194 LARGE GAME. CHAP. iv. 



I judged, that of the previous morning, probably of about 

 the time at which we had started, and the animal having 

 travelled all night, and most likely all the day before, 

 was, I expected, standing somewhere within this great 

 reed field. A fine broad path he made for himself through 

 it as he broke his way down to the water to quench his 

 thirst, and then, going down stream for a mile, he crossed. 

 This was not a very pleasant nor an easy thing for me 

 to do. An elephant, of course, crosses where it likes, 

 despising all considerations of depth or crocodiles ; but I 

 had to think of both, and not remembering from my 

 former knowledge of the place that there was any ford 

 here, I went on some distance until I came to one, and 

 then crossing, proceeded to look for the spoor. It was 

 easy enough to find, leading, as I had expected, into 

 another reed field of great extent, containing the thickest 

 and tallest reeds I ever saw, and forming a cover in which 

 I knew elephants generally stood when in this part of the 

 country. I had hardly followed it in when another track, 

 also of an elephant, crossed the one I was on, and being 

 above it, was plainly one of a later date, so, leaving the 

 other, I followed it for some distance, discovering before 

 long that not only was it the same elephant, but that it 

 had been here that very morning, and was, I did not 

 doubt, standing not far off. 



Unfortunately it now began to get dark, and having 

 acquired a wholesome dread of getting lost in the reeds, 

 and not wanting to get separated from the others, I was 

 forced to turn and go back. I soon found the hunter, and 

 we proceeded to make a camp and light a fire, but it was 

 not until we had quite given them up and supposed that 



