Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1892-08-25

rhs zssr~s ssripss asks - Aaimsi
Ai.asss Isvs.lsi@ 81 Nixhs.
Almost every writer who sFyats ~ the
colors "a animals rvfers 10 t%ltan's oh-
servaslons that In the hight staflighs
~ m Afrlran nixht ssbras Ire praeti.
esily invisible s.sn al a short distance,
but there can be no doubt that theiy
peculiar striped appearances h also ~
great protective value In brad day.
light On q recent zebra hant near
Cradoek, In which took part several
neanisrs of our party commented on
the difficulty ~ seeing sebrms even at
moderate distances. although there va.
nethlng 10 hide them. the black aud
white stripes blending 80 completely
that the animals assume dull brown
appearance In. harmony with the gencr.
al color u the locality In whirh they are
foana. and In which, Tor instance,
Rood rehbok (i'elca carpreolstal Is also
well protected ON account ~
IT, peculiar brownish coat A
member ~ oar PARTY. who.
ON another occasion. gave prcof that he
" Possessed ~ exeellent eYesight. aud
who has frcqasntly hunted In similar
localities. saw q zebra which was
wounded In one ~ the frunt legs al
distance 81 about four hundred yards,
and. strange 90 say. he mistook Il Zoe a
hig baboon. In q letter which re-
ceivrd from him few days ago he said.
Ia Raliopcd like q hahonn from me,
and could only see that The color was
~ Il. 4. "A "A. a. A
yards frOIn me IL ran on b. = little
krantz, and mounting the highes, rook.
drew its body together Just "a hahoon
does when IL four feet are all together
On the summit of = little rock" His
remark a. 10 the grayish-brown color 81
the animal n the more valuable. a.
believe this gentleman. Mr.. Wrench. a
X N. - Cradock. N gate an
prejudieed In my own tiers to him.
which drew forth these rssnarkS. had
only asked him for the distance al
which he saw the zebrA. and I DID NOT
ask him how II was that he mlsiook a
black and white zebra Cor brown
hahoon on q perfectly clear South
African day.
Ny own observatknns also confirm
that the stripes ~ the zebra are ~ PRO
teetive value. Riding along a SLOPE
Suddenly saw four Eebras within one
hundred yards above me. They were
gAlloping down the hill. bat stopped
when they caught sight % ne. A. s"on
a. they stopped I saw their stripes
pretty distinctly. After I had fred
and wounded one % them they started
again galloping down the hill round me
In q semi-circle AZ a distances - about
seventy varis All this time they pre-
sented a duh brown aPpesranee. no
stripes bring visible. althaagh had
my attention hxed on this posnt They
disappeared beyond ridge. sent down
a little valley. and I heard afterward
that thsy assembled the nest slppe,
which was not more than fifteen hun
bred yards away from where I stood with
. native servant Vet even this iynN
eyed native could not see them going
up the slope. They had vanished from
us.
Perhaps II may interest some Of your
readers that Eebras are ssill fairly
plentiful ON the rugged hills west ~
Crade.k. A troop Of forty-one AMI
mails was seen on the very gronnd over
which we hunted short time before
We arrived. Cur party saw eleven In
two days. but believe three we're seen
on two II not ON three different acca-
Sims This woala r.aace tA~ir nama-
tcr to eight " not IN I've. They are
protected by government and also by
the farmers themselves, sut am AFRAID
that Ia spite ~ that their days are
numbered. They are aid 81 he very
destructive "a wire fences. and. - the
inelosing q farms with wire fences l.
steadily On the increase In this colony,
many farmer viii have. thoa IN per.
haps reluctantly and In defiance Of the
law. a. take mp his gun and clear
them "A bis property. There will then
probably ~ an oatcry by people who
know the diaicultics ~ south African
farming only from books written by
travellers who hurry through south
Africa IN . first-cla<s railway carriage:
hut those Who really know Soath AZ
RIGA well will say II Is great great
pity. but u can not he helped unless
governments provides speedily an abode
Tor these and other animals threatened
with extinction. The first step in the
right direction would perhaps be the
establishment "a = government Eoolog-
ical garden; but hope others who are
more competent than am will stir the
people Of Cape Colony mp before II Is too
late, 80 that something more than
L. a..