At Close Quarters 



little." Presently I saw him stoop down, and he 

 beckoned me up to him. To my amazement I saw 

 the elephant not fifty yards off, looking straight at 

 me. I must own to being a bit startled, as I had 

 no idea they were so close to us. I now saw that 

 the elephant I had thought a good size was only 

 medium ; and in such a big herd I hoped to get a 

 very much larger one, so I elected not to shoot. I 

 then enjoyed, for about a quarter of a hour, watching 

 the habits of these quaint creatures. It was a novel 

 experience, and not to be missed. They had halted 

 evidently for their mid-day siesta. 



My orderly, however, was impatient, so we 

 withdrew to look for something bigger. By now I 

 felt extremely hungry, seeing it was six hours since 

 I had eaten my breakfast. I mentioned it to my 

 hunter, who seemed disappointed to think that such 

 a base craving as appetite should interfere with the 

 day's sport. He sent a man off, and in less than 

 a quarter of an hour my boys arrived with a chop-box 

 full of good eatables, and better than all, lime-juice 

 and soda. They had been following close behind. 

 We soon emptied the contents on the ground, 

 turned the chop-box into a seat, and I ate out of my 

 lap. I did not waste much time over that meal, and 

 by the finish a native returned with news that he 

 had seen a very big elephant indeed. He got so 

 excited over the size that I began to think it must 

 be the one that numerous hunters had seen 

 with a tusk so heavy that one, famous for em- 

 broidering the truth, related that he had seen the 



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