That large animals require a luxuriant vegetation, has been a

general assumption which has passed from one work to another; but I do

not hesitate to say that it is completely true, and that it has vitiated the 【M1】_________

reasoning of geologists on some points of great interest in the ancient

history of the world. The prejudice has been probably derived in India, 【M2】_________

and the Indian islands, which troops of elephants, noble forests, and 【M3】_________

impenetrable jungles, are associated together in every one’s mind. If,

therefore, we refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of 【M4】_________

Africa, we shall find illusions in almost every page either to the desert 【M5】_________

character of the country, nor to the numbers of large animals inhabiting 【M6】_________

it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many engravings which

have been published of various parts of the interior.

Dr. Andrew Smith, who has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic

of Capricorn, informs me that, taken into consideration the whole of 【M7】_________

the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a sterile

country. On the southern coasts there are some fine forests, but without 【M8】_________

these exceptions, the traveler may pass for days together through open

plains, covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. Now, if we look to the

animals inhabiting this wide plains, we shall find their numbers 【M9】_________

extraordinarily great, and their bulk immense. We must enumerate the

elephant, three species of rhinoceros, the giraffe, two zebras, two

gnus, and several antelopes even larger than these latter animals. It may

be supposed that although the species are numerous, but the individuals 【M10】________

of each kind are few.

【M1】