OLD BULLS STAND APART FROM THE HERDS OF GNUS AS SENTRIES 



VIII 

 By the Stream 



THE extraordinary number and variety of animals 

 that assemble during the season of drought in the 

 neighbourhood ot the drinking-places defies all description. 



If they should be disturbed, or have reason to suspect 

 an enemy whether man or beast these wild herds 

 immediately seek another drinking-place, shunning perhaps 

 a certain one by night, to seek it out next day at noon. 



I shall never forget the immense assemblies of tropical 

 animals which I observed whilst on my fourth expedition 

 in East Africa during the autumn of 1903. 



I encamped in the neighbourhood of a stream that 

 meandered between steep rocks and after a few miles 

 suddenly dried up. During its course between these sharp 

 precipices it was barely accessible to the wild animals, but 

 there were countless trodden passes which I discovered, 

 all leading to the stream. Numbers of lions roamed 

 among the thorn-bushes, tall grass, and reeds which 

 flourished round about the river. At the point where it 

 had commenced to dry up there were considerable tracts 



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