A Shooting Trip in Northwestern Rhodesia 



and reedbuck also came, while I had hopes of a 

 leopard or lion before dark, but was disappointed. 

 All the time, doves in untold thousands streamed 

 to the water from every direction, settling so 

 thickly about the water that many were hovering 

 in the air awaiting their turn to drink. At last 

 night came, the sun having disappeared from view 

 long before behind a bank of smoke from burning 

 grass and dust that the wind had raised on the 

 open plains. Unfortunately there was no moon, 

 but under the cloudless sky the stars shone 

 brightly, and one's eyes soon became accustomed 

 to the night, while with the increasing darkness 

 the little pan seemed to grow in size until it looked 

 like a lake. During the first part of the night, 

 game came in to drink, but were invisible, as their 

 color matched too well with their surroundings; 

 however, I could hear them in the water, and my 

 ear could soon tell by the noises their feet made 

 in the mud how big an animal was in the pool. 

 About midnight I heard far off the grunting sounds 

 continually made by buffalo, and as they approach 

 nearer, the clinking of their hoofs as they walked, 

 until at last the herd filed in, immediately walking 

 into the center of the shallow water to drink the 

 churned up liquid mud. They were so closely packed 

 together that I could not single any one out, until 



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