they must exist in
great numbers. Dr. Smith describes the country passed through that
day, as "being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about four
feet high, and still more thinly with mimosa-trees." The waggons
were not prevented travelling in a nearly straight line.

Besides these large animals, every one the least acquainted with
the natural history of the Cape has read of the herds of antelopes,
which can be compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. The
numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hyaena, and the multitude
of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller
quadrupeds: one evening seven lions were counted at the same time
prowling round Dr. Smith's encampment. As this able naturalist
remarked to me, the carnage each day in Southern Africa must indeed
be terrific! I confess it is truly surprising how such a number of
animals can find support in a country producing so little food. The
larger quadrupeds no doubt roam over wide tracts in search of it;
and their food chiefly consists of underwood, which probably
contains much nutriment in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me
that the vegetation has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part
consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There can be
no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparent amount of
food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much
exaggerated: it should have been remembered that the camel, an
animal of no mean bulk, has always been considered as the emblem of
the desert.

The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must
necessarily be luxuriant, is the more remarkable, because the
converse is far from true. Mr. Burchell observed to me that when
entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the
splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of
South Africa, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. In
his "Travels," he has suggested that the comparison of the
respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal
number of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would
be extremely curious. (5/6. "Travels in the Interior of South
Africa" volume 2 page 207.) If we take on the one side, the
elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, elan, certainly three,
and probably five species of rhinoceros; and on the American side,
two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capybara
(after which we must choose f