340 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
sleep that night. The sun had scarcely set when we were 
on the alert. Yes—there were distinctly the sounds of 
some heavy beast approaching; was it an elephant or a 
rhinoceros? Steadily the footsteps came nearer, and then 
suddenly a huge beast ran down the bank on to tne broad 
stretch of sand in front of the water. 
It was a rhinoceros, and, as the night was so bright, I 
could distinctly make out that he had not very good horns. 
He did not come to drink, but walked up and down within 
twenty yards of where I was, as though he had made a ren- 
dezvous here. Four zebras were the next to appear, and 
several hyenas. The zebras tried to approach the water, 
but the rhinoceros repeatedly drove them away. Now I 
thought surely elephants were coming, as I heard several 
heavy footsteps; but it was a family group of rhinoce- 
roses. On they came, now halting, now going forward a 
few steps, apparently without any object. Three were full 
grown, and the fourth appeared as tiny as a small donkey. 
It was amusing to see the little one’s perfect behavior. It 
kept close to its mother’s heels the entire time, never look- 
ing to the right or to the left, but stopping abruptly when 
she stopped, and advancing as many paces as she did. 
The scene was most interesting. This spot, which in 
the daytime seemed one of the loneliest places in the 
world, now presented a most gay appearance. Rhino- 
ceroses, zebras, and hyenas were scattered all over the place. 
The country about was very bushy, and I believe this 
large open space answered the purpose of one of our 
parks. The animals were there not only to drink but to 
see their friends. This sort of thing kept up all night; as 
soon as one lot of beasts had disappeared, another came to 
take its place. I was so absorbed in watching the love- 
making and fights of the animals that I did little shooting. 
Only two of them drank any water, which I considered 
