21 



CHAPTER V. 



A GUN SET. 



" Jim," who went off prospecting soon after daylight, 

 reports having seen an enormous bull elephant cross 

 the river above the ford and enter some thick jungle 

 a few miles up the stream. The natives are such 

 acute observers of animal life that they do not hesi- 

 tate to pronounce what state of mind a beast may be 

 in ; if his suppositions are correct, then this old 

 gentleman is in a most irascible temper, possibly 

 caused by having come across the bodies of some of 

 his dead companions. Selwin being lame, and 

 my shoulder most painful, so quite unfit to shoot 

 from, Dillon has resolved to go in pursuit of the 

 grand old veteran, attended by Jim and a couple of 

 his countrymen. 



On inspecting the place where the meat, left to 

 get fly-blown over the tributary rivulet, ought to be, 

 I found it had again disappeared, so replaced it, 

 elevating it on this occasion seven or eight feet 

 above the level of the water. Crocodiles are doubt- 

 less the thieves, but I think it will puzzle these 

 gentry now to reach their prey. I also set a gun in 

 the outer edge of the kraal fence, in case the lioness 

 should be troublesome at night 



