Lake Ngami, or, Explorations and discoveries during four years' wanderings in the wilds of southwestern Africa (1861) (14576850887)

Identifier: lakengamiorexplo01ande (find matches)

Title: Lake Ngami, or, Explorations and discoveries during four years' wanderings in the wilds of southwestern Africa

Year: 1861 (1860s)

Authors: Andersson, Charles John, 1827-1867

Subjects: Andersson, Charles John, 1827-1867 Ngami, Lake (Botswana) Natural history Hunting

Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers

Contributing Library: The Library of Congress

Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

Text Appearing Before Image:

illremain at a respectful distance until the giants have quenched theirthirst. Thus, long before I have seen, or even heard the elephants,I have been warned of their approach by the symptoms of uneasinessdisplayed by such animals as happened to be drinking at the time.The giraffe, for instance, begins to sway his long neck to and fro;the zebra utters subdued, plaintive cries ; the gnoo glides away with anoiseless step; and even the ponderous and quarrelsome black rhinoc-eros, when he has time for reflection, will pull up sh&Yt in his walk tolisten; then, turning round, he listens again, and, if he feel satisfiedthat his suspicions are correct, he invariably makes oif, usually givingvent to his fear or ire by one of his vicious and peculiar snorts. Once,it is true, I saw a rhinoceros drinking together with a herd of sevenmale elephants; but then he was of the white species, and, besides, Ido not believe that either party knew of each others proximity. 398 THE APPROACH OF ELEPHANTS.

Text Appearing After Image:

HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE FROM A RHINOCEROS. 399 One fine moonlight night, when snugly ensconced in myskarm, and contemplating the strange but picturesquescene before me, my reverie was interrupted by the inhar-monious grunting of a black rhinoceros. He was evidentlyin bad humor, for, as he emerged from among the trees intomore open ground, I observed him madly charging any thingand every thing that he encountered, such as bushes, stones,&c. Even the whitened skulls and skeletons of his ownspecies, lying scattered about on the ground, were attackedwith inconceivable fury. I was much amused at his eccentricpastime; but, owing to the openness of the ground, and thequantity of the limestone thereabout, which made objectsmore distinct, he was not easy of approach. However, afterdivesting myself of my shoes, and all the more conspicuousparts of my dress, I managed to crawl—pushing my gun be-fore me—to within a short distance of the snorting beast.As he was advancing in a direct line towa

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1861

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