Now the dwarfs, and again the giants of the animal world rivet our attention. But it is especially the _primeval abundance_, the great profusion of large and small wild life, that gives an impression that is now delightful, now overwhelming. One must have seen, with the eye of the hunter, gigantic old bull-elephants in the primeval forest, great herds of rhinoceroses and giraffes in one single day, thousands of zebras and antelopes gathered together--one must have felt all this profuse wealth of life, to be able to understand its full beauty and grandeur. Yet there are days when one looks around in vain for all this life and activity, when, on account of the weather, or some other reason, the animals do not show themselves so freely. One must also take due account of the extensive periodical migrations of the African fauna. _Many an erroneous judgment as to the alleged scarcity of wild life, in districts in which other hunters pursued the chase at an earlier date with success, is to be thus explained._ [Illustration: _C. G. Schillings, phot._ THIS TELEPHOTOGRAPH OF STORKS ON THE WING WILL GIVE SOME IDEA OF THE HUGE FLOCKS IN WHICH THEY START ON THEIR NORTHERN MIGRATION IN FEBRUARY.] [Illustration: _C. G. Schillings, phot._ WHITE STORKS GATHERING FOR THEIR NORTHERN MIGRATION TO EUROPE.] But, on the other hand, there are also days when such an abundance of animal forms presents itself to our eyes, that the most lively imagination can form no idea of all this profusion. On such days, I have often wished that one could have a gigantic photographic apparatus, an instrument that would be capable of making a record of all I saw. But on such days, also, I have more than once made a mental apology to explorers whose lives have long closed in death. When, for instance, in former years I had looked over the sketches of the late Cornwallis Harris, sketches showing the life of the South African fauna as he saw it about the year 1837, I more than once had my doubts about the correctness of his representations of it. As the result of what I myself have seen, I have quite given up such doubts. [Illustration: REMAINS OF RHINOCEROSES KILLED BY THE BOERS ON THE SHORE OF ONE OF THE MERKER LAKES.]