A Breath from the Veldt 213 



small and dirty person properly covered. This morning he came and appealed 

 to me so piteously for another suit — to advance his social status in the eyes of 

 the two Shangans, Office and Gentleman — that I was obliged to comply, though 

 this is the second old suit I have given him since leaving Pietersberg. " De 

 Dooms, ow baas " (The thorns, old master) : that is the burden of his excuses, 

 however varied in details. 



Our camp here is in a lovely spot on a high bluff under great trees, which 

 fringe the banks of the river. Immediately below, on either side of the great 

 sandy bed, are dense thickets of bamboo-like reeds which extend for miles, and 

 shelter the lions and leopards during the day. In the middle of the sand-bed 

 runs a small rill of beautifully clear water, about 2 feet deep and full of little 

 yellow fish, while up and down its course are constantly moving many beautiful 

 birds, amongst which the small black-and-white kingfisher is very common. 

 Here also are a big flock of saddle-backed Jabiru storks (Mycteria senegaknsis) 

 and some grey ones whose name I don't know, small brown egrets, spur-winged 

 plovers, and the usual herds of Egyptian geese. Bateleurs, too, are very 

 common and very tame, and the magnificent white-headed screaming eagle is 

 seen every day. I saw also to-day a green-shank precisely similar to our 

 English bird of that name. 



But perhaps the most interesting thing here in the way of bird life is the 

 vultures' bathing-pool — a hole of dirty water about fifteen yards long and ten 

 wide. It is situated in the sand-bed just below our camp, and here every 

 morning come immense numbers of great black cinereous vultures, along with a 

 white-headed brown one, to bathe — a circumstance that must be placed to the 

 credit of the tribe as against the foul work in which they are commonly 

 engaged. The vultures assemble soon after sunrise, and occupy in companies 

 all the upper branches of the great trees round the camp. There they remain 

 motionless for a considerable time, till, finding the coast clear, one or two of 

 the more daring spirits venture down to the pool, their eyes timidly directed 

 towards the bank on either side. These are soon followed by others. It is really 

 a most comic sight to see a vulture bathing. Slowly and cautiously he walks 

 into the water up to his thighs, and then stands looking about for a long time ; 

 then one wing is lowered and dipped ever so gingerly into the pool, then 

 another pause for a minute or more, during which he gravely contemplates 

 the result, and this being found satisfactory, the other wing is slowly sub- 

 jected to a similar immersion, and he gradually sits down as sedately as a 

 judge about to pronounce sentence of death. Every movement is taken with 



