In Wildest Africa ^ 



my mind I saw pass before me wondrous mighty forms 

 of the animal world of the past, long since extinct. 

 Then — suddenly I started up. What was that? 



A loud trumpeting rang in my ears ! Elephants ! 

 Were there still extant such herds of elephants as those 

 that I saw coming down there to the lake to drink, rolling 

 themselves in the mud of its banks, and openly making 

 friends with the hippopotami ? Just as in the daytime I had 

 noticed the different kinds of antelopes and the zebras, so 

 here I saw again the elephants and hippopotami living their 

 life close together, moving round or beside each other 

 without fear or hesitation. The herd, numbering many 

 hundred heads, was guided to its drinking-place silently 

 and slowly by its aged leader, a female elephant of most 

 exceptional size. Many young elephants were there in 

 company with their mothers. Some very little ones, only 

 a few weeks old, played with their comrades, or knowingly 

 imitated the movements of the older animals in the water, 

 while the old ones took care to prevent the tender young 

 creatures from taking any harm. 



But it all seemed somehow impossible ! Veterans 

 among the most experienced black elephant-hunters had 

 assured me that such huge herds were not to be met 

 with. And if I saw aright in the shimmering moonlight, 

 what a great mass of hippopotami were moving about 

 there before me ! And now, paying no attention to the 

 elephants that were peacefully bathing farther out in the 

 muddy water, they clambered on to the land, and began 

 to graze like cows on the bank among some more of 

 the elephants. It was exactly the same friendly relation 



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