Back to Uganda 



elephants sleepily feeding and breaking down the 

 branches at intervals. This sound we located as 

 proceeding from a dense clump of tall trees. 

 Making a long detour to try and get the wind 

 right, and at the same time reach, with as little 

 noise as possible, the place through the dense 

 thickets that surrounded it, we advanced upon 

 the position. On our left was a dense, impene- 

 trable mass of thorny tangle, and on our right a 

 high impervious growth of reeds, tall enough to 

 conceal the biggest elephant that ever existed. 

 The tree was on our right front. The wind 

 came from our left front. . . . We moved 

 stealthily forward. A bark in the reeds told us 

 that a bushbuck had got our wind. We prayed 

 that the elephants would not hear that, and that 

 our good luck will keep our end up! If the 

 animals were actually under the tree, well and 

 good ; if in the reeds, look out for . . . By Gad ! 

 a crash resounded five yards away in the reeds, 

 which bent and swayed violently to and fro, and 

 behaved as if they were quite mad. There was 

 a sudden stampede, but by the greatest of good 

 luck the frightened monsters didn't break cover 

 our way. But as the crashing grew fainter and 

 fainter we looked at one another in hopeless 

 disgust. Three elephants had been under the 

 tree and one in the grass, and the bushbuck's 

 warning was not in vain. How we cursed the 

 wretched brute ! 



199 



