African Nature Notes and Reminiscences By Frederick Courteney Selous

Selous was a British explorer, hunter and conservationist famous for his exploits in Southeast Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Rider Haggard's fictional character, Allan Quatermaine. This work, with a foreword by President Roosevelt, was first published in 1908.

"In treeless deserts again within the tropics, where the rainfall is very scanty and the climate excessively hot and dry, with intense sunlight throughout the year, all resident living organisms, mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, are found to be of a dull coloration which harmonises in the most wonderful way with the sandy or stony soil on which they live. It is also very often the case that animals which live in forests where the foliage is not too dense to allow the sun to penetrate are spotted or striped, whilst those which live in really thick jungle or amongst deep gloomy ravines are of a uniform dark coloration. Now a most interesting question arises as to the true causes which have brought about the extraordinary variations of colour to be seen in living organisms inhabiting different parts of the world."African Nature Notes and Reminiscences is a classic literature about Africa written by the British explorer and conservationist, Frederick Courteney Selous.