CHAPTER XI 



AcK'unturc with Elephants — Return to Mainland — Two Elephant- 

 hunts — Ten killed — Schinderhutte ; Tragic End — Two Buffalo 

 Bulls — Encounter with a Lioness — Return to Tati, and England. 



The next day was the ist of September, and as the 

 sun, which in far-off England heralded the death of 

 many a plump partridge, raised his fiery face above 

 the eastern horizon I stepped into my crank. Makalolo 

 canoe and was soon paddling over to Umbara- 

 carungwe, the larger of the two islands, with great 

 hopes ot soon making the acquaintance of the 

 elephants. Instead of skirting the bush, I struck 

 straight into the centre of the dense jungle, and had 

 not advanced a mile when my Bushman Arotsy, who 

 was in front looking for spoor, stopped and pointed 

 silently to the ground, where, deeply impressed in 

 the soft yielding sand, I saw the giant footprint of 

 the mightiest beast that walks the earth — -an African 

 bull elephant. We soon found that although they 

 must have plainly heard the shots I had fired at the 

 buffaloes the preceding evening they had utterly dis- 

 regarded them, and had been feeding about in all 

 directions ever since. This made their spoor very 

 difficult to follow, and great caution was necessary to 

 prevent their getting our wind and decamping quietly 

 before we sighted them ; for although they had paid 

 no attention to the report of a gun, all animals have 



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