THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



ply buy back the ivory, and, as so many others have done, 

 say that they had shot the elephants in " self-defense ! " 



As soon as an elephant track is found, three questions 

 have to be satisfactorily answered before it is taken up 

 and followed: 



( 1 ) Is the track fresh — i. e., made recently enough to 

 be worth following? 



(2) Is the track large enough to justify being 

 taken up? 



(3) Is the track made by a bull or a cow elephant? 

 The first question is comparatively easy to answer, 



for even a novice will soon see whether or not the track 

 is a day old or more. This can be easily determined by 

 carefully observing the leaves, branches, and grass which 

 have been broken ofif and trodden down. If these, for 

 instance, are perfectly withered and dry, it is reasonably 

 sure that the track is at least twenty-four hours old; but 

 if they have not had time to wither, and it is evident that 

 the grass was pressed down after the dew had fallen, the 

 track has been made late the previous night and, if large 

 enough, is certainly worth following. Then by going a 

 few hundred yards farther along, the hunter may find 

 branches, torn oflf the trees recently enough for the leaves 

 to be still fresh, and with the sap perhaps dripping from 

 the broken limbs. This is a sure sign that the elephant 

 has passed by only some ten to twenty minutes ago. Then 

 when also fresh, " steaming " droppings are found, there 

 can be no doubt that the elephant is very close at hand. 

 To look at the droppings alone would not be sufficient, for 

 if the elephant is trekking from one place to another, he 

 may just have passed the place in question only half an 



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