OLD BUI.1.S Sl'AM) APART FROM TlIK IIKKDS OF t'.NUS AS SKNTKIES 



VIII 



Bv the Stream 



THE extraordinary luimljcr ami xarictv ct animals 

 that assembk' durinL( the season ot droui^ht in the 

 nci^hhourhood ot the drinkinL^-places defies all description. 



If the\' should he disturbed, or have reason to suspect 

 an enenn — whether man or beast — these? wild herds 

 ininu;diatel\' seek another drinkinL;-j)lace, shunning perhaps 

 a certain one by night, to sec-k it out next day at noon. 



I shall nc^ver forget the immense assemblies of tropical 

 animals which I observed whilst on my fourth expedition 

 in East Ah'ica during the autumn of 1903. 



I en(am])cd in the neighbourhood ot a stream that 

 nieand(;re(l between stec'p rocks and alter a tc;w miles 

 suddenly dried up. During its course between these sharp 

 ja-ecipices it was barely accc^ssible to the wild animals, but 

 there were countless trodden passes which I disco\ered, 

 all leading to the stream. Numbers of lions roamed 

 among the thorn-bushes, tall grass, and reeds which 

 flourished round about the river. At the ptant where it 

 had commenced to dry up there were considerable tracts 



I 20 



