418 RHINOCEROS OF THE LADO [ch. xiv 



\'ast level stretches, or up or do^^1l mcliiies so slight as 

 hardly to be noticeable. The black dust of the burnt 

 soil rose in puffs beneath our feet, and now and then 

 we saw dust devils, violent little whirlwinds, which 

 darted right and left, raising to a height of many feet 

 grey funnels of ashes and withered leaves. In places 

 the coarse grass had half resisted the flames, and rose 

 above our heads. Here and there bleached skulls of 

 elephant and rhino, long dead, showed white against 

 the charred surface of the soil. Everywhere, crossing 

 and recrossing one another, were game trails, some 

 slightly marked, others broad and hard, and beaten 

 deep into the soil by the feet of the giant creatures that 

 had trodden them for ages. The elephants had been 

 the chief road-makers, but the rhinoceros had travelled 

 their trails, and also buffalo and buck. 



There were elephant about, but only cows and calves, 

 and an occasional bull with very small tusks. Of 

 rhinoceros, all square-mouthed, we saw nine, none 

 carrying horns which made them worth shooting. The 

 first one I saw was in long grass. My attention was 

 attracted by a row of white objects moving at some 

 speed through the top of the grass. It took a second 

 look before I made out that they were cow herons 

 perched on the back of a rhino. This proved to be a 

 bull, which joined a cow and a calf. None had decent 

 horns, and we plodded on. Soon we came to the trail 

 of two others, and after a couple of miles' tracking 

 Kongoni pointed to two grey bulks lying down under a 

 tree. I walked cautiously to within thirty yards. They 

 heard something, and up rose the two pig-like blinking 

 creatures, who gradually became aware of my presence, 

 and retreated a few steps at a time, dull curiosity con- 

 tinually overcoming an uneasiness which never grew 



