lost are so enormously against the hunter that few would care to try it, nor would the quantity of game, we may very safely conclude, prove wrorth the candle; for though game of different species, both furred and feathered, may be numerous, the extent, the density, and above all the impassable nature of such forests renders following it practically impos- sible, f Sir James Emerson Tennent, a learned writer on Ceylon for instance, dwells upon the fact that the density of the undergrowth in the forests of that island is such that— "though it is capable of affording cover to the wilder carnivora, it is unfavourable to the growth of any kind of herbage fitted for the support of granivorous animals. Quadrupeds * See In Darkest Africa, by H. M. Stanley, 1890, Vol. ii, pp. 83-84- T See Mr. Stanley's remarks upon these points in ibid. GAME IN CEYLON FIFTY YEARS AGO. IOI are therefore compelled to keep for the most part on the verge of the open country, and in the vicinity of water, where the phytophagous tribes find abundance of food, and the carnivorous congregate, attracted by the resort of the others." * Most quadrupeds which are regular denizens of the forest are therefore not grass-feeders, but browsers, the twigs and foliage of trees forming their principal food. Those that are not, must keep near grass-land. These remarks of Sir J. Emerson Tennent on the forests of Ceylon may therefore be held to be applic- able to animals inhabiting great forests everywhere: sport is almost always confined mostly to the margins of the woods, or to the open spaces within them, and not to the densely timbered portions where game even when close to the hunter can seldom be caught sight of. The late Sir Samuel Baker, for instance, says— " In travelling through Ceylon, the remark is often made by the tourist that he sees so little game— and it is a well- known fact that a hundred miles of the wildest country may be traversed without seeing a single head of game." t Yet as we know, Ceylon, at the time when Sir Samuel Baker lived there (some fifty years ago) was a sort of sportsman's paradise ; and the very district where the great hunter's and explorer's plantation was located, § is still the home of wild elephants and other splendid game: for the natural forest in that district as yet covers a very large section of country, full of deep and preci- pitous ravines forming almost impenetrable harbouring * Ceylon, by Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1859, Vol. ii, p. 413. f Eight Years in Ceylon, by Sir Sanrael W. Baker, 1874. § Near Newera Eliya a hill sanitarium, now a well-known resort of tourists and invalids. 102 HABITS OF WILD ANIMALS BY DAY. places for every kind of game. But as Sir Samuel Baker explains — " The nature of most wild animals is to seek cover at sunrise, and to come forth at sunset— also unless the traveller is well accustomed to wild sports, he either passes animals without observing them, or they see him, and retreat before he remarks them." * And thus it is quite easy to understand how it often happens that planters, living in such a neighbourhood, may pass even years in the country without ever see- ing a wild elephant or much large game of any kind- just as an Englishman may pass his life in a hunting country and rarely or never see a fox, unless when it is driven out into the open by hounds. It may therefore be said that the wilder game in a great forest country is as a rule rarely seen, unless the hunter knows where to find it, and goes out on purpose to look for it; a man otherwise employed may pass a long time before he accidentally catches sight of it, and even then he generally comes upon it suddenly, at a time and place where he was least expecting to find it. The same observations may to a certain extent be held to apply, with varying degrees of accuracy, to all great forest countries, whose umbrageous recesses may be traversed for long distances before any living representatives of the wilder and finer kinds of forest game are actually sighted by the expectant traveller; the visible evidences of their existence being generally for the most part confined to footprints, and other traces of their presence, which it requires the trained * Eight Years in Ceylon, by Samuel W. Baker, 1874. FOREST TRACKSMEN. 103 experience of a regular hunter to be able to interpret intelligently. Upon first attempting to hunt an unknown section of country a day will therefore generally be well spent in first making a careful examination of these "sign," as they are called in America, so as to be able to form some idea of the nature and quantity of the game that it contains. This will be very necessary if a man is thinking of spending a short time in the neighbourhood, as he will thus be able to get a fair idea of how far the reports that have reached him from natives or local hunters are to be depended upon. The prin- cipal " sign " that will help him to form an opinion, will be footprints and droppings. It requires a certain amount of experience to be able to tell whether the former are recent or the reverse ; and it would not be possible to describe on paper the precise differences between old and new sign of this sort; but habits of observation and a man's own common sense will soon lead him to form fairly accurate estimates upon such matters, though a tyro will do well to get all the hints he can from a hunter of known experience and respect- ability. Ask him: — How long is it since these marks were made ? — and ask him his reasons for coming to the con- clusions conveyed in his answer. For instance, if it is a footprint, was it made before, or since the morning dews have fallen? If there has been recent rain, was it before or since the rain? A skilled hunter, if he is an intelligent man, and if he chooses to do it, can generally indicate a number of little circumstances which when pointed out make it pretty clear whether he is making a correct diagnosis 104 MARKS LEFT BY GAME. or merely speaking at random — and which the intelli- gent young sportsman will at once see the sense of; he must however guard himself against exaggerating the quantity of game which these footmarks repre- sent, a matter which is a very common source of error, particularly in the vicinity of drinking places. The margins of desert pools for instance, are often marked by such numerous footprints that one might easily be led to suppose that a very large number of animals had drank at their waters on the previous night; whereas a comparatively small band of thirsty beasts, trampling backwards and forwards, and jostling each other at the water's edge, may account for a very large number of these tracks. The trails leading down to the water therefore, and the ground for some distance all round its margins should be carefully examined : and thus a fair estimate of the game frequenting it can generally be arrived at. It has been commonly remarked that even where no actual game paths exist, animals nearly always take certain fixed directions when approaching a spring, and in districts where water is scarce they may travel long distances to reach a favourite water hole, where experience has taught them the precious fluid is always to be found. These facts will therefore readily account for very large numbers of tracks found at, and around, places of this sort; while it may be that little or no game is to be found near them, or even for long dis- tances all round during the day time. " One of the first and most ineradicable ideas" (says the author of the American 'Still-Hunter') "the beginner gets is, that there are about ten or twenty times as many deer about him as there really are." ESTIMATING THE NUMBERS OF GAME. 105 " Little (Mr. Van Dyke thinks) can be determined from the examination of a small tract of ground," when endeavouring to form an approximate estimate of the numbers of game animals in a certain district of country; for as he states — u one deer, especially an old buck, in the fall, will often track up two or three acres, or more; so that one would think there had been a dozen deer there." "You must move on then, over a considerable area of ground. And in so doing, it is still more important to note the size and freshness of the tracks and droppings. For the very same deer may have marked several acres yesterday, and several different acres the day before, until nearly 100 acres may be so marked, that to the careless eye, it would look like the work of 50 deer." * Where a herd of deer, or other game, have been playing themselves about over a tract of ground, there is generally very distinct evidence of this in the tracks overlying each other in places, and so partially obliterating each other; and also in the footprints being all of different sizes; and if there are several different kinds of animals, they will be of different shapes, owing to the different formation of their feet, so that a skilful tracksman can not only tell the probable numbers of animals present, but also their different species, with very great accuracy. This of course, necessarily requires high proficiency in the art of reading the signs of the wilderness which however can be acquired literally, as the late Mr. Francis Parkman has poetically expressed it, much " as the scholar reads the printed page. " This peculiar gift is constantly found developed in a very high degree among the savage races of mankind * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, New York, 1888, p. 30. 106 GAME THAT FEED BY NIGHT. everywhere, concurrently with an unfailing sense of direction which unconsciously to himself guides its possessor in his wanderings, with an accuracy almost as unvarying as the mariner's compass points the course which the navigator has to follow across the sea in order to reach a certain point upon the coast. In consequence of the short distance to which the range of vision is restricted in a forest, it is by no means unusual to meet with very numerous and recent traces of game without any of the creatures themselves being visible — for most forest animals retire to the thickets to lie down in safe concealment during the day time, and only come forth at sunset. It is probable that the greater part of the night is then passed in feeding and moving about, and that soon after sunrise they again seek cover for the day; this is specially so in districts where game is much persecuted by hunters, above all by still -hunters. Such at all events seems to be the general concensus of opinion among experienced sportsmen in every part of the world. Sir Samuel Baker, for instance, distinctly asserts that it is so under an equatorial sun in Ceylon. Mr. Van Dyke is still more emphatic about it as regards North American game of the temperate zone, and considers, very rightly as we believe, that there is nothing that tends to make game wilder than the practice of still-hunting, or creeping silently up to within shot, and unexpectedly opening fire upon animals resting in fancied security from the assaults of man, their most redoubtable enemy— " for (he says) it is a settled fact, of which you must never lose sight, that a deer's habits and movements will be very much and very quickly influenced by still-hunting." — "Right WILDFOWL ON PRESERVED WATERS. 107 well they learn, and quickly too, that mischief without warning now lurks in every corner of the once peaceful home. And quickly they adapt themselves to this change of affairs." * We think there can be no question at all that these unexpected assaults, coming without the slightest pre- vious warning, do produce the effects Mr. Van Dyke asserts, for we see it in every kind of wild creature, both furred and feathered: the moment they suspect that lurking danger may beset them, every sense is strained to detect it, and is then unceasingly on the look-out for it — so again, in a home preserve, on the other hand, where game know that they are never allowed to be fired at, they become bold and confiding. No better illustration of this can be found than in the conduct of wildfowl upon a pond in our own coun- try— if they are constantly shot at they become so wary as to be almost unapproachable, whereas the very same birds, upon alighting upon a preserved water in a gentleman's demesne, perhaps located only a short dis- tance off, will often let persons walk past within easy gun shot and within full view of them, without putting them up. These notorious facts open up a wide field of curi- ous and instructive enquiry; for it is not very easy to explain how this can be brought about among the wild game of an extensive forest district, only a very small proportion of which, in their own proper persons, can ever have been made the target of the still-hunter's rifle, and yet the panic which his proceedings creates spreads abroad on every side, and becomes general among the deer and other forest quadrupeds. * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, New York, 1888, pp. 26 and 27. 108 INTELLIGENCE SPREAD AMONG ANIMALS. If the firing had been upon large herds of game by visible enemies recklessly firing " into the brown of them," upon the open plain, it would be easy to under- stand the thing ; but in the forest game is very rarely found in herds, and the firing is mostly upon one, or at most upon two or three individuals; and when the shot is fired at a solitary deer or other animal, if it takes effect that particular beast disappears and is seen no more. It is therefore all the more remarkable to find scattered members of an animal fraternity all at once becoming aware of a lurking danger, proceeding from a source which must be hidden to by far the greater number of their society. Can it be that each species of the animal kingdom has its distinct and separate language, in which what are generally regarded as the dumb beasts are enabled to communicate with, and speak their sentiments to each other, and tell of their fears and their perils? It would appear so; at least, though we do not venture dogmatically to assert that this is the case, it seems difficult to give a satisfactory explanation of these matters upon any other supposition. Unless animals can in some way communicate their ideas to each other, intelligence of events happening to other mem- bers of the community, and not actually witnessed by the beast itself, should be beyond its cognizance. Yet we find that by some means this intelligence does spread with singular rapidity from beast to beast throughout a large area of country. If Mr. Van Dyke's experiences are to be received as reliable, they are conclusive upon this point, and we see not the slightest reason for doubting what he says, in what DEER AND STILL HUNTERS. 109 we must regard as one of the most valuable treatises extant upon the forest hunter's art. " I have seen deer, " he says, " that I positively knew had no other disturbances than my own hunting, desert entirely the low hills and open canons in which they were keeping before I began to trouble them, shift a thousand feet higher up, keep in the thick chapparal all day, and double their vigilance when they were out of it." — " They also learn to run on hearing a noise, without stopping to look back, to keep on running long past the point where you can head them off; to slip away before you get in sight of them, to skulk and hide in thick bush and let you pass them, and a score of other tricks we will notice as we go on." * On the other hand, open attacks by hunters aided by hounds, though presumably they might appear to disturb a very much larger area of country, and be brought to the knowledge of a far greater number of animals, seem by no means to create so widespread a feeling of alarm among them generally, as the stealthy attacks of a single still-hunter upon a few — for again quoting from Mr. Van Dyke's pages it appears that the common idea that hunters, chasing deer with hounds, drives them away and makes them wilder, is to a great degree erroneous. " This may in some places (Mr. Van Dyke thinks) be true. It may also be generally true if swift hounds be used. But there are places where it is not so, and within my observation deer have little fear of slow dogs. Deer that had been made so wild with still-hunting that it was almost * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, pp. 27 and 28. (N.B.— These facts, though unseen by the hunter would become evident from the trail. It is quite easy to see where a deer has started off with long jumps in a panic, and where it has stopped and stood to look round). 110 GAME AND HOUNDS. impossible to get even a sight of them, I have seen play along for half a mile across an open pine chopping before two curs yelping behind them. They seemed to consider it only fun, stopping every few jumps, and looking back at the curs, until they got within a few feet of them. About the tamest deer I ever met were some that were habitually chased by hounds, and never still-hunted." * In Ceylon, where hounds are very generally used by the British planters in their hunting excursions, the general opinion is that they only cause temporary disturbance to the game, which will run before them while the hunt lasts, but soon return to their old haunts; and as a matter of fact, the wildest and heaviest game is often found close to the dwellings of man, and within ear-shot of most of the noises which are an accompaniment of human occupation- such as the noise of passing railway trains, noises made by vehicles and horses, hammering, gun firing, shouting, and other such sounds. In Ceylon, for in- stance, we were personally informed by station mas- ters and others on the railway leading up from Kandy to Newera Eliya, through an extensive tract of jungle- covered hills, that the wild elephants constantly came down to the line, and in some instances had actually committed damages to some of the station buildings; their dung is also often found dropped upon the public roads, where there is considerable traffic *by day. Thus in 1894, a Ceylon paper informs us— " Our Batticoloa correspondent writes — A rogue elephant has been seen between the 76th and 77th mile post on the Batticoloa road : also a herd of rogue elephants between the * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, p. 27. THE SCENT OF DANGER. I I I 59th and 6oth mile posts on the same road. The Tappal runners have- seen them, and are much frightened" ' and the paragraph concludes by advising some local hunters, known to be shooting in the neighbourhood, to "hurry up," in which case they will probably see sport. Here it may perhaps not be out of place to give a short account of how far the fear of man exercises its effect upon the animal creation. What is it that is so terrible, even to the fiercest and most formidable beasts, in the mere presence of man in their vicinity? Upon this point there is very little difference of opinion among competent sportsmen. It is the scent of the human animal, and not his appearance, which is so terrifying: for as we know, deer, antelopes, and other wild and timid game will often stand upon an open space of ground, and calmly watch a man or even a number of persons passing in the distance, when they are quite aware of what they are, without appearing alarmed. Upon the plains of Hindustan it is quite common to see black buck (Antelopa Bezoartica] do this, though these beautiful antelopes are by nature exceedingly shy and wary. So also upon the American plains; in the grand old buffalo days when the prairies of the Far West swarmed with myriads of these noble animals, we have ourselves seen them on many occasions, watching us passing to leeward, for when meat was plentiful we never sanctioned a useless slaughter, but thoroughly enjoyed the sight of these magnificent herds feeding in all the glory of their pristine liberty, lords of all * The Overland Times of Ceylon, weekly summary, publ. at Colombo, Nov. 21, 1894, P- r54r (record for Nov. 15). I I 2 THE SCENT OF MAN. they surveyed. Gradually however, they would work round to windward, and then, the moment they caught the scent of man, they scoured away over the plain and soon \vere lost to sight. Man, Mr. Francis Galton has justly remarked, until he has observed these things with thoughtful attention, has no idea what an object of disgust he is among the beasts, and how repulsive and frightful to them is the slightest trace of that subtile odour which encompasses the human presence about like a cloak. When a wild beast comes across the trail of a man some considerable time after he has passed by, he in general stops, and proceeds to examine into the nature of this terrible aroma which if it be novel to his senses, causes him to smell curiously about along the trail, as if in wonderment as to the origin of the noisome effluvium, till at length fear gets the better of his curiosity, and he takes to his heels. The elephant, the largest and most powerful of all quadrupeds for example, is well known to have in its wild state an extraordinary antipathy and dread of man; and even a child, Mr. Gordon Gumming, the well-known African hunter, informs us "can put a hundred of them to flight by passing a quarter of a mile to windward, and when thus disturbed they go a long way before they halt " — and in pursuance of the same train of thought to which we have already given expression in our remarks upon the rapid way in which the intelligence of danger is communicated by animals to each other, the great hunter goes on to observe that — " It is surprising how soon these saga- cious animals are aware of the presence of the hunter ELEPHANTS AND THE SCENT OF MAN. I 1 3 in their domain, and how quickly they move away from the dangerous neighbourhood on discovering it. " * It is probable that this intelligence is mainly acquired by the different herds when crossing the trail of the dreaded stranger, whose scent still clings to his path long after he has passed on out of sight. Mr. Selous, one of the most modern of professional elephant hunters who has written upon this subject, thus describes the conduct of some elephants which he saw come up to and examine his own trail, over which he had but recently passed— " I saw (he says) a string of elephants walking along in single file not more than a quarter of a mile off — as the foremost, a large cow came upon our track, we emerged from the bush not 200 yards away. The keen-scented brute did not cross our spoor, but stopped dead the instant her outstretched trunk had caught the taint left by our footsteps. In this position she stood for a few seconds, moving her trunk about close to the ground and then wheeling round made off at a run, followed by the rest. From this incident, which I myself witnessed, some idea may be formed of the keenness of scent possessed by the African elephant." f We quote this paragraph with much pleasure as an excellent illustration of the way in which the presence of man is detected by game, and the extraordinary dread which it inspires. Dr. Livingstone, the great African traveller and explorer, has not failed to notice this universal terror which the odour of man spreads among the beasts of the wilderness, and has called attention to it in several passages throughout his works, * Five Years of a Htmter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa, by Roualeyn Gordon Gumming of Altyre, 2nd Edit., 1850, Vol. i, p. 311. \ A Hunter's Wanderings in South Africa, by Frederick Courtenay Selous, 1 88 r, p. 43. VOL. III. 8 114 WILD ANIMALS SCENTING MAN. as have many other observant travellers. Mr. Francis Galton, for example, is very explicit about it and says — " a man must frequently have watched the heads of a herd of far distant animals tossed up in alarm the moment they catch his wind; he must have observed the tracks of animals where they have crossed his own, the beast that made them has stopped, scrutinized, and shunned it, before he can believe what a Yahoo he is among the brute creation. No cleanliness of the individual seems to diminish this remarkable odour ; indeed the more civilized the man, the more subtile does it seem to be: the touch of a gamekeeper scares less than that of the master ; and the touch of a negro, or bush- man, less than that of a traveller from Europe." * It would be possible to furnish numerous curious and remarkable details relative to this peculiar odour of man ; and to show that most of the savage tribes are themselves distinguishable one from the other on account of the dif- ferent nature of their smell, even to the human nose. So also among the different nationalities of civilized man ; the aroma which pervades their dwelling houses, and their towns, is so distinctly different, as to be easily noticed by an observant stranger upon first visiting their country. But however these things may be we may very safely conclude that the terror which the odour of man universally creates among the animal creation, at all events, pervades all climates and all species from the equator to the poles, and this whether the creatures have previously met the human intruder or not. Amid the everlasting ice and snow of the higher polar regions it has been found for example that the arctic game, on first recognizing the presence of the * The Art of Travel, by Francis Galton, 1st Edit., 1885, p. 156. SCENT BORNE UPON THE WIND. 115 strange unknown aroma " showed even more terror than wild animals generally do. " * These considerations naturally lead us to the important subject of the " wind " in stalking wild and wary game animals. After what we have already said upon this subject, it must be evident that the odour of man if carried by the wind to the sensitive noses of game, at once starts them off in terror, and thus puts all chance of getting a shot at them out of the question. The universal experiences of sportsmen are unanimous in recognizing this fact. But beyond the bare certainty that animals can detect the presence of man by their sense of smell, at a great distance, we fear little is known of a very precise nature. Both the distance at which this scent can be detected by game, and the conditions under which it is conveyed by the atmosphere, are purely matters of conjecture, upon which very little is really known, and many exaggerated accounts have from time to time been published about it. It is certain however, that under special conditions of wind and weather, animals with highly developed senses of this kind may, and can, scent man at very great distances. In the Highlands of Scotland for instance, it is generally held that under favourable circumstances deer can wind a man on the hills, a mile away ; and Mr. Grimble in his book on Deer-Stalking there, asserts that he saw deer in a gale; take the wind of a man and a pony, quite a mile and a half away, and he goes on to say, that — " so keen is their sense of smell, that for fully an * The Shores of the Polar Sea, by Dr. Edwd. E. L. Moss, Surgeon of H.M.S. Alert, publ. 1878, p. 26 (a splendidly illustrated folio volume). I 1 6 SCENT AND TRAILS. hour after a stalking party has passed by, they will not eas- ily cross the tracks on account of the scent still hanging to them. " * There can be no doubt that the taint attached to the trail, by the mere fact of a man or an animal passing over the ground, will cling to it for a considerable time afterwards. Our own noses for instance, can quite clearly detect the aroma emitted by a passing fox in a wood, long after he has gone out of sight. Personally we are inclined to think that scent carries further on breezy plains than in the forest, because the air there is not so stagnant as among the trees ; but on the other hand, we are pretty confident that the taint which clings to- the trail of a passing creature hangs longer to it in the forest than on the plain, for identical reasons. But as we have said, nothing of a precise nature is known about these things. What is generally believed is that there are days when, as huntsmen say, scent will lie well, and there are days when it lies badly. Huntsmen with hounds, and sportsmen who use dogs much after grouse, partridge, etc., will we think, generally admit that this is so. There are also other curious facts in natural history, connected with scent, which are quite worth while recording here, and which show very clearly that the natural laws which govern the power of the nose among keen-scented animals, are liable to mysterious modi* fications, which quite surpass the bounds of man's under- standing to account for; and illustrate in the most striking manner the wonderful capacity of nature in adapting circumstances to necessity, and in shielding the helpless and the weak among the animal creation from the power of evil. * Deer- Stalking, by Augustus Grimble, 1886, p. 25. ABSENCE OF SCENT IN YOUNG ANIMALS. I I 7 We allude, among other things, to the absence of scent, in the case of the young of wild animals, during that helpless period before they have grown strong enough to be able to take care of themselves. The circumstances are so well attested by gentlemen of such known truthfulness and experience, that they can hardly be doubtful, even were there no corroborative facts which are within the reach of all who choose to observe, and give thought to these and other matters of a similar kind. " The young (of wild game animals, says Captain Marcy, U.S.A.) gives out no scent, until it is sufficiently grown to take care of itself, and instinct teaches the mother that this wise provision of nature to preserve the helpless little one, will be defeated if she remains with it, as her tracks (i.e. scent) cannot be concealed. She therefore hides her fawn in the grass where it is almost impossible to see it even when very near it, and goes off to some neighbouring thicket within call, and makes her bed alone." * This book, we may add was the recognized official handbook for overland expeditions through the prairies of the Far West, published by authority of the United States War Department; and the writer of it was an officer with great experience in all that concerned wild life in the Far West in his time. Nowhere, it may be very confidently asserted, were the habits and nature of the wild game subject to more acute observation than among the Indians, the white trappers and professional hunters who at that time roamed over these then unknown wildernesses of practically boundless extent. * The Prairie Traveller, by Captain Marcy, U.S.A., New York l859> (Published by authority of the U.S. War Department). Tl8 NEW BORN GAME ANIMALS. Colonel Dodge, U.S.A., another officer of lifelong- experience in all such matters, some 20 years later writes to the same effect in what is certainly one of the best books that have ever been written upon American hunting and prairie experiences. " It is a curious fact (he says) and an admirable example of the universal providence of Nature, that the young of game animals have no scent. In some mysterious way the dam communicates her instructions to her newly born offspring,, which in quiet obedience lies motionless in the hiding place selected for it, never moving except to escape the most imminent danger. A hungry cougar, or half famished wolf, may pass or repass within a few feet of the little one, which had it the slightest scent would at once fall a victim to these keen-nosed gluttons. But for this admirable provision of Nature, in with-holding scent from the young of game animals,, the races would soon be extinct." : These facts, which were well known to, and doubtless first heard of, from those acute observers of Nature, the Indians, to say nothing of experienced white hunters who have likewise noted them, convey even to the most unthinking a wonderful illustration of the Divine goodness and mercy, so plentifully displayed through- out creation, finely expressed in the Scriptural text— " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father." f There are, moreover, other facts that can be cited, which in the strongest manner corroborate those stated by these American officers ; in the case however which we have selected, they have reference to bird life and * The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, by Lt.-Col. Richd Dodge, U.S.A., 1877, p. 9. f Matt, x, v. 29. BIRDS ON THEIR NESTS. IIQ the details are noted by one of our finest sportsmen of the first half of this century, Mr. St. John, than whom it would be hard to find a more acute and painstaking observer of all the little details respecting the habits and natural history of our British game and migratory birds. "It is a curious fact," he says, "but one which I have often observed, that dogs frequently pass close to the nest of a grouse, a partridge, or other game, without scenting the hen bird as she sits on her nest. I knew this year of a partridge's nest, placed close to a footpath near my house, and although not only my people, but all my dogs, were constantly pass- ing within a foot and a half of the bird, they never found her out, and she hatched her brood in safety." * It has also frequently been noticed that certain birds, in a terror-stricken state, when hiding from their pur- suers, seem to possess the power of retaining their scent, and in this condition the best dogs may hunt up and down close to them, without being able to find them; we have often been puzzled to account for the apparent stupidity of a good dog on such occasions, and can come to no other conclusion than that sug- gested by Frank Forrester, the well-known Ameri- can sportsman, namely that it may be " possibly owing to some contraction of the pores of the skin and con- sequent check of the odoriferous effluvium, owing to alarm," but (he goes on to state) "I am rather inclined to think it is an absolute power of the bird, and aris- ing from an exertion of will." The latter opinion however, seems to us of somewhat questionable accuracy. * Wild Sports and Natural History in the Scottish Highlands, by Chas. St John — reprint of 1880, p. 24 (Originally published 1846). 120 BIRDS RETAINING THEIR SCENT. Speaking of the American quail however, Frank For- rester says — " This cunning little bird has either the power or the pe- culiarity of retaining the scent for some time after alighting, when it is alarmed, so that the best dogs in the world shall fail to find it" — (he supposes this may be due to an "exer- tion of will " only) — " since I have invariably observed during the period in which the quail gives forth no scent, it cannot be forced to rise, even on the openest ground, unless actually almost trodden on. It occurs only with unwounded birds, I have never known setters to have the smallest difficulty in finding crippled quail, or dead quail. I have even seen dogs find one dead quail among a whole bevy of wild ones which they could not scent." * Frank Forrester then quotes cases within his experi- ence, which he thinks prove the accuracy of those opinions with which on the whole we generally concur. We have often noticed cases of a similar nature ourselves, but we venture to think that the reason why a dead or badly wounded bird can be readily found by the dog, is because the muscular contraction of the skin is thereby destroyed, the subtile aroma of the bird, wich we call " scent " is therefore freely given off. We shall have more to say respecting this pro- cess in our chapter on Wild Fowl Shooting, where we hope to show to our reader's satisfaction, that death or a severe wound to water-birds has these self-same results f and also instantly destroys the power of ex- cluding water from the plumage, which as we know the duck tribe eminently possess, until it has passed into an adage to speak of some useless proceeding * Frank Forrester's American Field Sports, by Henry Wm. Herbert, 1852, Vol. i, p. 269. f See Chapter xix. of this Volume — page 425. NIGHT SCENTED PLANTS. 121 being "like water poured on a duck's back." More- over if we turn to the vegetable creation, we find that under certain circumstances flowers and plants have like- wise the power of retaining their scent, notably so in the case of certain classes of plants, which are scented only at night, but are odourless by day. The German traveller Dr. Georg Schweinfurth, for instance, records with great admiration the delicious aroma emitted by the desert herbage while he was encamped and lay stretched upon the ground by night in the sterile mountain region between Suakim and Sinkat, while on his way to Berber. Some of the most deliciously scented of these plants, it seems were " little obscure mountain weeds amongst which a 'pulicaria' plays an essential part." * Now, while the sun is shining with tremendous power and in fiery glory by day, very few of these desert plants emit a very conspicuous aroma, but it is often very noticeable by night — sometimes also it is brought out by wetting them. The Kus-Kus grass of India affords a good example of this latter phenomenon. These circumstances however all tend to show, that whether in bird, beast, or plant, the natural aroma which is under ordinary circumstances exhaled by them is subject to certain mysterious laws and modifica- tions, of which at present we have but little know- ledge. What we do know however, as sportsmen, is that the fear of man, which appears to be pretty well universal among the brute creation seems to be even more readily excited by the sense of smell than by that of vision. Many animals which will stand, as we have said before, * The Heart of Africa, by Dr. Georg Schweinfurth, German Botanist, 2nd Edit., 1874, Vol. i, page 20. 122 ALARMING ODOURS. and watch human beings passing in the distance, so long as they remain clearly within their field of view, will run off instantly on catching the slightest taint of the scent of man borne to them on the wind. This is so well known to all hunters of experience, and has been so often mentioned in sporting works, that it is not necessary for us to go further than merely to mention it as a matter of ascertained fact. Birds and animals however, which have never seen man, have sometimes been found very tarne, and this is generally taken as an indication that they have not, recently at all events, been disturbed by man. There have been observers on the other hand, who remark that such creatures displayed even greater terror on meeting them, than animals that have actually been hunted by man. An explanation of these contradictory reports will probably be found in the fact that in the former instance the observer spoke of animals etc., that had seen, but not smelt man ; whereas in the latter case the frightened creatures had probably been ap- proached from windward, and had therefore probably caught the wind of the terrible stranger, and the dread inspired by the scent of man caused them to scamper off in terror. The scent of a merely strange, though harmless beast, it is well known is capable of creating unbounded con- sternation among timid animals or those possessing a highly strung nervous organization. The scent of a camel is thus capable of rendering horses unaccustomed to camels, entirely unmanageable. Thus Herodotus has recorded the complete defeat of the army of the Lydians by the Persians under Cyrus, upon the plains of Sardis, by a stampede created among their cavalry caused by CAMELS AND HORSES. 123 their catching the wind of the Persian camels. * So again the smell of a newly taken sealskin has been known to throw horses into an agony of fear — indeed this once happened to ourselves with the skin of a seal we had recently shot. Horses however soon become accustomed to camels and other strange scents when taught that they are harmless. Thus in Egypt, horses and camels are often seen standing or travelling together on quite friendly terms; and in the streets of Cairo, bands of camels pass close to carriages, without being noticed by the horses. So deer, antelopes, and other game animals will often feed near loose horses and cattle, without seeming to object to their company: on the other hand they generally avoid sheep, whose scent is very repulsive to almost all game animals. The sense of vision as well as that of scent is how- ever extraordinarily sharp in most kinds of game and in the case of the antelope tribe more especially, they can detect the stealthy approach of an enemy at very great distances; it is however, in the case of birds of prey, such as vultures, that the power of vision seems to be developed almost to a phenomenal degree, ap- proaching to that of the human sight aided by a power- ful telescope. We have already described with considerable minute- ness the leading facts connected with the interesting question of the unceasing watch kept up by these birds, over a large portion of the earth's terrestrial surface, as they float with untiring pinions at great altitudes in the heavenly blue ; so that we need not again consider them here. Suffice it to say that this won- * See Herodotus Book i, " Clio" Chap. 80. Translated by Henry Cary, M.A., from the text of Baehr, 1891, pp. 35 — 36. 124 BIRDS OF GREAT FOREST REGIONS. derful system of aerial sentinels continually exercising a vigilant look-out upon everything that passes below, is maintained by vast armies of winged watchers spread over an enormous territory, which embraces almost the whole of the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth, wherever in fact the heavy forest does not interfere with their operations. As however their call- ing is exercised entirely by sight, and not by scent, the dense canopy of foliage in a great forest country effectually screens the earth from observation — birds of prey, of the vulture type, are therefore conspicu- ously absent — and those of the hawk tribe alone exist. The hawk species are however generally numerous in forests, as they prey upon the feathered tribes which in very great numbers sun themselves upon the tree tops, where in most of the tropical regions they find an abundant sustenance upon the nuts, berries, and other fruits as well as upon the countless legions of insect life which there luxuriate under the full influence of the solar rays. Such fruits and flowers grow and ripen in abundance not only upon the great trees themselves but also upon the infinite multitude of creepers which spread themselves over their crowns in the full glory of prolific Nature in these climates. Hawks will also sail down through the branches and snatch their prey even from the ground itself: the forest may therefore be regarded as the principal hunting ground of many of the hawk tribe, its inmost recesses being almost every- where vigilantly hunted by these keen-eyed plunderers. While however the forest, both by day and by night, is constantly the hunting ground of the sharpest eyes in existence, owned by birds of the hawk and owl species, it is a noteworthy fact that it also forms the THE VISION OF GAME ANIMALS. 125 natural habitat of all the largest and heaviest quadru- peds, * in whose case the sense of sight seems to be limited, almost in inverse ratio to their size and strength. None of these immense beasts are gifted with keenness of vision — this is so in all the leading varieties, as the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the buffalo — while on the other hand the smaller and weaker quadrupeds which are unable to protect themselves by their personal prowess, are usually endowed with par- ticularly sharp eyes. Animals which are livers upon the plains country may however on the whole be considered much more keen-sighted than dwellers in forests, as they hav% only their sharp eyes and speed to depend upon, to escape from impending danger, and are unable to take advantage of cover in the way that forest animals are able to do, or to rely upon their skill in hiding, as the latter do so skilfully. In accordance with the great law of the survival of the fittest, Nature has therefore evolved the keen- est eyes among her creatures inhabiting the open plains. There is however, one notable exception to this rule, namely that of the American buffalo or bison, (Bos Americanus) another heavy and powerful animal which can trust to its great physical strength to beat off an assailant. The bison is therefore much less well endowed with eyesight than any of its weaker com- panions, and may on the whole be considered decidedly a dull-sighted beast. Moreover animals of the deer tribe which are mostly * The bush forest or jungle is intended to be included when speaking of the forest here, and not merely the heavy forest of large-sized trees- 126 DEER AND MOTIONLESS OBJECTS. habitants of the woods, though in some respects exceedingly keen-sighted, and able instantly to detect any object in motion, are often singularly stupid in making out an enemy (such as the human hunter) when they are on the move and coming up towards him. On these occasions, provided the hunter is stationed to leeward and that there is nothing in his dress to attract attention, if he remains perfectly still, almost all animals of the deer species will very likely fail to observe him, and will often almost run up against him before they make out what he is. It is probable that they have taken him for a tree- stump, or some other inanimate object in the land- scape ; this peculiarity of deer should always be borne in mind when such animals are seen running down wind towards one: no matter how fully exposed to view the hunter may be, his policy is to remain absolutely motionless, and await the progress of events, for if he moves he will be instantly seen. On the other hand with animals of the antelope tribe, on the plains, such tactics could hardly be adopted with a reasonable chance of success, as these keen-eyed creatures will make out the human figure instantly at very great distances; the hunter's chance in such a case is to lie down before he is observed and adopt some one or other of the expedients which will be noticed in our next chapter. The foregoing details bring to the front another important point in forest hunting, namely the neces- sity for every now and then stopping to listen, and to take a good look round. Forest animals, it should be remembered, depend to a great extent upon their acute senses of scent and hearing, to warn them of WAITING FOR GAME IN THE FOREST. 127 approaching" danger. Time so employed is therefore seldom thrown away, and we feel confident that more game is lost by hurrying forward over the ground, than by any reasonable amount of watching and waiting, when traversing localities where game is likely to be come upon. In fact in the mornings and evenings, when game is on the move, it is very often an excellent plan to station oneself at some point of vantage, where well-worn paths, or runways, show that game frequently pass that way, and seating one- self comfortably on a fallen log, to wait for game to come to one, instead of going oneself in search of it. All noise necessarily made in making a way through the bushes, is thus avoided. This practice is very generally adopted by those masters of the hunter's craft, the North American Indians, who have a tho- rough knowledge of the whole country, and an intimate acquaintance with the habits of all game animals; they are thus almost always able to select a stand where game may be killed in this way; it therefore often happens that the white hunter will range the woods for an entire day without getting a shot, \vhile the crafty redskin, without fatiguing himself in the least, will bring home deer or other game, day after day, as the result of his superior knowledge of wood-craft. This constant success of the Indian hunter often oc- casions no little surprise in the minds of Europeans and others, who being unacquainted with such strata- gems, are unable to understand how it comes to pass that the red man, with very inferior weapons, is usually uniformly successful, while the white man fully furnished with all the newest means and appliances of sport, and who is as a rule a much better shot, 128 TAKING UP A STAND. frequently comes home empty-handed. One common solution of the enigma is explained as above; indeed when the cover is exceedingly thick, and the weather still, it is often useless to go crashing through it, because the hunter's approach is then almost certainly betrayed by the noise, long before he can get within sight of game; the ambush policy in such case therefore becomes the only feasible one — there he can watch and listen, without being himself seen or heard. Upon taking up his stand to watch for the coming up of game (whether with or without beaters to drive the cover towards him upon the East Indian plan) the very first thing to be done is to scrape a spot sufficiently large for his feet entirely clear of fallen leaves, dead twigs etc., otherwise the movements of his feet are apt to be heard by any game which may be coming towards him. Wild and wary animals almost invari- ably advance slowly, with stealthy, noiseless motions; stopping frequently to listen ; so that the slightest noise of rustling among leaves, etc., will be almost certain to cause them to turn away, and go off in another direction. Another important point to be attended to, is to see that there is some tree or other object behind him, which will prevent the sportsman's figure being visible in outline against a vacant back- ground, in which case he would probably be at once observed by a sharp-eyed beast, before the hunter could catch sight of it, and again in such case the game would slink away unheard and unseer. To secure a good background is therefore in many respects even more important than to have a screen of bushes, or other such objects, in front, as the latter can generally IMPORTANCE OF BACKGROUNDS. 129 be seen through: the most efficient screen in front therefore is a rock, or bank of earth, or else low dense tufts of thick grass or ferns— something in fact that is not transparent; in any case, if the hunter's dress harmonizes well with the background and its immediate surroundings (a thing he should always strive to effect) he will probably not be recognised as a man, provided he stands perfectly motionless. This he should always do, as far as possible, once he has completed these preliminary preparations, remembering how instantly game catch sight of anything in motion. If there are several directions by which game may as likely as not come up (as is generally the case) the sportsman should take care to face towards the right of the position, because if game happens to approach from the left, he only requires to turn a small portion of the body, as on a pivot, to command the left approaches — whereas if he is facing left and game appears on the right, he will be obliged to turn the whole body, to bring his rifle to bear in that direction. There is a great art in watching ground, to keep in constant view all the avenues by which an animal is likely to creep up ; the movements of all kinds of liv- ing creatures should also be closely observed: a frightened bird suddenly rising out of a thicket, a hare or other small animal stealing away, as if to escape some hidden enemy : those and all other move- ments of a similar kind among the forest creatures, may as likely as not prove the forerunner of nobler game. There must be some cause for these move- ments among the minor inhabitants of the wood. In India for instance, the startled cries of peacocks or VOL. III. 9 130 CROSSING THE CRESTS OF HILLS. the "swearing" of a troop of monkeys, who have viewed the crouching tiger, has frequently proved the prelude to the appearance of " the great cat " himself. On the plains, as we shall hereafter have occasion to show, this practice of watching for game is gen- erally exclusively carried out at night; in the forest however, it is only on rare occasions that night shooting is practicable. This is one of those essential points of difference, which distinguishes the methods of hunting in the forest and on the plain ; it is seldom of much use to wait for game to come within shot, upon the open plain by day, unless ravines, or other natural cover afforded by the landscape, assist the hunter in his object. When however the hunter is employed in ranging the country in search of game, both by forest and by field, the same care must constantly be taken to avoid exposing himself when approaching the crest of any hill or rising ground; on top of which the hunter should always avoid showing himself until he has thoroughly examined the country in front, to see if game is lying there. Neglect of this precaution is a very common cause of non-success in hunting. It must be remembered that when game is thus incautiously put up, it is apt to rush off in a panic, and the alarm is communicated to every animal within sight or hearing, which is at once placed on the alert. The frightened rush of an animal, or even the startled cries of a bird suddenly flushed from its resting-place, are things thoroughly understood by every kind of game, which thus instantly becomes aware that some- thing is astray. GAME LYING DOWN AMONG TREES. 131 It is however much more difficult to carry out that excellent maxim, that the hunter should see his game before the game sees him, in forest hunting, than it is in the open country; not merely because of the cover which the undergrowth affords, but also because during the greater part of the day, especially in hot climates, forest animals make a practice of lying down among brushwood, or other thick cover, generally in such positions, that while hidden from view themselves, they can keep a considerable portion of the adjacent woods under observation, and most animals when they lie down make it a regular rule to do so looking down wind. All the more wary kinds of game are almost certain to do this; they can then see the approach of an enemy coming up wind, while they are instantly warned of his presence by winding him should he pass to windward. The smallest sound of crackling of dry leaves, or the snapping of a rotten stick, made by the hunter, is also sufficient to give them the alarm, in which case as soon as they have satisfied themselves as to the direction from which danger comes they glide silently away, long before the incautious sportsman has got near enough to catch sight of them. It is also a common trick of moose, elk, bear, and other sagacious creatures, to make a half circle to leeward of their original trail before lying down, so that an enemy following upon the track will necessarily pass near where the wary beast is lying — his presence is thus at once detected by the wind, or by any slight noise he may make, and while he follows up the trail his quarry is with stealthy footsteps running off at a tangent, rapidly giving a wide berth to the dangerous locality. This clever stratagem of these wary creatures, 132 MOOSE HUNTING. would almost seem to savour more of reason than of instinct; but so many well-authenticated instances of its having been done are recorded, that it may be very safely accepted as a matter of authentic fact, and as such it is very generally acted on by the Indians, who when following the trail of a moose make a point while advancing of making a series of detours or circles to leeward, which cut in upon the track here and there, and yet keep the animal to windward of them. By this means they frequently succeed in outwitting the wary beast by outmanoeuvring him in his own tactics. The places where game generally make their beds in the forest vary according to the nature of the climate and country, and even to the time of year, but as a rule it is usually among thick bush, or on the edges of heavy windfalls, especially where a growth of young trees has sprung up among the fallen timber. Another favourite place is on dry spots among sloughs and swamps, where long grasses, canes and brushwood afford convenient hiding places; when the weather is hot, and the flies are bad, the margins of lakes, pools, and rivers are very favourite places of resort — but as a rule, wherever their resting places may be by day, if game are much disturbed by hunters, they are proportionately far removed from their nightly feeding grounds. Many animals make a regular habit of travelling considerable distances in this way, both morning and evening, and they rarely return a second time to th^ same spot ; they therefore cover a large area of ground in the course of their wanderings to and fro, especially where water is scarce. In countries where flies are very bad, most of the game is however driven out of GAME ON HILL SIDES. 133 the thick bush by these pests during the fly season. Game will then constantly be found in open spaces, among heavy patches of fern, or where there are mountains or hills, upon bare ground on the higher wind-blown slopes, among rocks and large stones, or beneath the shade of scattered trees and bushes. Bushy ravines and stream beds, which seam the sides of most mountains, are also frequent places of resort at these times, together with detached patches of dwarf bush and other cover. If the hunter is accompanied by attendants it is often a good plan to walk along to leeward of these places, and by merely sending a man round to pass along to windward, and make a certain amount of noise, any game hiding in these places is apt to come out on the side where the gun is, or to try to escape down the gully through the bush. The sportsman should therefore take care to keep well ahead of his beater, and in certain sorts of country which is unfavourable for stalking game in its lair, a good many shots may be obtained in this manner, which probably could not be got in any other way. They will how- ever be necessarily mostly running shots. In hot weather when flies are bad, some kinds of game will at these times resort to the waters, and lie down in the shallows, with only their heads out. The true buffalo of all kinds are particularly addicted to this practice. On the banks of the Nile for instance, it is quite common to see the tame buffalo of Egypt, which we believe to be the same animal as the wild one in the domesticated state, lying in the river, with merely the face and nose uncovered. These animals will also wallow in the mud of swamps, until the whole body is encased in a thick covering of mud, which 134 GAME AND WATER. serves both as a protection against flies and against the sun. In Ceylon, buffalo are almost always in the swamps, or lying in water, during the daytime, in hot weather. On the other hand in very cold weather, in the American forests, game retire when lying down almost entirely to the densest cover, as a protection against the cold; they are however more apt than usual at such times to feed during the day ; if possible in sunny spots. In hot or mild weather however, most of the forest game, as we have said, lie up for the greater part of the day, and feed in the early mornings and evenings, and are also often on foot during the greater part of the night, especially when there is bright moonlight. The time when game go to water varies with the climate and locality. Where water is very plentiful, it is probable that they have no fixed hours or regular drinking places, but take water wherever and when- ever they fancy it. But in hot dry climates, they usually resort to the water holes and fountains in the evenings, shortly after dark, where if they are much persecuted by beasts of prey, they very generally resort in troops, and only stay a very short while at the water — because it is there that beasts of prey are certain to lie in wait for unwary animals. Their object in collecting in troops at these times is evidently an instinct of nature, which teaches them that there is safety in a multitude: and at all events, being in company gives them a certain sense of security. Consequently in this class of country the trails leading down to watering places are generally very clearly marked, and show that it is the practice of the game to come down to the drinking places in companies, by certain well-defined routes. When water is scarce, GAME COMING DOWN TO DRINK. 135 animals and birds will often travel long distances to reach it ; and animals which inhabit this class of country do not usually require water daily, but only resort there when pressed by thirst, every second or third day, according to circumstances. They then approach the water only with the utmost caution, constantly beset by the dread of meeting beasts of prey, and usually choose the leeward side, so that they can detect the presence of enemies near the water by their sense of smell. While drinking, it is the invariable practice of all the smaller and weaker animals to post sentinels to give warning of the approach of danger; and as soon as possible they get away from the dangerous neighbourhood. These circumstances, as we have already mentioned will account for the great quantity of tracks, which are so frequently to be seen near watering places in dry countries. With the exception of these troops of game, which sometimes resort to springs etc., in dry regions, any- thing like regular herds of game are uncommon in heavy forests, where the animals are seldom of a gregarious nature, but are usually met with either singly or two or three together; small bands of half- a-dozen may however occasionally be seen, but the numerous troops which assemble upon the plains or in the bush country, where patches of dwarf trees alternate with stretches of open ground, are exceed- ingly rare in great forests, and probably only occur during migratory movements of game. Great herds of game do however occasionally assem- ble; for instance the late Mr. George W. Sears, who wrote under the nom de plume of " Nessmuk " in the 136 HERDS OF DEER IN THE FOREST. United States, and who was quite an authority on matters of woodcraft, and forest hunting, mentions a case of this kind, which he happened to observe in the Michigan forests, where he once saw " such an aggregation of deer, as a man sees but once in a lifetime." — "It was (he says) a magnificent army, and I shall never look upon its like again ; " indeed speak- ing of his more recent experiences " Nessmuk " expressly states — * The largest drove of deer I have seen in twenty years consisted of seven only." * It is probable that this great herd was therefore a migratory band of deer travelling from one district to another; and though his latter experiences may have been somewhat unfortunate in the quantities of game met with, they in the main bear out our con- tention as to the infrequency of game consorting in numerous herds in forests, though certain districts will naturally be found to contain considerably larger quantities of game than others, and there deer and other animals may be quite numerous, and scattered as they are over the wood, frequently afford capital sport to a clever hunter. Most authorities on sporting matters are agreed that the early hours of the morning are the best for hunting, as all grass or tree feeding animals are pretty certain to be on the feed at daybreak, and occasionally for some hours afterwards. Exceptions to this practice occur most usually in tropical lands, where experience shows game generally retires to lie down for the day, early, and before the sun gets hot, which it does soon after eight o'clock; also where game is much harrassed by pot hunters and others, animals * Woodcraft, by Nessmuk, published New York 1884, pp. 125—6. GAME AND GROWING CROPS. 137 are apt to feed more by night than during daylight, and get themselves away to their lairs with the dawn. Depredations to growing crops in gardens and fields, when human habitations are near, are also almost exclusively committed by night: and long before day- light the plunderers have retired to their fastnesses in the forest. So serious are the depredations of game to crops in many wild countries, that at the time when the grain is growing, considerable numbers of the popula- tion are obliged to sit up by night to watch their fields, so as to save their crops from destruction; and did time or space permit, many curious legends might be related of the hardships which the native farmers are exposed to in endeavouring to carry out this duty. All over India for instance, in districts lying con- tiguous to jungle tracts, it is the usual practice for the native cultivators to post watchmen to protect their fields from wild animals, by night, when game is numerous. These men keep up a continual clatter throughout the hours of darkness, to scare away these unwelcome intruders, from whose visits the advent of the dawn alone brings relief; for the jungle animals are cunning enough to know that they carry on their depredations almost with impunity, so long as their movements are concealed under cover of darkness, but they are always most careful not to allow themselves to be overtaken in their forays by daylight, by which time they may be miles away from the scene of their predatory excursions of the previous night. Where heavy game are known to visit cultivated lands in this sort of way, many a good night's sport may be got by watching for them at places to which 138 BEASTS OF PREY AT WATER HOLES. they are known to resort, but this description of sport will be best considered in our next chapter on hunting in the plains, where the subject of night-shooting will be duly gone into. Where a state of things such as has been here described exists, the habits of the game will generally be found pretty well entirely nocturnal ; and it will be but seldom that any of the heavier and wilder animals will be visible after the day has broken. Such districts are also generally infested by numerous beasts of prey, according to locality; such for instance as the tiger and the panther in India; or the lion, the leopard, etc., in Africa ; but in most countries it is almost hopeless to attempt to get shots at this latter class of animals by daylight, unless they are hunted for, and driven out of cover by elephants or a small army of beaters, as has been the practice from time immemorial in Bengal and other parts of India : because the habits of the larger beasts of prey are strictly nocturnal : they mostly lie in wait for their prey at drinking places, or on paths which they are known to frequent by night, and when they kill a beast they generally do so in the night; a hearty meal is then made upon the carcase, a visit to the water usually follows, and then they are off again to their lairs. It is only in very wild districts, remote from the dwellings of man, where firearms have as yet been seldom used, and where the wild beasts of the field still roam in all their pristine state of savage liberty, that beasts of prey, such as the lion, continue to roam about fearlessly by day; for though their nature may be ever so ferocious where timid and mostly helpless victims are concerned, the personal daring of really AFRICAN TRAVELLERS AND BEASTS OF PREY. 139 dangerous beasts of prey is usually in almost inverse ratio to their size, and strength: there are in fact no creatures which are more careful about their own safety than they are. This we venture to think has been sufficiently proved, by the extreme rarity of attacks upon sleeping travellers by night, in the interior of Africa, and other places where such animals were known to be extremely numerous — yet men have been known to pass years of their lives, sleeping nightly on the ground, in security, while troops of lions and other dangerous beasts of prey were to be heard, almost as regularly as the darkness closed in, moving around them and uttering their respective cries in the vicinity of the camp ; and in those exceedingly rare instances where men have fallen victims to the nocturnal attacks of these creatures, it has almost always been in conse- quence of the neglect of the most obvious precautions, or because the assailant was driven by hunger, in consequence of the game suddenly deserting a district from failure of grass, or other articles of their natural food. Then, as we know, animals emboldened by hunger will become exceedingly daring, and will run risks which they would not otherwise dream of incurring. We make bold however to assert that the fiercest beasts of prey will not habitually venture upon the dar- ing incursions nightly made by so called shy and timid animals, like deer, simply in order to attain some coveted delicacy, not at all a necessary article of diet to them, but which can only be obtained by creeping silently in at the dead of night, among the dwellings of men. These beautiful creatures have often been known to commit robberies of surpassing audacity, 140 AUDACITY OF DEER BY NIGHT. upon the enclosed gardens of people resident in thickly settled districts, which it must have required a vast amount of skill and daring to accomplish, jumping or boring their way through fences, which would appar- ently have been amply sufficient to set their efforts at defiance — and they have continued to do this night after night, for a long time, before tardy "justice" has at length overtaken them, in the shape of a bullet or a handful of " slugs " from the indignant house- holder's musket. It is however quite exceptional for the larger and more dangerous beasts of prey to exhibit such audac- ity, and they in general confine themselves entirely to attacks upon cattle, or other animals from whose resistance they have nothing to fear. But there is probably no game so hard to get a shot at, or to get a sight of, as the larger beasts of prey where sports- men are known to be about. These animals will then seldom return to the same quarry at all after making their first meal upon it ; or if they do so, it will only be done with extraordinary precautions to avoid a hidden enemy. They will stop and start at the rust- ling of a leaf, and hie themselves away on the slightest appearance of danger, quite as timidly as the gentle spirited deer. Sometimes however, as we know, a tiger or other beast will become a man-eater; and having once turned his talents in that direction will frequently become a veritable scourge to a wide district of country. How this comes about it is somewhat difficult to explain, and must always be very much a matter of conjecture ; but probably if we were to hazard a guess MAN-EATING TIGERS. 141 about it we should say, in the first instance the human victim has fallen while the animal wras endeavouring to make good its escape from some imaginary attack r and having once come off an easy victor in the encounter, success has bred contempt of the human race. In most cases however the victims are women or aged and helpless persons of either sex, who have been incautiously out alone after dark, in a country infested by a man-eater. Attacks, even then, upon Europeans or men with guns, are very rare ; and published accounts of such cases show that there is no more shy and difficult game to outwit than a man-eating tiger, which seems to have an instinctive dread of the death-dealing rifle, and to know quite well that his cannibal propensities are certain now-a-days to provoke reprisals by the Shikari. Very complete returns are now made by the Indian government, of the number of persons annually killed in British India by wild animals. The numbers are still, we regret to say, very large; in the four years 1885 to 1888 inclusive, they amounted to a total of 9485 persons. * The number of cattle destroyed in the same period, by tigers and leopards only, amounted to the enormous total of 204,493, f while the smaller carnivorae annually kill some 12,800 additional animals among them. The numbers of cattle destroyed are also increasing, whether by reason of more complete returns being attained, or otherwise, is not stated. For instance, whereas in 1885, 46,469 head of cattle were killed by * Indian Govt. Returns of deaths caused by wild animals. f Statistical Return of cattle destroyed by wild beasts in the 4 years. 1885 to 1888 inclusive. 142 DEVASTATION DONE BY BEASTS OF PREY. tigers and leopards, the number had risen in 1888 to 50,302, destroyed by the same animals. * The depre- dations of beasts of prey are however more general throughout the world than people might suppose, though it would be impossible in these pages to discuss such matters at any length. We may however just say that though no reliable returns are available, every- where in Africa their devastations are very great — so great indeed, that in some parts the keeping of domestic animals of any kind is only carried out under the greatest difficulties ; the blood-tax too upon the human population is also very serious. Take for instance, the numbers of cases of attacks on natives in Somali Land, noted by Lord Wolverton during a trip of only five months. In Somali Land lions and other beasts of prey seem to be extraordinarily numerous and bold; and the sport to a great extent consists of lion shooting— 1 6 of these animals having been killed by his lord- ship's party. It appears that the destruction of life by man-eating lions is there so common that it has come to be regarded as unavoidable, the natives having neither proper guns to kill these animals, nor inclina- tion for the business, like all Mahometans regard the loss of life as " Kismet" or the Will of Providence, which it would be vain, or even sinful, to resist; it is only when a " big man" or chief is killed that any effort is made to hunt a lion, f But coming much nearer home to civilized lands, where the larger carnivorse, (if they ever existed in historic times) have long been extinct, we find that considerable losses of human life * The returns exhibited are as follows — 1885, 46,469 — 1886, 46,044 — 1887, 51,6/8 — 1888, 60,302; total 204,493. y See Five Months in Somali Land, by Lord Wolverton, 1894 (va- rious pages throughout the book, especially pp. 32 to 35). WOLVES IN SNOW TIME. 143 still periodically occur from wolves, and other minor carnivorae. For instance, in Russia these losses cannot be placed much under 1000 per annum. Then again in Hungary, where extensive forests still exist— "The Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung of Feb. 10, 1891, publishes intelligence from Szolnok (Hungary) of the depredations of a pack of wolves on the estate of Baron Woclisner, in Szandau, which had attacked and killed over 20 peasants, the unfortunate men having been entirely devoured, with the exception of their feet and boots." * The winter of 1890 — 91 was one of the severest known in Central Europe for many years, and no doubt the cold and want of food drove these animals to desper- ation, for only a fortnight afterwards the London papers record a further loss of 4 lives in Hungary. In one of these cases two clergymen of the Greek Church at Temesvar were the victims — they were out driving in a sledge driven by a coachman with two horses, when they were pursued by a pack of wolves, and though the coachman drove at a furious pace, the wolves overtook the sledge and jumping up upon the back of it, they dragged the priests off, and devoured them; the coachman and horses however, managed to escape with their lives. Next day two watchmen who were on duty on the outskirts of the city were also killed, presumably by the same pack, f Even in France these animals are still occasionally troublesome, and from official returns it appears that in 1887 two persons were attacked by them. A reward is still of- fered by the French government for their destruction, and it seems 900 were killed in 1885, 760 in 1886, and * See the London Times of Feb. nth, 1891, Renter's telegram, j St. James's Gazette of Feb. 2$th, 1891. 144 RED INDIANS EATEN BY \\OLVES. 701 in . 1887, during which years the French govern- ment paid premiums for their destruction, respectively amounting to £2610, £2284 and £1920. * These facts will give an idea of the trouble still caused by wild beasts even in Europe, and the amount of damage they continue to do both to person and property. In all wild countries, as may readily be supposed, matters are infinitely worse; for instance telegrams from Winnipeg (Canada) dated Feb. 31, i8gi, state that news had reached that settlement that a band of Indians encamped on the shores of the lake had been attacked by a pack of 200 ravenous wolves, and 1 8 men, women, and children were devoured, only two escaping to tell the tale, f When we were out in the Hudson's Bay Territory (as it was then called) some 35 years ago, such stories were common, and though so large a number of persons perishing together is un- usual, the numbers who met their deaths from famished wild beasts in snow time every winter, was consider- able. In the teeth of such events, it may therefore occa- sion surprise to see it stated that beasts of prey are in general, as we have stated, very timid creatures when they come into contact with man — nevertheless we think we shall be supported by the general con- census of opinion among travellers of experience, when we say so, with regard to them on ordinary occasions : though starvation as we know will sometimes drive even the most timid to desperate actions. How completely the sense of fear is at times over- come by want may perhaps be better illustrated than * London Times of Dec. 26, 1888. f See English Newspapers of Feb. 13, 1891. BIRDS AND BEASTS OF PREY. 145 in any other way, when we mention that during a terrible drought in India, a hare actually came up, entered an officer's tent at a military encampment, and drank out of a vessel held in the hand of the adjutant of one of Her Majesty's regiments at Ellore. * But be those things as they may, to the sportsman birds and beasts of prey being present in great num- bers is always more or less a welcome fact, because it may be regarded as an unfailing proof that game is also abundant, seeing that these creatures in a wild country must, in the absence of domestic cattle, etc., have game to prey upon. Moreover the larger and fiercer carnivorae are themselves much sought after by sportsmen as trophies of the chase, and as such, as we have said, often require the exercise of the highest skill on his part to bring them to bay. Tiger hunting, and the pursuit of other beasts of prey, is more or less strictly speaking a form of forest and jungle shooting, because the haunts of these animals, where they have to be sought after, are gener- ally in forest wooded ravines or other heavy cover. Yet like much of this sport, it is only obtained on the edges of the forest, where these adjoin the plains coun- try, or where extensive clearings have been made by man within the forest boundaries; for in the heart of vast forests which extend without a break over a wide section of country, the larger beasts of prey are scarce and rare, and probably even entirely wanting — though the smaller species, such as wolves, foxes, and the smaller cat tribes, penetrate everywhere through the * This circumstance is vouched for by the late Mr. Chas. Darwin who had it from Dr. Malcolmson (See Journal of his researches during the Voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle" foot-note to page 133 — I4th Edition, 1879). VOL. III. 10 146 NOISES IN THE FOREST. woods, as also do certain sorts of bears — but unless emboldened by hunger, all these animals are extremely wary, stealthily avoiding the approach of man, and when they are come upon it is mostly unexpectedly, both on the part of the man and the beast. The tracking of all these to their lairs is an arduous work requiring the aid of a skilled hunter, as both the ears and noses of these animals are particularly keen, and the slightest crackling of a dry stick will set them off. Now as regards noises in the forest, questions here arise of high importance, from the hunter's point of view. We have ourselves no doubt that noises are heard there more readily, and at a greater distance than elsewhere. In fact it is practically certain that slight sounds, such as the rustling of dry leaves, the crackling of twigs, and other rubbish under the human foot, the switching of branches catching in his clothing, or the slight packing noise made by the hunter's feet in snow time, which would hardly be noticed in the open country, are audible to the keen ears of game at extraordinary distances in the forest. These things are very seldom alluded to, except in general terms, in books that profess to treat of sport in a forest country. Mr. Van Dyke however has stated his opinions of such matters, and says — " It is probable that sounds can be heard a trifle farther in the woods" (than elsewhere) "owing to there being less wind, and some cover overhead. At any rate it seems so, with noises not too distant, though the point is a hard one to prove." * * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, New York 1888, p. 44. ABSENCE OF BIRD LIFE. 147 The absolute stillness of a great forest, in certain conditions of the atmosphere, is one of those things that a man must have felt and experienced in his own person, before he can appreciate it ; nearly every writer upon sporting or travelling through such localities seems to have been struck by it. As a rule the great forests of the world are not made bright, like our English woodlands, by the merry twitter of small birds ; at home we rarely go far through the trees without catching sight of a rabbit or two, or some other species of small game, either furred or feathered, however insignificant; but in the great domain of Nature's primeval woods, these petty details seem to be, as it were, swallowed in the vastness of the interminable wilderness of trees, where the voice of the bird is usually conspicuously absent: indeed experienced woodsmen regard the presence of these songsters as indicative of the neighbourhood of human habitations, round which, it is a fact attested by many travellers of authority, these birds congregate, fol- lowing in the train of human occupation, and making their haunts near houses and villages. This for in- stance was the constant experience of Dr. Livingstone in his African travels, who states that though "birds of song are not entirely confined to the villages, they have, in Africa, so often been observed to congregate around villages, that when we approach the haunts of men, we know the time of the singing of birds is come ; " * and the great doctor even goes so far as to assert that when native villages are deserted by their human inhabitants (a thing of frequent occurrence in * Expedition to the Zambesi, by David Livingstone, publ. 1868, p. 65. 148 THE MIGHTY HUSH OF NATURE. Central Africa) they are also quickly deserted by the birds. * It may be that this is due to the fact that scattered scraps of food thrown out by the natives, or growing^ crops in their fields and gardens attract these birds, or that the presence of man drives away their enemies ; but at any rate the fact of their following the human habitant is well known, and we shall have more to- say upon the same subject in our subsequent chapter on "Wildfowl." Thus therefore it comes that in the heart of great forests, where man has no permanent place of abode, these leafy solitudes are in general in still weather wrapped in a silence almost equalling that of eternal sleep. This mighty hush of Nature, before it is broken in upon by the busy sounds of human labour, has been very beautifully described by Alexander Pope in the opening lines of his "Essay on Silence," in these words —in one of the most striking pieces written during his boyish days " Silence ! coeval with Eternity Thou wast, ere Nature's self began to be. 'Twas one vast nothing all, and all slept fast in thee. " t When this condition of absolute stillness is present, it is a bad chance for the hunter, especially in the great tropical forests, where many of the fallen leaves are of immensely strong thick fibre, so that when dry it is almost like walking upon tin plates. The great leaves of the teak as well as those of nearly all the Ficus tribe and numerous other trees, * Expedition to the Zambesi, by David Livingstone, publ. 1 868, p. 65. -j- Essay on Silence, by Alexander Pope (Tempo 1708), 1st verse. BAD DAYS FOR FOREST HUNTING. 149 will readily occur to the mind of the Indian sportsman as examples of these noisy debris, which render moving about without noise a matter of impossibility in many places. Mr. Van Dyke in like manner warns American still-hunters about to take the field, of these difficul- ties— "First let us see (he says) whether the day will do for still-hunting;" for he reminds them there "are days when you might almost as well stay at home, though even on such days it will pay you to go out, study the movements of deer, and the 'lay of the land.' " * The latter suggestion is a good one, and helps a stranger to make his experience; there are however two other things a hunter may do on such occasions : he may post himself at advantageous points, concerning which we shall have more to say presently, and wait for game ; or he may go to the lakes and streams, and try for birds, or taking out some fishing tackle in addition to his gun, he may try for fish. In a great forest, especially where dangerous animals may be met with, or natives of doubtful character possibly be come upon, it is a bad plan to go unarmed. Never do that. Now as regards a man's movements when hunting after game in the forest, it is necessary to determine how he shall manage to range through the woods without frightening the sharp-witted forest creatures, who from the smallest to the greatest will all, so far as our experience goes, avoid him if they can. He must so manage as to see them before they see him. To do this, he must see that they do not get his wind; and he must not make a noise while walking * The Still-Hunter, by Theodore S. Van Dyke, New York 1888, PP- 58—59. 150 THE FOOT-GEAR OF HUNTERS. or they will hear him, and slip stealthily off before he has a chance of getting a sight of them. This will oblige him to see to his footgear. Heavy hob-nailed English shooting boots are too noisy for forest hunting, except in wet stormy weather. We have tried several expedients to counteract this fault such as putting on covers of raw hide etc. — but this renders walking in them very fatiguing. Then, the Red Indian moccassins, besides becoming useless in wet weather, destroy the feet of persons who wear boots, and soon cause great pain to the joints of the large toes, which being unsupported by a hard sole as in a boot, soon get strained ; * because the white man walks with, his toes turned out which throws the whole weight of the body in walking on the big toe. This is the reason why American Indians, and indeed all barefooted savages, and sandal-wearing natives, habitually more or less turn the toes in while walking. This matter the reader will find treated of more at length in another portion of this work. Meanwhile reverting to the question of hunting shoes — we have taken much pains to consult a number of the best authorities on the subject, and find that the majority of those best qua- lified to judge of such matters generally agree that light pliable soled footgear are the best for stalking purposes — except of course on very rocky ground, where the strong hob-nailed British shooting boot sometimes becomes all but indispensable, as light shoes etc., soon get destroyed, especially if the ground is very wet. There are some evident objections to shoes, * We are borne out in this opinion by Mr. J. K. Lord. — (See his At Home in the Wilderness, p. 1 43 ; but Mr. Van Dyke is all for the Indian moccassin — See his Still-Hunter, 1888, chap, xxxiv, pp. 380—81). RED RUBBER SHOE SOLES. 151 bits of gravel and other rubbish being apt to get into them. In rainy weather during the Franco- German war of 1870, for instance, the French infantry suffered much from wearing shoes over which the mud worked its way, and caused much distress and many sore feet — a very serious matter either to sportsmen far out in a wild country, or to soldiers during a campaign. For broken weather, and some sorts of rough grounds, especially where snakes are numerous or where there are grass leeches, jiggers or bad stinging ants, boots are to be preferred to shoes ; but where there are no special reasons against them, these shoes have the great advantage of being light, and easily taken off and put on: and the better class of brown leather lawn tennis shoes, with thick smooth red vulcanite rubber soles are about the very best class of footgear for stalking purposes. On the steep slopes of the Himalayas, Col. Kinloch says he finds " they give a better hold on nearly all kinds of ground than any other material. They do not even slip on dead pine leaves, the most treacherous material on which one can walk." Those with grey corrugated soles were found to wear out very rapidly. * The same accounts come from Central Africa; when used in the forests there, in elephant hunting these shoes were found very serviceable, and much more noiseless than boots, so that by their means the hunters were often able to approach quite close to these wary beasts without being heard. Attention to the colour of the dress is also very necessary, in order that it should harmonize well with * Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas and Northern India, by Col. Kinloch, Calcutta 1885, p. 212. 152 THE HUNTER'S DRESS. the prevailing tints of the surrounding forest and back- ground. This must be left mainly to the common sense of the individual, and it must be remembered that game will be liable to see him passing in front of the tree stems, as well as against the general background; for this reason therefore in snow time, a white dress does not do well in the forest, as it is easily seen in crossing the foreground, with dark tree stems rising out of the snow behind. Personally we are inclined to believe that a whole suit of the same material is not a good thing, because it shows out the perfect outline of a man, whereas by having say a grey cap and trousers, and brown coat and vest, or vice versa, it cuts the figure in two when seen a little distance off, and does not therefore produce so distinct an outline of the human form as a self-coloured suit. This was the opinion of the late General H. H. Crea- lock, who pointed out this fact very clearly in his work on deer stalking in the Scottish Highlands ; * it seems to be very much a matter of common sense, and though the question may assume greater import- ance on bare plains or upon a mountain side, than in the forest, still no precaution should be neglected in stalking wild game, as success to a great extent depends upon attention to small matters of detail, f * Deer Stalking in the Highlands of Scotland, by Lieut.-Gen. Henry H. Crealock, C.B., edited by his brother Major General J. N. Crealock, 1892, p. 192. -j- For soldiers' uniforms on active service, perhaps we may be per- mitted to observe, that when bodies of troops are acting together, all such contrasts act adversely — and have the effect of marking out a line, which would help to direct hostile fire. Thus French infantry always make a clearly defined double line, one for the blue coat, and a second STANDING STILL. 153 In forest hunting one can never be certain that one may not be within view of game, which may be stand- ing or lying among bush concealed from the hunter's notice, but out of which they can see much better than he can, and as a matter of habit often keep a considerable area of ground under observation. The hunter may therefore at any moment pass within plain sight of game, but if the colour of his dress harmonizes well with that of the landscape, and he makes no sudden movement which attracts attention, it may frequently occur that he will not be observed, because the game, though seeing, may not recognise what he is, but take him for some natural object in the landscape, such as a rock or a tree stump. A good illustration of this fact occurs when game comes unexpectedly in sight, advancing towards the hunter ; every sportsman of experience is aware that deer and other animals will then, as we have already shown, provided he only remains motionless, frequently come quite close up without observing him. This brings us to the question of how it is that game most frequently catch sight of an enemy; and we trust before we have done with it to be able to state a number of interesting facts about it. It can however, hardly be doubtful, that it is because their eye instantly detects anything in motion. The moment that their attention is thus attracted, their keen sight generally enables them readily enough for the red trousers — if the kepi is of a third colour, it again makes another line, so will a white belt or any other showy accoutrement. Every one of these things " makes a line" when seen at a distance on a number of men. We feel sure however that in the next great war British uniforms will be carefully attended to in this way, so as to avoid the errors of former days. 154 OBJECTS IN MOTION. to make out what it is that made the movement. Every sportsman has daily evidence of this fact in his own experience ; for we hold it to be impossible for a man of ordinary powers of observation to pass any considerable time in a wild country, either as a hunter or a traveller, without becoming aware that his eye quickly accustoms itself to instantly catching sight of anything moving in the landscape. Thus the close presence of game is commonly detected in forest hunting in consequence of the twitching of their ears, the flicking of a tail, or some other little movement of a similar kind. The hunter should endeavour to train his faculties to acquire this gift, and should always be keenly on the look-out for any object in motion. Mr. Charles St. John, formerly one of our best authorities on sporting matters, * writing some 50 years ago (whose book on Deer Stalking and Natural History in the Scottish Highlands, is still regarded as a standard work on such subjects) even mentions that he has noticed that this constant habit of intently surveying and taking in every detail of the surrounding land- scape leaves its permanent impress upon the faces of those who have served a long apprenticeship to the hunter's craft, and that he had remarked that an old hunter can almost be known by his countenance — for, he says— "a man whose life is spent much in hunting, an