The forests of Shupanga, especially those portions
which fall within the concession of the Luabo
Company, are particularly rich in many interesting
types; and although it may be feared that for
several reasons they do not tend at present to
increase very greatly in numbers, many years must
of necessity elapse before these districts come to
share the shot-out condition of those farther to the
southward.
It may be taken, I think, as a general principle
that the most acceptable districts to the best known
and most keenly sought game animals are those in
which forests and open plains alternate at low ele-
vation. As I have previously pointed out, almost
the whole of the country we are considering is
forested more or less; but where the tree-covered
expanses lift themselves somewhat above the level

241 16


242 ZAMBEZIAN ZOOLOGY


of the basins of the rivers, they leave the animal
kingdom behind, if we except a few types to whose
habits and mode of life a higher altitude is, for some
reason, in each case essential. Taken as a whole,
therefore, there is not much to be said for the hill
country. Its depressing stillness, undisturbed, save
at long intervals, by any living form, somewhat
detracts from its rather vague beauties. Of course,
with certain migratory families such as the elephant
and others, which have their own times and seasons
for visiting well-remembered parts of the country,
either for the enjoyment of certain fruits or for
other purposes, high or low elevations are alike
indifferent. They come and go with remarkable
regularity, and appear to be fully conscious of the
significance of the seasons of seed-time and harvest ;
but taking the great mass of the families repre-
sented, they are found as a rule in the lower-lying
plains.
