‘WE ARE TOO LATE. 143 
my gun in the othetyraising both arms as high as I could, 
‘and at every moment-I fully expected to godown. One 
step more and the water just reached my mouth, but hap- 
pily the next step took me on higher ground. 
At last we sugeeeded in crossing the bend, and came 
in sight of thé elephants, who did not observe our ap- 
proach. 
They were seven altogether. What a huge beast 
the male was! The other six were all females, so said 
Malaouen. ‘They were perfectly unconscious of our 
HUNTING ELEPHANTS, 
presence, and swam to and fro in the narrow river. Un- 
fortunately they were very far from us, being very nearly 
half a mile off, and to come to a good shooting distance 
in this awful swamp would take some time. 
Their large ears contrasted singularly with the small 
ears of their Asiatic brethren; they were also somewhat 
smaller. Several of them had huge tusks of ivory; 
