WILD ANIMALS OF AFRICA

SPOT the Hyena lived in a Rocky Cave Den in the side of Rocky Knoll. Rocky Knoll was really one of the Rolling Hills that lay farthest out on Broad Plain. You could see it from far away as you gazed across Broad Plain toward Green Mountain.

For a while Spot the Hyena had lived in a Cozy Den which he had dug for himself in the side of Winding Canyon which ran through Rolling Hills. Then one night he discovered the Rocky Cave Den; and as his Cozy Den had become very filthy, and his dooryard was cluttered with old bones and other trash, and his bed was alive with hopping fleas, he decided to move to the Rocky Cave Den.

It was not that Spot the Hyena objected to filth, for nothing seemed too rotten for him to eat. Sometimes he would prowl around villages, searching among the rubbish heaps for filthy things to eat. Even though Spot was cowardly, he would sometimes enter the streets of native villages, hoping that he would find someone to eat who had died, or who was very sick and had been left outside to die. For when any of the natives became ill with sleeping sickness, their families knew that eventually they would surely die. When the sick persons became too weak to care for themselves, they were carried outside the village and left to die. Sometimes Spot the Hyena attacked old women and little children, and he was treacherous enough to bite the face of Fearful the Man if he found him asleep in his blankets in camp.

Because of his filthy habits, and cowardly and treacherous ways, he was much hated by the natives and the settlers. He would skulk around during the night looking for some sick or wounded animal; and if he had an opportunity, he would carry off the settler's sheep or goats or dogs or donkeys. He would sometimes attack their horses and cattle. He made the nights hideous with his weird howls and yells, for he was forever quarreling with his neighbors or Leo the Lion. He was tricky enough to chew the leather straps from sleeping oxen without disturbing them.

Now Spot the Hyena did most of his prowling at night, for he greatly disliked the heat; but sometimes on cloudy days he would leave his Rocky Cave Den early in the afternoon, or return to it late in the morning. He usually went alone or with his mate.

Spot had a large head, with thick neck, and his jaws were so powerful that he could crush very large bones. His front legs were large and strong, but his hind ones were short and weak. So his back sloped downward toward his tail. He was more daring and treacherous than his cousin Stripe the Hyena.

One night Spot left his Rocky Cave Den for a prowl on Broad Plain. He often went there, because that was where Leo the Lion did his hunting. Often when Leo killed something that was larger than he could eat, Spot would eat what Leo left, or crack the bones with his strong teeth and devour the marrow inside, if indeed he did not eat the bones themselves. Leo the Lion was very careful about his teeth. He did not try to chew anything that might injure them.

It happened that Leo the Lion ate his fill quite early that night. When Spot the Hyena came to the place where Leo had feasted, there were the yapping jackals cleaning up what was left. Of course there was a loud fight when Spot arrived and it wasn't long until some of Spot's neighbors heard and came to join in.

When the Laughing Yellow Sun drove all of them back to their dens the next morning, there was nothing left of Leo's banquet but a few scattered bones.

Now there lived on Broad Plain some wild folk who were even more filthy than Spot the Hyena. They were the greedy vultures. No sooner had the Laughing Yellow Sun peeped over the eastern horizon than the greedy vultures could be seen sailing in great circles high overhead. They were searching Broad Plain with their keen eyes in the hope that the yapping jackals and Spot the Hyena had left some of Leo's feast.

Sometimes the greedy vultures would arrive before the yapping jackals had left. Then they would drive off the yapping jackals and stay until the last bone was picked clean. They would stuff themselves until they could not fly. If the flesh was rotten, the greedy vultures liked it better. They would squabble and fight among themselves and pull out each other's feathers. For often there were dozens of the greedy vultures gorging them selves on the very same carcass while it lasted.

So it was that the greedy vultures, soaring high, overhead when the Laughing Yellow Sun first came up, spied the place where the yapping jackals and Spot the Hyena had feasted during the night. It is remarkable how the greedy vultures can see an object as small as a rabbit, or even a squirrel, from the great heights where they fly, and can tell whether it is alive or dead.

Down sailed the greedy vultures, hoping to find a few bites at least on the scattered bones; but there was nothing left. After a squabble among themselves, they all flew away except Old Hooknose, who sat among the bones rather dejectedly. Perhaps he was thinking about the feast he had missed.

Suddenly across Broad Plain a half mile away he saw a long-legged bird about four feet tall jumping up and down and stamping at something on the ground.

"Ah ha," said Old Hooknose to himself, "I see Secretary Vulture catching his breakfast. I believe I shall sail over and steal it from him."

The truth was that Secretary Vulture, who is often called "secretary bird," was getting a breakfast for Mrs. Secretary Vulture, who was sitting on four white eggs about the size of goose eggs in their nest in a tall mimosa tree. They had made the nest of sticks and mud, and had covered the almost flat top with feathers and other soft things. Mrs. Secretary Vulture would have to sit on her eggs twice as long to hatch them as Old Cluck Cluck the Hen does, and her babies would be helpless a long time. They would not be large enough to leave the high nest until they were almost half a year old.

So Secretary Vulture helped Mrs. Secretary Vulture by bringing Favorite Food to her. He had started out that morning early, sailing high above the earth on motionless wings, and searching the ground with his sharp eyes. At last he decided that he would land and catch a few locusts for himself.

Secretary Vulture could walk very fast with his long legs as he searched back and forth over the ground. He looked quite businesslike with the bunch of feathers protruding from the back of his head. He reminded one of an old-time secretary carrying quill pens over his ear, with the feather tops sticking out behind. That is how Secretary Vulture got his name.

There were many locusts where Secretary Vulture landed. He had also snatched a lizard that had been warming itself in the early morning on the sunny side of a rock. Then, just as he was about to fly back to Mrs. Secretary Vulture with it, he had spied a crawly snake weaving through the grass toward a bush.

Now snakes are Secretary Vulture's Favorite Food. Some persons say that he will kill even poisonous snakes that are not too large for him to overpower. But others say that his snake-killing habit has been greatly exaggerated. At least, he does kill many small snakes to eat.

Secretary Vulture kills his prey by stamping on it. He had dropped the lizard and had begun to stamp on the crawly snake. That is what he was doing when Old Hooknose the greedy vulture saw him.

Old Hooknose decided it was time to see what Secretary Vulture was doing. So he ran along the ground a way, flapping his wings vigorously. He had to run to get a good start, because he was so heavy. Then away he sailed across Broad Plain, and at last came gliding down right beside Secretary Vulture.

Secretary Vulture had been so busy he had not seen Old Hooknose coming. Before he realized what was happening, Old Hooknose grabbed the crawly snake and started right in eating it. So Secretary Vulture quietly picked up the dead lizard and carried that home to his mate.

FAR, far in the interior of Africa there stood High Mountain, which cast its long shadow many, many miles toward Broad Plain as the Burning Sun sank behind it each evening. Part way up the steep sides of High Mountain was Bamboo Forest, and it was there that Abu the Gorilla lived.

Abu the Gorilla was about the most helpless Wild Creature that one could imagine when he was born. He was as frail as a human baby, and his mother had to watch over him carefully. She kept him warm in a soft bed by snuggling him against her own warm body. The Laughing Yellow Sun almost never smiled through Bamboo Forest, and there was rain nearly every day during much of the year. Like his mother, Abu the Gorilla was almost black when he was born, but he became a mixed gray color when he was old.

Until he was able to walk, Abu's mother carried him wherever she went. When he was strong enough, he learned to cling to her hair and ride on the back of her neck. It was a wonder he was not knocked off when she passed through the thick bamboo and nettles.

When he was able to walk, he followed his mother through the dense foliage. When he fell too far behind while playing with other baby gorillas, he would stop and listen for his mother's short grunt. Then away he would scamper until he could see her again.

What a strange manner of walking Abu had His legs and back were short, and that made his arms appear long. When he walked, he partly closed his hands and rested his weight on the backs of his fingers. Then he swung his legs through as if he were walking on crutches. He traveled much like Bam, the Chimpanzee. Often his toes were bent under so that he stood on their backs. So his fingers and toes became calloused on their backs. But when the gorillas were alarmed, they sometimes stood up and ran like running men.

Abu lived a peaceful and lazy life. During the day the gorillas spent the time sleeping or walking slowly through Bamboo Forest in search of Favorite Food. They never had to go far, as their Favorite Food was plentiful. So they were never in a hurry. At first Abu learned to eat the juicy roots and tender inner stalks of wild celery, which his mother pulled out of the ground. It grew far above the gorillas' heads when they were standing upright. Although wild celery was a Favorite Food, the gorillas were also fond of the juicy young bamboo sprouts. Sometimes they chewed the spicy bark from certain vines, but they never ate meat.

Abu the Gorilla grew strong, and he became the ruler of Bamboo Forest. Abu feared no one but Black Hunter, for Leo the Lion never came where the gorillas lived, and the elephants and buffaloes that lived on High Mountain never ventured on the steep slopes where Abu lived most of the time. Sometimes Chui the Leopard would sneak through Bamboo Forest, hoping that he might steal a baby gorilla, for Chui never allowed any of the apes or the monkey family to enjoy peace very long. But Chui was no match for Abu the Gorilla.

So Abu and his troop lived in peace when Chui or Black Hunter were not around. The gorillas had nothing to do but wander slowly through Bamboo Forest and enjoy life. They did not even bother to keep a home. Each night they built a new bed wherever they happened to be, but it was not much of a bed. They raked together the leaves and twigs within arm's reach and crawled in. That was not much protection from the cold night air that was always present on High Mountain. If it were a rainy night, they built their beds under vine-draped trees where the rain could not reach them. Sometimes there would be a big bed with a little bed near it where a mother gorilla and her baby had slept. Sometimes an adventurous young gorilla would build his bed high in a leaning tree. Although the gorillas could climb trees, and sometimes did so after tempting fruit or nuts, they lived most of the time on the ground.

Now, there were in Bamboo Forest many winding trails of elephants and buffaloes and gorillas that crisscrossed here and there where the Wild Animals passed through the dense vegetation. It was in one of these trails that Black Hunter one day set his deadly trap for Abu.

First he hung a sharp spear on the limb of a tree directly above Abu's trail. He tied weights to it so that it would fall with terrific force. Then he fastened strings across the trail which ran to the cunning device that held the sharp spear. If Abu came along the Winding Trail and pressed against the strings, the cunning device would be tripped, and down would come the sharp spear.

You see, Black Hunter greatly feared Abu. He had been told many stories about how strong and fierce and terrible Abu was. Although Abu was strong, and could have been savage, still he probably would not have harmed anyone if he could escape into the dense jungle. At least Abu never went out looking for trouble, as Leo the Lion and Chui the Leopard and some of the other Wild Animals did. All he wanted was to be let alone so that he could live in peace. Like many other people who have heard untrue stories about Abu the Gorilla, Black Hunter thought he would be safer if Abu were killed; but Black Hunter feared Abu too much to meet him face to face. Therefore he set a sharp spear with a cunning device to kill him.

Now it happened that Great Naturalist from Far Country came to High Mountain to study the habits of the gorillas. Instead of a gun be brought his cameras, for he was a friend of the Wild Creatures. He made a comfortable camp on the side of High Mountain below Bamboo Forest, so that he would be near to the country of the gorillas.

Early each morning he would be awakened by the songs and chirps and howls and shrieks of his feathered and furry friends. You may be sure that he did not need an alarm clock, for no one could sleep after the jungle folk awakened.

One morning, after a hearty breakfast, Great Naturalist started as usual up the mountainside, carrying his camera with him. There had been rain during the night, and it was hard climbing through the dripping Bamboo Forest over slippery ground. Sometimes he had to get down and crawl on all fours through the thick bamboo stalks that had fallen across the trail, or stop and cut them out of the way with a large native knife which he carried.

Soon he was dripping wet from the clinging raindrops and perspiration, and he thought how wise he had been to prepare a waterproof case to keep his camera dry.

At last Great Naturalist became tired and sat down beside the winding trail to rest and listen. He thought he might hear the gorillas as they searched for their breakfast. Yes, his sharp ears caught the sound of their voices in the distance. They seemed to be noisier than usual, for they did not think anyone was near.

Great Naturalist listened to their noise while he wrote something in his little pocket notebook. He was quite sure they were coming slowly toward him along the winding trail. He hoped that he could get a good picture of them. So after shaking down the clinging raindrops from the trees, he took his camera from its case and got it in readiness for a shot.

Great Naturalist noticed that there were some branches across the winding trail that interfered with his view. He reached far ahead with the bush knife and gave them a swift and almost silent cut with one hand while he held his hat over the camera with the other.

Immediately there was a shower of raindrops from the branches overhead. The sharp spear swished past his outstretched hand and stuck in the mud in front of him with a thud that sent the gorillas scampering through the forest.

"That was a close call," said Great Naturalist to himself. "I must be more watchful in the future."

Then he put the camera back in its waterproof case, picked up the sharp spear with its cunning device, and started back toward his comfortable camp. He would wait until the frightened gorillas has quieted down before trying again for pictures of them.

But Great Naturalist had a good story to tell when he showed the sharp spear to his friends after he returned to Far Country from his long journey.