362 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



old horse in very poor condition, which I had bought 

 from Wood, my own having gone lame two days 

 before, and that all our horses had been the livelong 

 day under the saddle, and like ourselves had had no 

 water. Well, we had cantered along the spoor for 

 some distance, when we at last descried two elephants, 

 stragglers from the main body, and then the herd it- 

 self. They were moving in a dense mass up a gentle 

 incline on the farther side of a dry watercourse, and 

 as the whole country about here is very sparsely 

 wooded, we had a magnificent view of them. There 

 must have been at least sixty or seventy, great and 

 small, and a grand sight it was, and one not easily to 

 be forgotten, to see so many of these huge beasts 

 moving slowly and majestically onwards. However, 

 as there was now but an hour of sunlight left, we 

 could spare but little time for admiration, and so 

 rode towards them, on murderous thoughts intent. 

 We crossed the dry gully, and passed within 

 150 yards of the two we had first seen, but they 

 never appeared to take any notice of us. Just 

 as we neared the herd, one of the biggest bulls 

 turned broadside to us, and commenced plucking 

 some leaves from a bush, offering a splendid shot, of 

 which Clarkson was just going to take advantage, 

 when he saw us, and wheeling round, ran off. As 

 he did so, I noticed that he had a stump tail. The 

 whole herd was now in motion. At first they ran in 

 a compact body and at a surprising pace, raising a 

 dense cloud of dust, and in the confusion one of 

 them, half-grown, was knocked down, and must have 

 been trampled on and half-stunned, for he did not 

 get on his legs until the herd had passed, and then 

 at first ran back, away from his companions ; but 

 before long, finding out his mistake, wheeled about 



