ELEPHANT HUNTING 



299 



If we had been only after ivory we should have followed 

 him at once; but there was no telling how long a chase he 

 might lead us; and as we desired to save the skin of the 

 dead elephant entire, there was no time whatever to spare. 

 It is a formidable task, 

 occupying many days, 

 to preserve an elephant 

 for mounting in a mu- 

 seum, and if the skin is 

 to be properly saved, it 

 must be taken off with- 

 out an hour's unneces- 

 sary delay. 



So back we turned 

 to where the dead 

 tusker lay, and I felt 

 proud indeed as I stood 

 by the immense bulk 

 of the slain monster 

 and put my hand on 

 the ivory. The tusks 

 weighed a hundred and 

 thirty pounds the pair. 

 There was the usual 

 scene of joyful excite- 

 ment among the gun- 

 bearers who had be- 

 haved excellently and 

 among the wild bush 

 people who had done 



the tracking for us; and, as Cuninghame had predicted, 

 the old Masai Dorobo, from pure delight, proceeded to 

 have hysterics on the body of the dead elephant. The 

 scene was repeated when Heller and the porters appeared 

 half an hour later. Then, chattering like monkeys, and as 

 happy as possible, all, porters, gun-bearers, and 'Ndorobo 

 alike, began the work of skinning and cutting up the 



Tree-ferns on slopes of Kenia near first 



elephant camp 

 From a photograph by Edmund Heller 



