CHAPTER VIII
EXTINCTION AND DIMINUTION OF GAME IN SOUTH AFRICA—NOTES ON THE CAPE BUFFALO
Extinction of the blaauwbok and the true quagga—Threatened extermination of the black and white rhinoceros and the buffalo in South Africa—Former abundance of game—Scene in the valley of Dett witnessed by the author in 1873—Buffaloes protected by the Cape Government—But few survivors in other parts of South Africa—Abundance of buffaloes in former times—Extent of their range—Still plentiful in places up to 1896—The terrible epidemic of rinderpest—Character of the African buffalo—A matter of individual experience—Comparison of buffalo with the lion and elephant—Danger of following wounded buffaloes into thick cover—Personal experiences—Well-known sportsman killed by a buffalo—Usual action of buffaloes when wounded—Difficult to stop when actually charging—The moaning bellow of a dying buffalo—Probable reasons for some apparently unprovoked attacks by buffaloes—Speed of buffaloes—Colour, texture, and abundance of coat at different ages—Abundance of buffaloes along the Chobi river—Demeanour of old buffalo bulls—"God's cattle"—Elephants waiting for a herd of buffaloes to leave a pool of water before themselves coming down to drink
CHAPTER IX
NOTES ON THE TSE-TSE FLY
Connection between buffaloes and tse-tse flies—Sir Alfred Sharpe's views—Buffaloes and tse-tse flies both once abundant in the valley of the Limpopo and many other districts south of the Zambesi, in which both have now become extinct—Permanence of all kinds of game other than buffaloes in districts from which the tse-tse fly has disappeared—Experience of Mr. Percy Reid—Sudden increase of tse-tse flies between Leshuma and Kazungula during 1888—Disappearance of the tse-tse fly from the country to the north of Lake N'gami after the extermination of the buffalo—History of the country between the Gwai and Daka rivers—And of the country between the Chobi and the Zambesi—Climatic and other conditions necessary to the existence of the tse-tse fly—Never found at a high altitude above the sea—Nor on open plains or in large reed beds—"Fly" areas usually but not always well defined—Tse-tse flies most numerous in hot weather—Bite of the tse-tse fly fatal to all domestic animals, except native goats and perhaps pigs—Donkeys more resistant to tse-tse fly poison than horses or cattle—Tse-tse flies active on warm nights—Effect of tse-tse fly bites on human beings
CHAPTER X
NOTES ON THE BLACK OR PREHENSILE-LIPPED RHINOCEROS