ds of the smaller Thompson's gazelle,
or "Tommies." So small were they that only their heads could be seen
above the tall grass as they ran.

To me there was never-ending fascination in walking out over those
sloppy plains in search of adventure, and in the pleasure of watching
the beasts. Scarcely less fascination haunted a stroll down the river
canyons or along the tops of the bluffs above them. Here the country was
broken into rocky escarpments in which were caves; was clothed with low
and scattered brush; or was wooded in the bottom lands. Naturally an
entirely different set of animals dwelt here; and in addition one was
often treated to the romance of surprise. Herds of impalla haunted these
edges; graceful creatures, trim and pretty with wide horns and beautiful
glowing red coats. Sometimes they would venture out on the open plains,
in a very compact band, ready to break back for cover at the slightest
alarm; but generally fed inside the fringe of bushes. Once from the
bluff above I saw a beautiful herd of over a hundred pacing decorously
along the river bottom below me, single file, the oldest buck at the
head, and the miscellaneous small buck bringing up the rear after the
does. I shouted at them. Immediately the solemn procession broke. They
began to leap, springing straight up into the air as though from a
released spring, or diving forward and upward in long graceful bounds
like dolphins at sea. These leaps were incredible. Several even jumped
quite over the backs of others; and all without a semblance of effort.

Along the fringe of the river, too, dwelt the lordly waterbuck,
magnificent and proud as the stags of Landseer; and the tiny steinbuck
and duiker, no bigger than jack-rabbits, but perfect little deer for
all that. The incredibly plebeian wart-hog rooted about; and down in
the bottom lands were leopards. I knocked one off a rock one day. In
the river itself dwelt hippopotamuses and crocodiles. One of the latter
dragged under a yearling calf just below the house itself, and while
we were there. Besides these were of course such affairs as hyenas and
jackals, and great numbers of small game: hares, ducks, three kinds of
grouse, guinea fowl, pigeons, quail, and jack snipe, not to speak of a
variety of plover.

In the drier extents of dry grass atop the bluffs the dance birds were
especially numerous; each with his dance ring nicely trodden out, each
leaping and falling rhythmically for hours at a time