434 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



of living in the tall timber, and never going on the ground 

 except for a few yards, as in East Africa, here on the Nile 

 they sought to escape danger by flight over the ground, in 

 the scrub. Kermit found some in a grove of fairly big 

 acacias, but they instantly dropped to the earth and gal- 

 loped off among the dry, scattered bushes and small thorn- 

 trees. Kermit also shot a twelve-foot crocodile in which 

 he found the remains of a big heron. 



ne morning we saw from camp a herd of elephants in 

 piece of unburned swamp. It was a mile and a half 

 away in a straight line, although we had to walk three 

 miles to get there. There were between forty and fifty 

 of them, a few big cows with calves, the rest half-grown 

 and three-quarters-grown animals. Over a hundred white 

 herons accompanied them. From an ant-hill to leeward 

 we watched them standing by a mud hole in the swamp; 

 evidently they now and then got a whiff from our camp, 

 for they were continually lifting and curling their trunks. 

 To see if by any chance there was a bull among them we 

 moved them out of the swamp by shouting; the wind 

 blew hard and as they moved they evidently smelled the 

 camp strongly, for all their trunks went into the air; and 

 off they went at a rapid pace, half of the herons riding on 

 them, while the others hovered over and alongside, like a 

 white cloud. Two days later the same herd again made 

 its appearance. 



Spur-winged plover were nesting near camp, and evi- 

 dently distrusted the carrion feeders, for they attacked and 

 drove off every kite or vulture that crossed what they consid- 

 ered the prohibited zone. They also harassed the marabous, 

 but with more circumspection; for the big storks were short- 



