90 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



turning over some dung with his naked foot, pro- 

 nounced it to be warm, and I knew we might now 

 expect to see our game every instant. Indeed, not 

 ten minutes afterwards my boy Minyama, who was in 

 front on the spoor, suddenly bobbed down as if he 

 had been shot, and I knew he had seen the elephants ; 

 so, creeping forwards, I peered cautiously over the 

 ridge, and there beheld two magnificent old bulls 

 standing under a large mopani tree about seventy 

 yards down the side of the hill. The largest was 

 standing broadside on, and was truly a splendid beast, 

 with a pair of remarkably long, white, perfect tusks, 

 protruding far beyond the lip — the largest, in fact, I 

 have ever seen before or since in the flesh ; the other 

 was standing head on to us, but, though his tusks 

 were foreshortened, owing to his position, I could 

 see they were also both long and thick. They were 

 evidently enjoying a little rest, their large ears flap- 

 ping listlessly against their sides like two enormous 

 tans, and little thinking of the persevering enemy 

 who had followed them like an aveno-ing Fate 

 through all their turnings, and now at last stood so 

 near them as they slept in fancied security. There 

 was, however, no time to be lost, as the sun had 

 already disappeared behind the hills, and I knew I 

 had, at the outside, but a short half-hour of daylight 

 left. 



About half-way down the slope ot the hill, between 

 where we stood and the elephants, lay a fallen mopani 

 tree, which had been no doubt uprooted by one of 

 these beasts during the last rainy season ; so, taking 

 my gun, and followed closely by my second carrier, 

 I crept, step by step, very cautiously down towards 

 them. Though an elephant is very bad of sight, and 

 one can walk almost up to one if the wind is right 



