232 The White Rhinoceros in Zululand 
due to the “‘ brak ” nature of all the water in the Reserve is not clear. 
But no mud-hole in the vicinity of their haunts will ever be found in 
which signs of recent wallowing by these huge creatures will not be 
obvious. On the other hand, their drinking places at clear streams 
very seldom bear any trace of their having bathed there. They may, 
however, be frequently seen without any mud at all on any part of 
their bodies, so it is quite certain that the wallowing in mud is not a 
regular part of their toilet. When mud covered they are weird-looking 
objects, as the colour of the mud differs in various localities, and as it 
only adheres in places, broad dark cracks are visible over the surface, 
and large irregular-shaped patches from which the mud has fallen off 
when dry, or been scraped off by the bushes. 
On my recent collecting trip a young animal of perhaps six years 
old was found wallowing in a particularly glutinous and odoriferous 
mud-hole. Our attention was drawn to the spot by occasional low 
grunting sounds proceeding therefrom, sounds best described by saying 
that they exactly resembled the low grunts emitted by an old male 
baboon, and at first we believed they were so made. Stalking in 
cautiously up wind we came upon this young “’mkombo” in the act 
of rising from the mud, his hind quarters. at the moment being sub- 
merged, while he rested upon his fore-quarters, and a more ludicrous 
object it would be difficult to imagine. As we were able to approach 
to a distance of not more than 10 yards the chance of getting a 
photograph was unique, but unfortunately the writer’s photographic 
outfit was out of action. Upon emerging from his wallow, the animal 
ascended a low bank where it stood for some three or four minutes, 
occasionally turning its head to one side or the other, then it 
disappeared behind a thick screen of bush. It had been absolutely 
unconscious of my presence and that of my five native attendants, 
notwithstanding that I was several times on the point of exploding with 
laughter at the comical figure, and it seemed that the efforts to 
suppress it must have been audible to the animal, and doubtless would 
have been but for the mud in its ears. We afterwards crept round 
the lower side of the mud-hole and through the bush screen and found 
that the animal had not gone more than 20 yards, and was standing 
under a large fig-tree. Once or twice it looked directly at us, but 
evidently without making us out, and after about quarter-of-an-hour 
it lay down and we left it in peace. 
The white rhinoceros usually drinks between midnight and 6 a.m., 
though I have seen them drinking at various times between 8 and 10 
a.m., and it never appeared that the weather conditions had anything 
