THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 295 



them looked as though they would offer an insoluble 

 problem to a really unkind elephant. 



Thus we crept for a quarter of a mile. Then we 

 came to a tiny opening in the forest ; that opening was 

 chock full of elephants. They stood lazily, having a 

 good time, swinging their trunks, flapping their ears, 

 blinking their little eyes. Occasionally one of them 

 would trumpet loudly. There were perhaps a dozen in 

 sight, beside a lot of young ones whose backs just 

 showed above the vegetation. To judge by the sounds, 

 there must have been twice as many more just inside 

 the fringe of the forest. We paused. 



"What next?" I whispered. 



"Go up and look at them," replied Cuninghame. 



As we were at the moment within eighty yards of 

 them, this seemed an act of supererogation. However, I 

 followed my leader. Cuninghame turned to whisper 

 another warning: 



"For God's sake move quietly. If one discovers us,- 

 the whole lot will come after us." 



We crept to within forty yards and stopped. Cun- 

 inghame examined them in detail for "shootable 

 ivory." I examined them in detail for indications of 

 suspicious dispositions It seemed incredible that they 

 did not see us, for our heads and shoulders were in 

 plain sight. Of course we did not move. We stood 

 there a century or two while those great creatures 

 enjoyed themselves. Every time one trumpeted, or 



