270 IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA chap. 



chase, for I feared that the infuriated animal might 

 come up with the safari again and kill somebody. 

 As I rushed after him I called loudly to the gun- 

 bearers to follow me, but they apparently had had 

 such a terrible fright that not one of them ventured 

 out of his hiding-place, so I continued the hunt 

 alone, expecting to be joined by them every 

 moment. None of them turned up, however, and 

 I had the greatest difficulty in following the trail, 

 as the ground was very dry and hard, and I had to 

 depend entirely upon finding a drop of blood here 

 and there on the leaves and branches against which 

 the elephant brushed as he forced his way along. 

 He made a tremendous round, and for a full hour 

 I tracked him in this way slowly and painfully 

 through the thick jungle, never knowing the 

 moment when I might suddenly come upon him 

 unawares. 



At last the trail led me to the line of the safari 

 again, and my fears lest he should attack some ot 

 the men in his infuriated temper seemed justified. 

 In confirmation of this I was met just then by a 

 small party of porters, headed by a couple of 

 askaris, who were coming out to look for my dead 

 body, for the gun-bearers, instead of following me as 

 they ought to have done, had returned to the safari 

 and reported me crushed to death by the elephant. 

 The moment I came into view they ran to me, and 



