AN ELEPHANT HUNT. 83 
re) 
to a broad plain lying to the south. As far as we could 
see in that direction the land continued to slope down- 
wards, and the hills diminished in size. After a seven- 
mile tramp we crossed a small river called the Denneck, a 
swift running-brook containing a species of chromis, as 
well as a kind of catfish a foot long; but here, being told 
by some natives that elephants had just passed, we camped, 
and started after these animals at once. Fred and I saw 
three elephants, but they were in a very dense jungle, and 
it was difficult to get a shot. I succeeded in bringing 
down one beast, after running a great deal of risk; but 
as we could only see a few yards ahead of us, we concluded 
not to continue the sport very long. Fred had very nearly 
lost his life in just such a thick place, a week before, by an 
elephant’s charging at him at close quarters. 
After tramping about in the morning to see if we could 
find elephants in a more open country, we started again on 
our journey to Loke,— which is the name of the country 
y. y 
in which the caves are situated,—and marched seven 
miles south to a village called Hlahni, where the natives 
provided Fred and myself and our fifteen boys with plenty 
of mutton, durrha, milk, and honey. The next morning, 
while we were at breakfast, a boy came running to us with 
the news that he had just seen an elephant walking through 
the forest below our camp. We were quick in following the 
boy to the spot, but after tracking for a mile, we lost the 
spoor in a mesh-work of other fresh tracks. 
We hunted for a long time, but did not succeed in find- 
ing any of the beasts. On October the 25th we made 
a march of four hours south to the caves, describing 
many curves, and pitching towards the last part down a 
steep and rocky donkey path, very rough for the five 
camels to descend. What had appeared to me to be a 
level country now presented a most broken and rugged 
