a 
38 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
of a herd of elephants. We followed for about two 
hours in a high bush country over which were scat- 
tered clumps of trees. Finally we came upon the 
elephants at the time of their mid-day siesta. The 
middle of the day is the quietest time of the twenty- 
four hours with elephants. If they are ina herd, they 
will bunch together in the shade. They do not stand 
absolutely still, but mill about very slowly, changing 
positions in the bunch but not leaving. They are 
neither feeding nor travelling but, as nearly as they 
ever do, resting. J evensawa young bull once rest his 
tusks in the crotch of a tree during this resting period. 
We got up to within twenty-five yards of them behind 
some bushes down the wind. We finally decided 
upon one of the bulls as the target. Mrs. Akeley 
studied carefully and shot. The bull went down, ap- 
parently dead. Ordinarily, we should rush in for a 
finishing shot, but in this case the rest of the herd 
did not make off promptly, so we stood still. When 
they did go off we started toward the apparently 
dead animal. As we did so, he got upon his feet 
and, in spite of a volley from us, kept on after the 
herd. We followed, and after half an hour’s travel 
we caught sight of him again. We kept along be- 
hind him, looking for a place where we could swing 
out to one side and get abreast to firea finishing shot 
at him. He was moving slowly and groggily. It 
was hard to move anywhere except in his trail without 
making a noise, and I suddenly discovered that the 
trail was turning so that the wind was from us to him. 
Immediately we swung off to one side, but it was too 
