The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . as. With the former he will capture the wildest bull or stallion,throwing from horseback the noose with unerring aim over the horns, or around a legof the animal. lie is equally dextrous in the use of the bolas. This consists of throehalls, about throe inches in diameter, joined together in a common center by thongs ayanl long. Holding one ball in his hand, the guacho whirls the other around hishead, and then flings the whole at his victim. The instant one thong strikes the legof
The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . as. With the former he will capture the wildest bull or stallion,throwing from horseback the noose with unerring aim over the horns, or around a legof the animal. lie is equally dextrous in the use of the bolas. This consists of throehalls, about throe inches in diameter, joined together in a common center by thongs ayanl long. Holding one ball in his hand, the guacho whirls the other around hishead, and then flings the whole at his victim. The instant one thong strikes the legof an animal, all wind themselves around, each by its own independent motion, andthe more the victim struggles the more inextricably does he become entangled. The so-called deserts of Southern Africa, including the great Kalahari, are savannaa,,rather than deserts. This region has of late years been thoroughly described by, THE GREAT KALAHARI. 503 travelers, most of them allured thither in pursuit of gnme. It may be considered asbounded by the parallels of 20o and 30° south of the equator, and from 17° to 30°. f>f longitude, covering an area of 1,000 miles by 700. The great Kalahari occupiesIts center. The physical aspects of so vast a region of course vary. Taking its outside 504 THE TKOPICAL WORLD. rim, it may in gt-iieral be described as a series of broad plains intercepted by ruggedmountains of no great bight. These plains during the wet season abound with juicyherbage, which disappears, fairly burned oflF, in the dry season, leaving the groundparched and dusty. Sometimes there are immense tracts overgrown with low, thornybushes, standin^; so closely together that the traveler must chop his way through themstep by step. The most CDnimon of these bushes is called by the colonists the wait-a-bit, for its short hook-like thorns present a standing invitation to the passer to waita bit at every foot of his advance. Andersson mentions once coming upon a consider-able forest of
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