Bound for Khartoum Once More 



they had not seen us, and as no shooting parties 

 had been that way lately, they would not have been 

 greatly alarmed by our presence. We were, there- 

 fore, to pursue the cows and let the bulls rip. It 

 seemed a funny method, but as the natives were 

 all agreed without any discussion, I did as they 

 had suggested. Of course it was impossible to 

 say how far the elephants had gone after their 

 first wild rush, but it was easy enough to follow 

 their tracks, as they had made our path for us. 

 Eventually we heard a grand disturbance a short 

 distance ahead, and a cow appeared on the scene, 

 bearing down on us at a fast walk with her trunk 

 well up, sniffing the breeze. It was hard to know 

 what to do, as we didn't want to harm her, and 

 yet she wanted our blood ; besides which, there 

 were the bulls we were working for not so very far 

 off. Luckily she stopped and waited ; we did the 

 same. She was listening intently. We daren't 

 move backwards or forwards for fear of making a 

 noise, as she was in full view some twenty-five 

 yards away with her ears cocked. She half 

 turned round and we shinned out as quietly as 

 possible. She heard us, and advanced again in 

 a threatening attitude ; and then we got clear. 

 We next crept through the jungle in such a 

 direction as to give the cows a wide berth, and 

 at the same time cut into the remainder of the 

 herd on the lines previously agreed upon. When 

 we had gone some way and thought the 



237 



