In Wildest Africa ^ 



could not get hold of it, however — I was too much taken 

 up with the hope of reaching the elephants ; but after 

 several more hours of marching I had to call a halt in 

 order to gather new strength. In the end we did not 

 overtake them. They had evidently been seriously dis- 

 quieted either by us or earlier by the Wakamba people. 

 While we were pitching our camp in the evening, nearly 

 a day's journey from our camp of the night before, we 

 sighted one after another three herds of elands and four 

 rhinoceroses on their way out into the velt to graze. 

 During these two days I had come within shot of about 

 ten rhinoceroses while on the march, and had caught 

 glimpses of many more in the distance. 



The third day's pursuit of the elephants also proved 

 entirely fruitless. We did not even come within sight of 

 a female specimen. 



My guides were now of opinion that the animals must 

 be so thoroughly alarmed that any further pursuit would 

 be almost certainly in vain, so we made our way back as 

 best we could in a zigzag course to my main camp, and 

 reached it on the morning of the fourth day. 



Most elephant-hunts in Equatorial Africa run on just 

 such lines as these and with the same result, yet they are 

 among the finest and most interesting experiences that 

 any sportsman or naturalist can hope to have. The wealth 

 of natural life that had been given to my eyes during those 

 three days was simply overpowering. But if you have 

 once succeeded in getting within range of an African 

 elephant, all other kinds of wild animals seem small fry to 

 you. You have the same kind of feeling that the German 



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