Along the Kisilisi Road 



of breath, and seemed quite surprised to see us 

 there. He told us he had hit the beast with a 

 .303 before it had reached us, so that he claimed 

 the tusks. He suggested sharing, which my friend 

 stood out for, but I declined, as he had got in the 

 first shot, and it was his by the rules of sport. It 

 did seem a bit hard, though, as it was such a huge 

 brute, and being my first attempt, I was naturally 

 very keen to share in the spoil. Very soon the 

 whole population of Masindi were humming round; 

 the "askaris" (soldiers), standing up in a prominent 

 position on the elephant's body, showed the crowd 

 how the unwieldy beast had met his death, and as 

 none of them had been present their accounts must 

 have been embroidered with fine fabrications. The 

 ivory weighed 213 lbs. the pair. After a photo- 

 graph had been taken we had tea on the spot, and 

 went home conorratulatino- ourselves on havino- 

 taken part in such a unique event as an elephant 

 running amok in a town. 



As it was now late, I determined to stop the 

 night in Masindi. I dined with the Commissioner 

 and his wife, both of whom were very pleased with 

 the exciting events of the day. 



Next morning I arose at dark and cycled ten 

 miles along the Kisilisi Road, which was only just 

 being built. It was bitterly cold rushing through 

 the air, which was weighted with a damping mist. 

 This new road was already covered with grass two 

 feet high, except for a narrow path used by the 

 natives. On my arrival at a place where elephants 



69 



