54 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



two of the other lads brought up the rear. Such 

 was the line of march when the leader halted, bent 

 his back, and ran for shelter behind a tree, his imme- 

 diate attendant doing likewise. The game was now 

 in sight, and our turn to complete the task had 

 arrived. I was so blown that, to save my life, I 

 could not then have held my rifle straight, so I sat 

 down for a respite of a few minutes, and chewed a 

 piece of biltong, an excellent plan in such emer- 

 gencies. 



At length we were ready for the fray, and joined 

 our spoorers. They had kept their eyes on the 

 beasts while we were refreshing, so had become 

 conversant with each member of the herd. There 

 were two large tuskers among them. I was to take 

 the nearer one, Dillon the other. Jim followed 

 close at my heels ; Sunday going off in attendance 

 upon my companion. After advancing about one 

 hundred and fifty yards, carefully parting the bushes 

 as I progressed, I came upon one of the elephants. 

 He was a nice young bull, so, without disturbing 

 him, keeping him to windward, I went on further, in 

 search of the patriarch. A moment after my boy 

 perceived him, and indicated his whereabouts ; in- 

 stantly I saw him, and he was a monster. As the 

 beast was standing, he was almost a three-quarter 

 turn from me, so I had to take ground to my right, 

 in order to uncover a vulnerable place. This I 

 succeeded in doing, but the animal appeared very 



