A TAXIDERMIST AS A SCULPTOR 181 
perched on my ant-hill. Changing course, they came 
toward me, falling apart as they came. 
That picture stays in my memory. And as I saw 
it I have put it in bronze. The bronze shows the 
first seven elephants of the herd jammed together in 
that moment of hesitation just after the old cow saw 
me and turned in my direction. Her trunk is curled 
up tight, her ears back and all cleared for action. 
The elephant on her left is following her example. 
The others still have their trunks extended, feeling 
for my scent. 
The next elephant story that I told in bronze grew 
out of another experience of mine. I was following a 
herd of elephants in bush country. I was some dis- 
tance behind them and they knew nothing of me. 
Suddenly I heard a great commotion, squealing and 
beating of bushes. A few minutes later the herd 
moved on. When I came to the spot where the 
commotion had been I found the bushes all trampled 
down and, at one side of the area of destruction in 
the sand, the remains of a big green tree snake that 
had been stamped into the ground. I followed af- 
ter the herd but was soon deflected from the main 
body by noises in a little glade off at one side of the 
main trail. I went to the edge of this glade and saw 
a young bull elephant smashing about in the forest 
alone, breaking down trees, squealing, and in general 
acting like a small boy who had been stung on the 
nose by ahornet. After a while he quieted down and 
went along after the others, grumbling and protesting. 
I came to the conclusion that while feeding in the 
