When Feeding, It Puts Its Head
Under The Water To Seize The Insect At The Bottom, Then Lifts It Up Quickly,
Making A Rapid Gobbling, As If Swallowing A Wriggling Worm.
The `Parra Africana' runs about on the surface, as if walking on water,
catching insects.
It too has long, thin legs, and extremely long toes,
for the purpose of enabling it to stand on the floating lotus-leaves
and other aquatic plants. When it stands on a lotus-leaf five inches
in diameter, the spread of the toes, acting on the principle of snow-shoes,
occupies all the surface, and it never sinks, though it obtains a livelihood,
not by swimming or flying, but by walking on the water.
Water-birds, whose prey or food requires a certain aim or action
in one direction, have bills quite straight in form, as the heron and snipe;
while those which are intended to come in contact with hard substances,
as breaking shells, have the bills gently curved, in order that the shock
may not be communicated to the brain.
The Barotse valley contains great numbers of large black geese.*
They may be seen every where walking slowly about, feeding.
They have a strong black spur on the shoulder, like the armed plover,
and as strong as that on the heel of a cock, but are never seen to use them,
except in defense of their young. They choose ant-hills for their nests,
and in the time of laying the Barotse consume vast quantities of their eggs.
There are also two varieties of geese, of somewhat smaller size,
but better eating. One of these, the Egyptian goose, or Vulpanser,
can not rise from the water, and during the floods of the river
great numbers are killed by being pursued in canoes. The third is furnished
with a peculiar knob on the beak. These, with myriads of ducks
of three varieties, abound every where on the Leeambye.
On one occasion the canoe neared a bank on which a large flock was sitting.
Two shots furnished our whole party with a supper, for we picked up
seventeen ducks and a goose. No wonder the Barotse always look back
to this fruitful valley as the Israelites did to the flesh-pots of Egypt.
The poorest persons are so well supplied with food from their gardens,
fruits from the forest trees, and fish from the river, that their children,
when taken into the service of the Makololo, where they have only
one large meal a day, become quite emaciated, and pine for a return
to their parents.
-
* `Anser leucagaster' and `melanogaster'.
-
Part of our company marched along the banks with the oxen, and part went
in the canoes, but our pace was regulated by the speed of the men on shore.
Their course was rather difficult, on account of the numbers of
departing and re-entering branches of the Leeambye, which they had
to avoid or wait at till we ferried them over. The number of alligators
is prodigious, and in this river they are more savage than in some others.
Many children are carried off annually at Sesheke and other towns;
for, notwithstanding the danger, when they go down for water
they almost always must play a while.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 210 of 572
Words from 112071 to 112614
of 306638
