chap. xn. A JUNGLE TRIP. 291 



for our return beneath one of the most shady trees ; 

 having loaded, we started off upon the tracks. As I 

 had expected, they led to a thick thorny jungle, and 

 slowly and cautiously we followed the leading tracker. 

 The jungle became worse and worse as we advanced, 

 and had it not been for the path which the elephants 

 had formed, we could not have moved an inch. The 

 leaves of the bushes were wet with dew, and we were 

 obliged to cover up all the gun-locks to prevent any 

 of them missing fire. We crept for about a quarter 

 of a mile upon this track, when the sudden snapping 

 of a branch a hundred paces in advance plainly showed 

 that we were up with the game. 



This is the exciting moment in elephant-shooting, 

 and every breath is held for a second intimation of the 

 exact position of the herd. A deep, guttural sound, 

 like the rolling of very distant thunder, is heard, ac- 

 companied by the rustling and cracking of the branches 

 as they rub their tough sides against the trees. Our 

 advance had been so stealthy that they were perfectly 

 undisturbed. Silently and carefully we crept up, and 

 in a few minutes I distinguished two immense heads 

 exactly facing us at about ten paces distant. Three 

 more indistinct forms loomed in the thick bushes just 

 behind the leaders. 



A quiet whisper to Wortley to take a cool shot at 

 the left-hand elephant, in the exact centre of the fore- 

 head, and down went the two leaders ! Wortley's and 



