ciiAr. II. EHINOCEROS. 105 



time, and which is so refreshing after the furnace-Hke 

 stillness and glare of the day. Rubbing my eyes, I 

 climbed into my perch, and before long was surrounded 

 by all the smaller animals and birds which had come to 

 drink on the preceding night, and which, though I had 

 seen them hundreds of times before, never wearied me in 

 watching them. There was always variety. To-night a 

 herd of wild pigs came rooting down the bank among the 

 first arrivals, and remained in sight until dark, grubbing 

 up the soil with then- long snouts in search of the succu- 

 lent roots on which they live, and among them was an 

 immense old boar, with tusks forming three-quarters of a 

 circle : one could not help being struck with the family 

 resemblance he displayed both to elephants and rhino- 

 ceroses. 



There was a large herd of impalla too, whose sleek 

 skins, terminating in the purest white beneath, and set 

 off by black points, and by a streak of similar colour that 

 extends along the back, showed that they were now in 

 the highest condition, as indeed at this time of year they 

 always are. There was a little clump of bush standing 

 alone on the flat above the pool, and as the herd retired, 

 grazing as they went, a young ram went close to it. I 

 was watching them at the time, admmng theh^ graceful 

 movements as, spreading out like a herd of sheep, they 

 commenced feeding, though, as is the case with all gre- 

 garious antelopes, there was always some head up in 

 search of any sign of danger, which, if seen, would at once 

 have been announced to the others by a signal of alarm, 

 resembling a suppressed sneeze, causing them to cease 

 feeding, and to gaze in the direction indicated, from which. 



