The colonists of South Africa give the name "Wait-a-bit" to this bush. Its short, hooked thorns check the progress of the traveler and compel him to wait a bit at almost every step he takes in advance.
Andersson, an early explorer, once came upon a forest of thornless trees in this section. In his journal he describes his feelings at the sight: "I do not think that I was ever so surprised in my life. I hesitated to trust my senses. Even the dull faces of my attendants seemed to relax from their usual heavy, unintelligent cast, and to express joy at the novel scene."
The climate is characterized by a brief wet season, when the rain falls in torrents. This season is succeeded by months of complete drought. During these droughts water can be found only in solitary fountains, appearing at rare intervals, or in a few stagnant pools.
Accounts of travelers are filled with the record of suffering that has been endured in this region, by man and beast, just from the lack of water.
Although this country may seem uninviting in many respects, yet to the sportsman it seems a veritable paradise. In no other section of the globe has he so many species of large game to choose from.
South Africa is like a vast zoölogical garden. Here are found the giraffe, the gigantic wild boar, the clumsy hippopotamus, and the rhinoceros. Leopards and hyenas seek their prey here among the many species of the antelope family.
Lions lurk on every side. Elephants haunt the lonely pools, where they seek to quench their thirst.
Ostriches, zebras, deer, springboks, and many other animals, the names of which we do not find in any zoölogy, make their home here.
Naturally, with so much animal life to be supported, there must be the need of vegetable growth.
The beasts of prey find no difficulty in appeasing their hunger; but the animals of the grazing families would fare badly, had not Nature provided them with the proper instinct for seeking their food. This instinct leads them to wander far and wide wherever herbage is to be found.