ZOOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY 
BULLETIN 
~1 
© 
CAMP OF THE CONGO EXPEDITION NEAR FARADJE, IN JANUARY 
At this period, grass fires sweep the country and camping sites are cleared to prevent accidents. 
In the foreground, the row of loads contain 
accessories for a habitat group ready for transportation to America. 
then they walk in stupid lassitude, glad to use 
the easy, deep-worn trails their aimless wan- 
derings shaped so long ago. 
With our base camp at Faradje 
ac cine our numerous side trips brought 
ne ° . 
White us one might say into the very 
Rhinoceros midst of the white rhinoceros 
population. Once for over seven 
hours we had been following various trails, and 
toward noon we came upon a bull that had 
broken away from his companions and was 
feeding alone on the edge of a swamp, eagerly 
nibbling the grass. This stately brute, ordi- 
narily a rock of immobility cast into living flesh, 
was moved by only hunger, rage, fear and love. 
During the night he had gone hungry, his time 
having been spent in riotously prancing about 
a cow. The freshly burnt ground gave an ex- 
ceptionally clear record of his movements. 
Uninterested in her lover’s display, the cow, like 
the other members of the herd, had apparently 
continued to enjoy the succulent blades of grass 
that had sprung up among the bristly, charred 
tussocks. 
A whiff of air from our direction sent him 
off at good speed until he reached the trail. 
Then he slowed down to a saunter, to join his 
company of five. Though he must have known 
them well, he carefully investigated their de- 
posits along the trail, following suit himself. 
But our conclusion that the bull would help us 
find the others was wrong. Many times he 
stopped, away from the trail, waiting for us 
“around the corner.” Once he truculently trot- 
ted up to within twenty yards. Presently he 
snorted, and then evidently took fright at the 
click of the camera, for most unexpectedly he 
gave a shrill whistling sound. 
Following him for about three miles across 
country, no further photograph 
seemed possible. We had wasted our time and 
now it was too late in the afternoon to find an- 
other fresh trail. 
chance to 
Suddenly, as we were quietly 
ee juiethy 
ESA ANY waiting for our black porters to 
witha : 
Herd come up, Balla, a very plucky na- 
tive, jumped to his feet with a 
The ground trembled and the 
Our bull had returned, but not 
Six big rhinoceroses passed like a living 
tornado a few yards away. Had they charged 
straight upon us we could hardly have escaped ! 
warning cry. 
jungle sighed. 
alone. 
But not all of them vanished into 
peel Near us a calf began to 
Tae space. 
squeal frantically, because it was 
transfixed by Balla’s spear! Our hunter’s ir- 
repressible zeal had snatched the youngster 
from its mother as the herd dashed by. There 
was a question whether the mother would re- 
turn, until at last the noise of the band as it 
crashed through the jungle became less distinct. 
and finally died away. We had been taken 
completely unawares. The sandy ground near 
the great swamp had effectually muffled the ap- 
proach of the frightened monsters. Little time 
there was then in which to wonder what had 
started the herd on its maddened course, for 
