SEARCH FOR ELEPHANTS. 335 



Jahari women had that morning sesn elephants. This was joyous 

 news. My hopes were high, and I at once felt certain that the 

 hour of triumph was at hand. But disappointment was still in 

 store for rne. We all sat dovvn on the grass, while wen were 

 dispatched to bring the Bakalahari, and when these came we 

 ascertained that it was only spoor and not elephants they had 

 seen. We held en for an inspection of it; and here I was further 

 to be disappointed, the spoor proving to be two days old. 



The country now before me was a vast level forest, extending 

 to the north and east for about twenty miles without a break. At 

 that distance, however, the landscape was shut in by blue moufa- 

 tain ranges of considerable height, and two bold conical moun- 

 tains standing close together rose conspicuous above the rest. 

 These mountains, the Bamangwato men informed me, were their 

 ancient habitation, and that of their forefathers, but the cruel Mata- 

 bili had driven them from thence to the rocky mountains which 

 they now occupy. We continued our course in an easterly direc- 

 tion, and twice crossed the gravelly bed of a periodical river, in 

 which were several small springs of excellent water. These 

 springs had been exposed by elephants, which had cleared away 

 the gravel with their trunks. Around these springs the spoor o; 

 rhinoceros was abundant. After proceeding several miles through 

 a dry and barren tract, where wait-a-bit thorns prevailed, wm 

 entered upon more interesting ground. The forest was adorned 

 with very picturesque old trees of various sorts and sizes, which 

 stood singly and in shady groups, while the main body of the 

 forest consisted of a variety of trees of other sorts, averaging, the 

 height of a giraffe. The elephants had left abundant traces of 

 their presence, but all the marks were old. Fresh spoor of giraffe 

 was imprinted on the ground on every side, and we presently saw 

 9 large herd of these, standing scattered through the forest to our 

 left. They were glorious fellows, but I was now in pursuit of 

 nobler game : the natives were leading me to some distant foun- 

 tain, where they expected we should discover spoor. 



On we sped through the depths of the forest, our view being 

 tonfined to about fifty yards on every side. Presently emerging 



