56 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



stood with his head raised and huge ears spread, 

 testing the wind in all directions with the end of his 

 upturned trunk. He was standnig exactly facing 

 me, and in an awkward position for a shot, so I 

 waited for him to turn, which he at length did, when 

 I gave him a good shot behind the shoulder, to 

 which he succumbed, after running at a sharp pace 

 for about 200 yards. Immediately afterwards Cigar 

 and the Kafirs came up. We were all excessively 

 thirsty before we saw the elephants, and the run we 

 had had after them had made us thirstier still, so we 

 at once started for the little river not far distant, 

 where we expected to find water. Just at dusk we 

 reached it almost at the same instant as a bhick 

 rhinoceros that was approaching from the other side. 

 Ten minutes' walk down the river's bed brought us 

 to the water-hole we were making for, which, to our 

 chagrin, we found to be as dry as a bone. In this 

 strait there was nothing for it but to follow down the 

 course of the rivulet until we came to water. For 

 several hours we trudged silently on, sometimes 

 finding a little mud but not a drop of water, which 

 had all been sucked up by the blistering sun. At 

 last, about midnight, we came to a deep hole in 

 which there was still a little water. The Kafirs soon 

 dug it out with their assegais, and in another hour 

 we had all quenched our thirst. It was a warm 

 night, and so done were we, that, without making a 

 fire, or undoing anything, we just stretched ourselves 

 on the sand and were soon fast asleep. Early the 

 following morning, hearing some of our Kafirs ex- 

 claiming, How ! how ! holding their hands over 

 their mouths and looking down at something, I went 

 to them and asked what it was, when they pointed 

 me out the spoor of a large lion plainly visible in the 



