24 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



been successful, but to accomplish this end had 

 experienced no end of dangerous adventures. But 

 I had better tell his story as nearly as possible in 

 his own words. 



" We struck the spoor of the elephant about 

 three miles from camp, on a sandbar by the edge of 

 the river. The beast was evidently in no hurry, 

 for its stride was short and regular. In places it 

 had deviated from the sand into the forest, where it 

 had fed for a short time, again returning to the 

 margin of the stream. After an hour of this work, 

 from the heat of the ordure, the freshness of the 

 spoor, and the dampness of the sand that surrounded 

 the tracks, we concluded that we were close to the 

 game. Again the trail led into the forest, up a 

 steep incline. Stealthily Jim ascended this; for 

 some time he remained stationary, then beckoned 

 with his hand for me to follow him. When I 

 reached my attendant, he tried to point me out the 

 elephant, but, although I craned my neck and looked 

 from different levels, I could not see it. Neverthe- 

 less I was certain it was near, for I could hear, at 

 briefly interrupted periods, the peculiar rumbling 

 noise made by the water in its inside. After 

 spending several minutes fruitlessly to find out the 

 exact position of the beast, I determined, under 

 shelter of the bank, to move a few yards further to 

 my right. I judged that this would bring me closer 

 to the animal and in sis:ht of it. In this I was 



