THE PACHYDERMS 51 



by the foliage of some good-sized tree. In the Upper 

 Nile marshes these animals appear to have developed 

 somewhat different habits from their fellows of other 

 parts of Africa. " Here," says Sir William Garstin, 

 " they stand throughout the day immersed in water 

 up to their bellies, and with their backs almost hidden 

 by the high growth of reeds. Here they can always 

 be traced by the white egrets which invariably accom- 

 pany them, and which feed upon the ticks and other 

 insects with which their hides are infested. A herd 

 of elephants moving through dense grass can be kept 

 in sight, even though they themselves are invisible, 

 by the fluttering up and down of these white birds." 

 At this, the hottest period of the year the com- 

 mencement of the rainy season these elephants 

 apparently never leave the marshes at all, night or 

 day, and their food must be limited to grass and 

 reeds. 



Elephants feel intense heat considerably, and if 

 hunted by mounted men during the hot hours, can 

 often be rendered thoroughly exhausted, thus falling 

 easy victims. At almost all other times, however, they 

 can travel enormous distances, and the foot-hunter 

 finds the task of pursuing them very often a hopeless 

 one, even if he continue on the spoor for forty-eight 

 hours at a stretch. Elephant-hunting on foot, one 

 of the most hazardous forms of sport in the world, 

 is at the same time the most exhausting. It is to 

 be remembered that although, in the good days of 

 South African hunting, elephants could be pursued 

 on horseback, that form of sport is now, owing to 

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