96 SAFARI 



so companions, some yards to the rear, awaited his 

 verdict : one of the finest samples of animal prudence 

 I have ever seen. 



After a few moments he went back to his comrades 

 and stood by them for a little while. Then he re- 

 turned to the vicinity of the blind. He repeated 

 this action half a dozen times. All the while the 

 others stood perfectly quiet, as if they reposed full 

 confidence in the old fellow. None showed the 

 slightest impatience to get the drink that all must 

 have yearned for after the scorching day just ended. 



Once another elephant came down while the first 

 one waited with the line. But his verdict seemed 

 also to be that trouble was near. Finally the leader 

 went back to his people for a last time. This time 

 all faded away into the jungle. 



The rhinoceros is a big, fat, stupid old idiot. He is 

 always fighting, always in a bad humor, always 

 grunting, always looking for trouble. I think he has 

 the least desirable personality of any of the big 

 beasts. 



I don't believe that the average rhino has a friend 

 in the world, not even among his own kind. Rhinos 

 don't go about in herds or mingle with other animals. 

 When I meet them they seem to be always either 

 fighting among themselves or making ready to fight 

 us. On numerous occasions I have been treed by an 

 angry rhino. 



