296 



AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



tested the wind, scanning the tree tops, and lighting matches 

 to see from the smoke what the eddies were near the ground. 

 Each time after an hour's stealthy stepping and 

 crawling along the twisted trail a slight shift of 

 the wind in the almost still air gave our scent to 

 the game, and away it went before we could 

 catch a glimpse of it; and we resumed our walk. 

 The elephant paths led up hill and 

 down for the beasts are wonderful 

 climbers and wound in and out in 

 every direction. They were marked 

 by broken branches and the splintered 

 and shattered trunks of the smaller 

 trees, especially where the elephant 

 had stood and fed, trampling down the 

 bushes for many yards around. Where 

 they had crossed the marshy valleys 

 they had punched big round holes, 

 three feet deep, in the sticky mud. 



As evening fell we pitched camp by 

 the side of a little brook at the bottom 

 of a ravine, and dined ravenously on 

 bread, mutton, and tea. The air 

 was keen, and under our blankets 

 we slept in comfort until dawn. 

 Breakfast was soon over and camp 

 struck; and once more we began 

 our cautious progress through the 

 dim, cool -archways of the moun- 

 tain forest. 



Two hours after leaving camp we came across the fresh 

 trail of a small herd of perhaps ten or fifteen elephant 

 cows and calves, but including two big herd bulls. At 

 once we took up the trail. Cuninghame and his bush 

 people consulted again and again, scanning every track 

 and mark with minute attention. The sign showed that 

 the elephants had fed in the shambas early in the night, 



The chief who acted as guide 

 through shambas country 

 near first elephant camp 



From a photograph by Edmund Heller 



