366 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



endeavouring to keep her stern towards me. At 

 length I gained the shelter of a small bush, and 

 breathed freely once more. 



All this time I never saw my horse, which must 

 have been lying amongst the grass where he had been 

 thrown to the ground. I thought he was dead, or 

 perhaps, to speak more truly, I was so much engrossed 

 with my own affairs that I did not think about him 

 at all. I stood now just on the highest ground of a 

 gentle rise, which sloped gradually down to an open 

 glade, in which, from where I was, I could see two 

 dead elephants. Just then I saw a Kafir coming 

 across the opening, and went down to meet him, 

 leaving my elephant still standing on the spot where 

 she had knocked me down. Being unarmed, for my 

 gun had been dashed from my hand when I fell, I 

 dared not go near her to look for it. Upon meeting 

 the Kafir (Cross's gun-bearer) I hastily told him 

 what had happened. The elephant was not now 

 visible, being just beyond the crest of the rise, 

 about 200 yards distant, but I only stopped to 

 take some cartridges from my trousers pockets and 

 put them in my belt, and then, accompanied by the 

 boy, returned to the scene of the accident to look for 

 my rifle and see what had become of my horse. On 

 topping the rise, we saw him standing without the 

 saddle, but the elephant had walked away, and was 

 no longer visible. Going up to my horse, I found 

 that he had received an ugly wound in the buttock 

 from behind, from which the blood was streaming 

 down his leg : otherwise, barring a few abrasions, he 

 was unhurt. Whilst the boy was searching for my 

 rifle, I looked round for the elephant, which I knew 

 had only just moved away, and seeing a cow 

 standing amongst some bushes not 200 yards from 



