THE WAYS OF THE ELEPHANT 75 



returned to camp after dark without being 

 drenched in this manner and soon learned to 

 get back before the sun went down. 



From a long distance the hunter is often ap- 

 prised of the presence of elephants by the flocks 

 of white "cow-herons" that usually keep them 

 company and feed on the hordes of insects that 

 the animals attract and disturb from the grass. 

 As he draws near he hears the breaking of 

 branches and the crash of falling trees, but if 

 the animals are resting he may first be warned 

 of danger by a strong pungent odour, or he may 

 hear the rumble of their stomachs and other 

 sounds caused by the process of digestion. 



The hearing of elephants is very acute, but in 

 regions inhabited by natives they become accus- 

 tomed to the human voice and scarcely heed it, 

 as already recounted in the case of the rogue 

 elephant killed by the colonel. 



We were finishing our last day's march to Lake 

 Albert and passed a village where the people 

 were laughing, singing, and talking, while the 

 children romped at play. By the side of 

 the trail several blacks stood on the topmost 

 branches of a huge fallen tree, gazing intently at 

 some object in the elephant-grass. On mount- 



