90 



IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA chap. 



I cannot say that I have as yet made any 

 startHng discovery, but perhaps this has yet to 

 come ! 



On the present occasion there was of course 

 another rise further on which called me to it, so 

 without any hesitation I dipped down into the 

 valley which intervened. The grass was very long 

 here, and before I was aware I found myself 

 almost on the horns of an old rhino and his wife, 

 who were slumbering peacefully side by side. 

 They were a most comical looking pair, and 

 reminded me of a grotesque caricature I had 

 once seen of a respectable old married couple 

 with their nightcaps on. They were sleeping so 

 soundly that my presence did not disturb them 

 in the least, and I was so much interested in the 

 weird-looking pair that I remained there for quite a 

 long time watching them while the sun gradually 

 grew stronger in the east. I could not help feeling 

 that I was intruding on the privacy of the home life 

 of these quaint creatures of the wilds, and I well 

 remember the feeling which this vision of nature 

 called up— among other things a tremendous sense 

 of loneliness and isolation, and the utter insig- 

 nificance of all those things which, in the busy hum 

 of civilisation, seem to count for so much. 



With these thoughts in my mind I rode carefully 

 round the curious pair — not even disturbing their 



