HOTTENTOT TRACKERS. 303 



made, should they visit the water during the coming 

 night, to attack them on the following morning. 



On these occasions the natives in scores nay, in 

 hundreds follow the sportsman to his bivouac, 

 which, for fear of alarming the elephants, is usually 

 at some little distance from the pool. They (the 

 natives) commonly arrive about daybreak ; it is a 

 strange sight to see these dusky and savage figures 

 gliding with phantom-like steps through the forest, 

 each equipped with a fire-brand (the custom of the 

 country) as a protection against the cold. It brings 

 to one's mind the fable of Ulysses' visit to the dead. 

 As the different parties arrive, fires are lighted, 

 round which the barbarians group themselves, im- 

 patiently waiting the first signs of day. Great 

 excitement prevails, but conversation is carried on 

 in a whisper. 



As soon as it has become sufficiently liHit to dis- 



* o 



tinguish the " spoor" of the elephant, one or two 

 experienced " trackers"* are dispatched to examine 

 the ground, and should their search prove satis- 

 factory, a suppressed murmur of delight runs 

 through the assembly. Springing to their feet, 



* Vaillant, when speaking of the "trackers," says: "What a 

 subtle sense is the sight of a Hottentot ! how he assists it by a difli- 

 cult and truly wonderful attention, upon a dry ground, where, in 

 spite of his great weight, the elephant scarcely leaves any trace ; in 

 the midst of dead leaves, scattered and curled up by the wind, the 

 African recognises hia step. He sees the way which the animal has 

 taken, and that which he himself must follow. A green leaf turned 

 up or broken off, a bud, or a little twig bruised or torn down, these, 

 and a thousand other circumstances, arc indications which never fail 

 'him. The most expert European hunter is completely baffled ; for 

 myself, I could never understand it." 



