256 IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA chap. 



and intolerable thirst, even without the exertion of 

 making our way through the tortuous animal paths 

 which we were forced to pursue. Every stone 

 has had inches blistered off its surface by the 

 fierce heat of a pitiless sun, and even the living 

 things that roam about in this barren wilderness 

 appear parched and sun-dried — all save the giraffe, 

 which seems to thrive in the glaring heat. 



Rhinos are very numerous, and as I rode along 

 to the left of the safari and about a mile away 

 from it, so as better to observe the game, I was 

 suddenly charged by one which had been startled 

 by the passing caravan. Shouting to Abbudi and 

 the gun-bearers who were with me to take 

 refuge in a convenient tree, I galloped off think- 

 ing the brute would follow. He, however, 

 turned his attention to the men in the tree 

 instead, and remained for some time quite 

 close to them, while Abbudi from his perch in 

 the branches screamed insults at him in choice 

 Masai. I sat on Aladdin some eighty yards away 

 enjoying the sight. Finally, with a snort, the 

 ungainly brute turned and trotted off swiftly with 

 his tail in the air, and was soon lost to sight 

 among the bushes. 



Before we had traversed half a dozen miles I had 

 counted eight of these creatures, but did not see 

 a good head among the lot. Short horns seem 



