24 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
continuous roar of noise, all the wild life joining, but 
above it all were the crashing of trees and the squeal- 
ing of the elephants as they moved into the forest on a 
front at least a mile wide. It was the biggest show 
I ever saw in Africa. 
Then an old cow just at the edge of the forest sud- 
denly got my wind, and wheeling about, she let out a 
scream. Instantly every sound ceased, everything 
was quiet. The monkeys, the birds—all the wild 
life—stopped their racket; the elephants stood still, 
listening and waiting. For a moment I was dazed. 
The thought came through my mind—‘‘ What does it 
all mean? Have I been dreaming?” But soon # 
heard the rustling of the trees as though a great storm 
werecoming. ‘There was no movement of the air, but 
there was the sound of a wind storm going through a 
forest. It gradually died away, and I realized that the 
elephants had made it as they moved off. It was 
the rustling of the dry leaves on the ground under 
their feet and the rubbing of their bodies through the 
dried foliage of the forest. I never heard a noise 
like that made by elephants—before or since. The 
conditions were unique, for everything was thor- 
oughly parched, and there had not even been a dew. 
Ordinarily, if there is any moisture, elephants when 
warned can travel through a forest without the slight- 
est noise. In spite of their great bulk they are as 
silent and sometimes as hard to see in their country 
as a jack rabbit isin his. I remember on one occasion 
being so close to an old cow in the jungle that I could 
hear the rumbling of her stomach, and yet when she 
