Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/323

 FAUNA OF TILE ZAMBESE BASIN. 256 silver-tree (ieucademlron argenteum) which is met as far inland us the Upper Zambese. A number of plants belonging to the Capo flora also occur on the high- lands skirting the shores of Lake Nyassa at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 6,500 feet above the sea. The southern limits of the fluvial basin coincide very nearly with the zone over which the baobab has spread. Fauna. In certain parts of the Zambese region the fauna is still surprisingly rich both in numbers and diversity of forms. At the time of Livingstone's explorations, before the white man with his firearms had yet invaded the land, the multitudes of animals roaming over the riverain savannahs is described as " prodigious," and these countless herds still grazed fearlessly near the haunts of man. The elephant, buffalo, and wild boar had not yet learnt to avoid his presence, and the guinea-fowl in flocks of many hundreds perched confidently on the neighbouring trees. According to Ilolub, the naturalist, who has most carefully explored the Zambese basin, this region, so abounding in animal forms, has no less than seven species of rhinoceros, four of lions, and three of elephants. Even quite recently Capello and Ivens still speak of the plains watered by the Liba as a vast " zoo- logical garden," where the sportsman has his pick and choice of the game needed to supply the wants of the expedition. In some districts lions are so numerous that at night they lay siege to the villages, and keep up an incessant roar till the '* small hours." But in other parts of the fluvial basin the hunter has already done his work of extermination. Prudence has taught the lion to be dumb ; the hippopotamus, which snorted loud enough to be heard half a mile off, has learnt the wisdom of silence, and now swims about with bated breath, or at sight of the canoe takes refuge amid the tall reeds. Since the introduction of firearms some wild mammals have already dis- appeared altogether in the hunting-grounds visited by Europeans. The white rhinoceros, a gentle and trusting beast, has been rapidly extirpated ; but the black species, which has a savage temper, still survives in districts remote from the beaten tracks. On the northern slope of the Zambese neither the ostrich nor the giraffe is now seen. Both of these animals appear to have been arrested in their migrations northwards by the course of the river, for they are still numerous farther south in Mashonaland and the Kalahari Desert. According to Oswell and Livingstone, the wild animals of Austral Africa diminish in size in the direc- tion from south to north. Thus the antelopes become smaller and smaller as they approach the equator, and even the elephant loses in bulk, while by a singular contrast his tusks acquire a larger growth. A marked difference has also been observed in the proportions of domestic animals of both regions. The homed cattle bred by the Bechuanas are much larger and stronger than those belonging to the Batokas of the Zambese. The rule, however, has its exceptions. In some of the river valleys of the Upper Zambese, and probably also in the