212 IN THE ARMS OF MORPHEUS. 



in the animal, concluded he was quite dead; so, gum tick- 

 ler in hand, I descended the bank, and in a minute or 

 two found myself up to my knees in water, and with- 

 in two yards of my friend. At this moment the ap- 

 parently lifeless elephant swung his trunk round, and 

 began lashing it about, wetting me from head to foot. 

 Mobita, who had followed me, was up the bank in an 

 instant ; but I was now too close to miss killing him 

 at once, and another shot from the big gun finished 

 this fine animal. His tusks were long and perfect, 

 and he was doubtless a solitary buck. Had I met him 

 under similar circumstances in open daylight, I could 

 easily have killed him with a single shot. 



On our return to camp, though it w^as after ten 

 o'clock, I met the whole tribe headed by Chin- 

 soro coming out to meet me. All had heard the 

 shots, and none believed it possible for the white 

 chief to miss his prey. I passed home as they went 

 to inspect the fallen king of the forest. I was soon 

 in bed and asleep, but my slumbers were shortly dis- 

 turbed by the return of the villagers with quantities 

 of "meat," shouting, singing, and dancing — an un- 

 called-for proceeding which continued throughout the 

 night. However, my ears soon became accustomed 

 to the row, and again I reposed in the arms of Mor- 

 pheus. 



