378 UGANDA [ch. xiii 



elephant poacher named Busherri — at least, that was as 

 near the name as we could make out. He had gone 

 into the Congo to get ivory, by shooting and trading ; 

 but the wild forest people had attacked him, and had 

 killed him and seven of his followers, and the others were 

 straggling homeward. In Kampalla we had met an 

 elephant-hunter named Quin, wlio had recently lost his 

 right arm in an encounter with a wounded tusker. Near 

 one camp the head chief pointed out two places, now 

 overgrown with jimgle, where little villages had stood 

 less than a year before. In each case elephants had 

 taken to feeding at night in the shambas, and had 

 steadily grown bolder and bolder, until the natives, their 

 crops ruined by the depredations and their lives in 

 danger, had abandoned the struggle, and sliifted to 

 some new place in the wilderness. 



We were soon to meet elephants ourselves. The 

 morning of tlie 28th was rainy. We struck camp 

 rather late, and the march was long, so that it \\ as mid- 

 afternoon when Kermit and I reached our new camping- 

 place. Soon afterwards word was brought us that some 

 elephants were near by. We were told that the beasts 

 were in the habit of devastating the shambas, and were 

 bold and truculent, having killed a man who had tried 

 to interfere with them. Kermit and I at once started 

 after them, just as the last of the safari came in, accom- 

 panied by Cuninghame, who could not go with us, as 

 he was recovering from a bout of fever. 



In half an hour we came on fresh signs of game, 

 and began to work cautiously along them. Our guide, 

 a wild-looking savage with a blunt spear, went first, 

 followed by Kongoni, who is excellent on spoor ; then I 

 came, followed by Kermit and by the other gun-bearers. 

 The country was covered with tall grass, and studded 



