218 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



this one school of hippopotami and a few 

 hundred springbuck survive. I could hardly 

 hope to find the sea-cows at all events while 

 daylight lasted; it would suffice if at night I 

 might listen to their snorting and blowing 

 to the rustling in the reed-brakes as the huge 

 creatures emerged from the water in search of 

 food. These sounds would bring back 

 memories of days long past of adventures in 

 other pastures of South Africa's rich and 

 varied wonderland. 



Before the sun had set we camped in a 

 sandy hollow, a few hundred yards from the 

 river's bank. There were no rocks in the im- 

 mediate vicinity so we hoped to escape the 

 usual plague of tarantulas. After a long, 

 luxurious swim in the placid river, I returned 

 to examine the collections of Flora and Fauna. 

 The latter had been permitted to wander afield 

 that day. The number of centipedes, scor- 

 pions and miscellaneous reptiles which had 

 been soused in the poisoned spirit was so great 

 that I no longer feared her attempting to 

 sample it as a beverage. The harvest was 

 more rich and interesting than usual. Flora 

 had found a gorgeous stapelia with a more 

 than ordinarily atrocious smell, and Fauna 

 had captured a beetle infested with a most 



