8A2 TO THE UASIN GISPIU [ch. xii 



isolated swamp ; but there he was on the meadow in 

 front of me, invisible, but snorting, and galloping to 

 and fro. Evidently he was much interested in the 

 lights, and we thought he might charge us ; but he did 

 not, retreating slowly as we advanced, until he plunged 

 nto the little pond. Hippos are sometimes dangerous 

 at night, and so we waded through the swamp until we 

 came to the pool at which the porters filled their buckets, 

 and stood guard over them until they were through ; 

 while the hippo, unseen in the darkness, came closer to 

 us, snorting and plunging — possibly from wrath and 

 insolence, but more probably from mere curiosity. 



Next morning Akeley, Tarlton, Kermit, and I started 

 on our elephant hunt. We were travelling light. I 

 took nothing but my bedding, wash kit, spare socks, 

 and slippers, all in a roll of waterproof canvas. We 

 went to where we had seen the herd, and then took up 

 the trail, Kongoni and two or three other gun-bearers 

 walking ahead as trackers. They did their work well. 

 The elephants had not been hi the least alarmed. 

 AVhere they had walked in single file it was easy to 

 follow their trail ; but the trackers had hard work 

 puzzling it out where the animals had scattered out and 

 loitered along feeding. The trail led up and down hills 

 and through open thorn scrub, and it crossed and re- 

 crossed the wooded watercourses in the bottoms of the 

 valleys. At last, after going some ten miles, we came 

 on signs of where the elephants had fed that morning, 

 and four or five miles farther on we overtook them. 

 That we did not scare them into flight was due to 

 Tarlton. The trail went nearly across wind ; the 

 trackers were leading us swiftly along it, M^ien suddenly 

 Tarlton heard a low trumpet ahead and to the right 

 hand. We at once doubled back, left the horses, and 



