VI DENSE THORN JUNGLES -109 



hands, though the hyasnas, guided by the scent, and 

 despite the depth at which it was buried, had scratched 

 away the sand, and exposed the uppermost tusks to 

 view. 



Dett, as I have said before, is a long valley, 

 running into one of the tributaries of the river Gwai, 

 with a swampy bottom and large beds of reeds, 

 amongst which appear here and there a few open 

 water holes. Near its upper end, and two or three 

 miles above the first of these pools, it is bounded 

 on one side by dense jungles of wait-a-bit thorn, 

 which extend for many miles in a westerly direction. 

 These great thorn jungles are called " sinangas " by 

 the Kafirs, and it is deemed dangerous work following 

 elephants into their dark recesses, as the beasts seem 

 to coi:^ider them their own particular domain, and 

 look upon any intrusion as a personal insult. What 

 constitutes the danger is this : the bush is so dense 

 and thorny that, except where elephants, buffaloes, 

 or rhinoceroses have opened up paths, through which 

 they crash without difficulty, it is in many parts 

 quite impenetrable, and thus one is liable, when 

 charged, to get stuck fast, and caught like a fly in a 

 spider's web. The uniform sombre grey of these 

 leafless thorn jungles (for not until the rains fall do 

 the leaves sprout) assimilates, too, so well with the 

 dull leaden colour of an elephant's skin, that, though 

 such a large beast, he is invisible except at very close 

 quarters; and often, when following on spoor in 

 such a locality, the first warning I have received of 

 the proximity of a herd of these animals standing 

 asleep has been the rumbling of their intestines, they 

 themselves being completely invisible within a few 

 yards. Elephants, as a rule, are more vicious in 

 these sinangas than elsewhere, and there are very few 



