TO LAKE NAIVASHA 243 



with swollen muzzles, and their little horns half hidden 

 by tufts of hair, ran like rabbits through the grass; the fe- 

 males were at least as large as the males. Another seven- 

 foot cobra was killed. There were brilliant masses of 

 the red aloe flowers, and of yellow - blossomed vines. 

 Around the pools the ground was bare, and the game 

 trails leading to the water were deeply rutted by the hoofs 

 of the wild creatures that had travelled them for countless 

 generations. 



The day aft> r reaching this camp, Cuninghame and 

 I hunted on the j, ains. Before noon we made out with our 

 glasses two rhino lying down, a mile off. As usual with 

 these sluggish creatures we made our preparations in 

 leisurely style, and with scant regard to the animal itself. 

 Moreover we did not intend to kill any rhino unless its 

 horns were out of the common. I first stalked and shot a 

 buck Roberts' gazelle with a good head. Then we off-sad- 

 dled the horses and sat down to lunch under a huge thorn- 

 tree, which stood by itself, lonely and beautiful, and offered 

 a shelter from the blazing sun. The game was grazing 

 on every side; and I kept thinking of all the life of the 

 wilderness, and of its many tragedies, which the great tree 

 must have witnessed during the centuries since it was a 

 seedling. 



Lunch over, I looked to the loading of the heavy rifle, 

 and we started toward the rhinos, well to leeward. But 

 the wind shifted every which way; and suddenly my gun- 

 bearers called my attention to the rhinos, a quarter of a 

 mile off, saying, "He charging, he charging." Sure enough, 

 they had caught our wind, and were rushing toward us. I 

 jumped off the horse and studied the oncoming beasts 

 through my field-glass; but head on it was hard to tell 

 about the horns. However, the wind shifted again, and 

 when two hundred yards off they lost our scent, and turned 

 to one side, tails in the air, heads tossing evidently much 

 wrought up. They were a large cow and a young heifer, 

 nearly two-thirds grown. As they trotted sideways I could 



