112 AFRICA SPEAKS 



good ivory. Thought I could kill him outright with 

 a brain shot; knew I'd have to do it quick in order to 

 send the herd away before Dad and Mike got inside 

 of it, but the wind shifted and the bull charged me at 

 close quarters. I pushed my double-barreled .577 for- 

 ward in a hurry as the enraged buQ came tearing down 

 on me with his trunk on high and his ears outspread. 

 He could almost reach me with his trunk as I gave him 

 both barrels, which caused him to hesitate. This 

 allowed me a chance to do a Uttle fast moving on my 

 own account, and as I was zigzagging about trying to 

 shove new shells into the breach, Mike popped up from 

 somewhere and dropped the old monarch with a bullet, 

 from his .505 Gibbs. It was sure a close call for me, 

 but I didn't mind it at all for he was carrpng two 

 hundred twenty pounds of nice clean ivory. 



"There was quite a party shooting in there for 

 several days. You remember Judd.^^ He was there. 

 That was about three months before he was kiUed by 

 a Taru bull near Ndi station. Mike had a close call 

 too when two bulls charged him. This time Dad and 

 I helped him out. This is the country I want to take 

 you into for pictures of elephants and rhinos. We 

 won't have to worry about rain there, for I beUeve it 

 is the driest spot in Africa — it is even too dry to be 

 a desert!" 



Outside the rain still pitter-pattered drearily against 

 the tarpaulin and dropped unceasingly on to the 

 ground below. Bud blew out the flickering lantern 

 and called to the boys for quiet. They had made 

 their beds underneath and were now shifting about 

 uneasily because we had heard several hons. Felis leo 

 always seems to prowl about a great deal when it 



