The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
BUSH OF. CENTRAL AFRICA.
Herds or Wild Animals on the VeIdt NATIVES
and the white Lord.

Herds or Wild Animals on the Veidt Natives
and the white Lord.
Spring is on US with a rapidity that the
temperate chimes know not. One good
shower and in two days the face Of nature
ID transformed. Trees burst into leaf; birds.
which seem to nave hidden themselves dur
ing the past months. make the days joyous
with song, writes a correspondent Of the
London Field, describing the great plateau
north Of the Zambesi and southwest Of
Lake NyassA in it's spring aspect.
A green carpet o~verspreads the veldt as
IL by magic, and the earth smells Of the life
and moisture with which it is i~mpregnated.
The days become cool, and the heat haze
gives place to a cleernees Of atmosphere
which Ia unrivalled even on the South Afri-
can veldt.
Go to the top Of a kopje and drink in the
view. As far as the eye can reach is n vast
eea Of low forest, broken by conical hills
standing like sentinels above the surround
ing plain, and by open glades, or 'dambos,'
whose grass presents the most vivid green
one can imagine In nature.
Now for the denizens OF the country. Ma
tives there are few; some tiny kraals at long
intervals In the forest. Not so the wild
animals. Slowly working their way down
an open park, a herd Of zebra and haarte-
beest meander, noses to the ground, greedily
cropping the tender grass shoots. tails busily
switching of the flies which cluster round
them.
Warthogs scurry to and fro, tearing up
the fresh green clods IN their search for sue
euler roots. They always seem busy,
| these warthoes. Ahurried scamper out Of
the forest into the opcn, n all are hard at
IL, noeinR up the soft earth; then. without
| apparent rhyme or reason, tails up In the
air, of they scamper to another part to re-
peat the process.
Suddenly the antelopes become alarmed:
heads up for a moment. a hasty sniff around.
the danger scented. a noisy chatter Of hoofs.
and they are of. The cause OF it2 Per-
chance a lion skulking in the ~neighboripg
cover, or, II you are lucky. a roam or haarte-
best galloping full tilt across the glade.
head thrown back, nostrils dilated, eyes
wide with terror, foam fiecks on the fore
/ TANKS, a pack OF hunting dogs in close pur-
suit, the white splash on their bushy tails
marking the rhythm OF their headlong
gallop, Nature is here unspoiled; No
and indiscrimlnate slaughter Of the country's
game by their owners. The great tsetse
belt to the south takes care of that. The
South African invasion has yet to come.
Perhaps we w a Government official
or prospector. with long tail Of carriers
walking in single file. each his load upon
his head. These are in keeping with the
country. Tramping silently along the
forest path. the rhythmical pat-pat OF the
bare feet, the glistening black skins make
but a momentary impression. and 10, they
are gone, swallowed up in the green vista
beyond.
Or perhaps. far away in the distance.
the sound OF singing-a wild, weird chant.
Louder and louder. it becomes; at last it
is on you. Around a bend in the path trots
a boy in bright colored clothes carrying q
rife, then another, perhaps two, a third
with a chair. a fourth with helmet and
vaterbottle, lastly a machilla or hammock
carried by twelve or more boys in relays
OF two. These are responsible for the
singing as they trot steadily along.
Under the awning. lazi)y reclining on a
leopard skin. lies a white man. smoking
peacefully, reading newspapers at least
three months old-a picturesque figure,
yet not unkempt; white buckskin shoes or
slippers. loose khaki trousers, white or
khaki shirt, a silk kerchief loosely thrown
round the neck and pulled through q gold
ring. A retinue OF pure savages trained to
perfect. unquestioning obedience. A sharp
command; the song ceases, the machilla
hats. We exchange a few conventional
remarks, usually with reference to game
and water on ahead. and they are of again.
The song becomes fainter and fainter in
the distance, is lost, and nature again reigns
suDreme.