CHAPTER LXVII. 



RIDING OUT THE BULL ELEPHANT. 



ME.. GUMMING used to ride fearlessly into a herd of elephants, 

 ]mrsu3 them through the forests, select the largest and finest male, 

 and shoot him. This he calls riding out the best bull elephant. 

 He thus describes an affair of this kind. 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 land- 

 scape was shut in by blue mountain ranges of considerable height, 

 and two bold conical mountains standing close together rose con- 

 spicuous above the rest. These mountains, the Bamangwato men 

 informed me were their ancient habitation, and that of their fore- 

 fathers, but the cruel Matabili had driven them from thence to the 

 rocky mountains which they now occupy. We continued our course 

 in an easterly direction, 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 of the rhinoceros was abundant. After proceeding several 

 miles through a dry and barren tract, where wait-a-bit thorns pre- 

 vailed, we entered upon more interesting ground. The forest was 

 adorned with very picturesque oM trees of various sorts and sizes, 

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

 forest consist-'d of a variety of trees of other sorts, averaging the 

 height of a g. ; affe. The elephants had left abundant traces of their 

 presence, but ill their marks were old. Fresh spoor of giraffe was* 



