Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/292

268 with stunted karoo bush, and full of Duyker Gries-buck and Bnsh- buck. Two kinds of hares frequented the plains; the larger kind grey, furred like our rabbit, and a small red mountain species. On the plains were found enormous land tortoises, and many strange feræ naturæ. Not the least singular of these were the Spring- hare, or " Spring-hasen" of the colonists, a singular little animal of the Jerboa species, about the size of an ordinary hare, which burrows in the sand, and only emerges at night to feed, and which when wounded emits a most peculiar scream, like a penny trumpet.

The author's "Cape Pheasant" is, of course, a Francolin. He describes it as much given to running in the thick scrub, whence it is difficult to drive it, and it never rises on the wing unless com- pelled, when it mounts like a pheasant, and presents an easy mark to the sportsman.

In the category of strange creatures to be found in this district Capt. Lucas includes the Ant-bear, or "Aard-vark," which not only inhabits the frontier, but is spread over all parts of the interior, the surface of the ground for miles being completely honeycombed with the excavations made by the claws of this indefatigable burrower in search of the daily ant-food on which he subsists. His soft muzzle and innocent calf-like head, with its mild bluish eyes, seem almost disproportionate, set upon his bulky shapeless frame, sparsely covered with scanty bristles. His porcine body, again, is at variance with his formidable claws and broad muscular fore-arms, which enable him to dig with ease his circular shaft, some two feet in diameter, in the hardest ground, descending vertically to a depth of three or four feet before it takes its lateral direction. These holes present a formidable obstruction to the hunter, when riding alter larger game, and he is frequently rolled over in full career by the sudden subsidence of his horse's fore- legs in one of these dangerous pitfalls. Capt. Lucas had several opportunities of observing the habits of this singular animal. He says:—

"It leaves its shelter only at night, and is extremely shy and sensitive to discovery, making its earth close to the large ant-heaps, so numerously distributed over the Veldt. Here it scrapes a shallow trench in the upper surface, which has the effect of bringing out the Ants in great numbers; then lying extended at full length, resting on its fore-paws, it launches out its prehensile tongue into the cavity, waiting patiently until it is completely