On Asking Why They Kept Them In Confinement,
"Because They Sing Sweetly," Was The Answer.
They feed them
on the lotsa (`Pennisetum typhoideum'), of which great quantities
are cultivated as food for man, and these canaries plague the gardeners here,
very much in the same way as our sparrows do at home.
I was pleased to hear the long-forgotten cry of alarm of the canaries
in the woods, and observed one warbling forth its song, and keeping in motion
from side to side, as these birds do in the cage. We saw also tame pigeons;
and the Barotse, who always take care to exalt Santuru, reminded us
that this chief had many doves, and kept canaries which had reddish heads
when the birds attained maturity. Those we now see have the real canary color
on the breast, with a tinge of green; the back, yellowish green,
with darker longitudinal bands meeting in the centre; a narrow dark band
passes from the bill over the eye and back to the bill again.
The birds of song here set up quite a merry chorus in the mornings,
and abound most near the villages. Some sing as loudly as our thrushes,
and the king-hunter (`Halcyon Senegalensis') makes a clear whirring sound
like that of a whistle with a pea in it. During the heat of the day
all remain silent, and take their siesta in the shadiest parts of the trees,
but in the cool of the evening they again exert themselves
in the production of pleasant melody. It is remarkable that so many songbirds
abound where there is a general paucity of other animal life.
As we went forward we were struck by the comparative absence of game
and the larger kind of fowls. The rivers contain very few fish.
Common flies are not troublesome, as they are wherever milk is abundant;
they are seen in company with others of the same size and shape,
but whose tiny feet do not tickle the skin, as is the case
with their companions. Mosquitoes are seldom so numerous as to disturb
the slumbers of a weary man.
But, though this region is free from common insect plagues, and from tsetse,
it has others. Feeling something running across my forehead
as I was falling asleep, I put up the hand to wipe it off,
and was sharply stung both on the hand and head; the pain was very acute.
On obtaining a light, we found that it had been inflicted
by a light-colored spider, about half an inch in length,
and, one of the men having crushed it with his fingers,
I had no opportunity of examining whether the pain had been produced
by poison from a sting or from its mandibles. No remedy was applied,
and the pain ceased in about two hours. The Bechuanas believe
that there is a small black spider in the country whose bite is fatal.
I have not met with an instance in which death could be traced to this insect,
though a very large black, hairy spider, an inch and a quarter long
and three quarters of an inch broad, is frequently seen,
having a process at the end of its front claws similar to that
at the end of the scorpion's tail, and when the bulbous portion of it
is pressed, the poison may be seen oozing out from the point.
We have also spiders in the south which seize their prey by leaping upon it
from a distance of several inches. When alarmed, they can spring
about a foot away from the object of their own fear. Of this kind
there are several varieties.
A large reddish spider (`Mygale') obtains its food in a different manner
than either patiently waiting in ambush or by catching it with a bound.
It runs about with great velocity in and out, behind and around every object,
searching for what it may devour, and, from its size and rapid motions,
excites the horror of every stranger. I never knew it to do any harm
except frightening the nervous, and I believe few could look upon it
for the first time without feeling himself in danger. It is named
by the natives "selali", and is believed to be the maker of a hinged cover
for its nest. You see a door, about the size of a shilling, lying beside
a deep hole of nearly similar diameter. The inside of the door lying upward,
and which attracts your notice, is of a pure white silky substance,
like paper. The outer side is coated over with earth, precisely like that
in which the hole is made. If you try to lift it, you find it is fastened
by a hinge on one side, and, if it is turned over upon the hole,
it fits it exactly, and the earthy side being then uppermost,
it is quite impossible to detect the situation of the nest. Unfortunately,
this cavity for breeding is never seen except when the owner is out,
and has left the door open behind her.
In some parts of the country there are great numbers of a large,
beautiful yellow-spotted spider, the webs of which are about a yard
in diameter. The lines on which these webs are spun are suspended
from one tree to another, and are as thick as coarse thread.
The fibres radiate from a central point, where the insect waits for its prey.
The webs are placed perpendicularly, and a common occurrence in walking
is to get the face enveloped in them as a lady is in a veil.
Another kind of spider lives in society, and forms so great
a collection of webs placed at every angle, that the trunk of a tree
surrounded by them can not be seen. A piece of hedge is often
so hidden by this spider that the branches are invisible.
Another is seen on the inside of the walls of huts among the Makololo
in great abundance.
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