282 moloka's soliloquy.. 



pair of ivories. Were they to be mine or not ? Again 

 bad luck seemed as if waiting on me, for when the 

 bull had come within some twenty-five yards of me, a 

 distance which I considered far too great to risk a 

 shot at, he pulled up short, and stood for a minute, 

 evidently aware that he was approaching some dan- 

 gerous spot. 



Moloka begged of me to fire, but knowing how 

 little impression my gun would make on the mon- 

 strous head at that distance, I declined. Turning 

 quietly round, the bull stood with ears thrown for- 

 ward, examining with ear and eye the direction he had 

 just left behind. I don't know whether his attention 

 had been attracted by any distant noise amongst my 

 porters, or if he was only endeavouring to find which 

 way his mates had gone. The moment he turned I 

 left the tree, and crawling slowly and cautiously along, 

 was within four yards of his hind quarters in half a 

 minute. Then moving out to the right till I got the 

 angle for the brain, I once more called on the gum- 

 tickler, whose yell was responded to by a gurgling 

 noise from the huge bull as he rolled over dead. 



Shouting " WaiFa ! wafFa !" (dead ! dead !) " good ! 

 good !" Moloka ran up. He was in great delight, and 

 commenced his favourite soliloquy, when he saw an 

 elephant killed with one shot, " Oh ! by-and-by ele- 

 phant finish ! by-and-by no elephant ! Now plenty 

 elephant! by-and-by finish!" The word "WafFa" 

 rang through the forest, taken up by the porters 

 and men left behind, most of whom had taken the 

 precaution to climb the highest tree within their reach ; 



