206 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



cropped of their branches and twigs ; bushes that have been 

 torn up have been devoid of leaves, and their stems well 

 chewed ; the upper part of the wisps of grass have been missing, 

 and the branches of large trees and the trees themselves have 

 been stripped of their bark, which was left lying about in all 

 directions after being chewed, &c. When in Uganda I once 

 had an opportunity of watching a grand old bull elephant 

 amusing himself. He was one of a large herd which I had no 

 difficulty in getting within 150 yards of, but which I could not 

 approach nearer, as they were standing quite out in the open. 

 As I sat on the top of an ant-heap waiting for them to get into 

 a better position, I watched this bull through my binoculars 

 for about twenty minutes trying to destroy another ant-heap 

 for no apparent cause, as he did not pick up the earth to dust 

 himself, but simply dug his tusks into the heap, and with a 

 sideways movement of the head sent the clods of earth flying 

 away on each side of him. Had he thrown the earth upwards 

 on to his back, or picked it up with his trunk to give himself 

 a sand-bath, there would have been nothing strange about his 

 proceedings. When the herd moved off, I went up to the 

 ant-heap and found that the bull had knocked it about in a 

 manner almost incredible even for such a huge and powerful 

 beast. There can be little doubt that a great deal of the up- 

 rooted long grass which is found where elephants have stood 

 is torn up simply for the purpose of dusting themselves, as I 

 have twice had an excellent opportunity of watching them. 

 On one occasion I got within 100 yards of five elephants 

 standing in long grass in a hollow, and watched them for some 

 time from the top of a rock whilst they had a dust-bath. This 

 they did by simply twisting their trunks round wisps of grass, 

 which they pulled up by the roots and threw up into the air 

 over their backs. The weight of the earth in the roots caused 

 these wisps of grass to descend roots downwards, and as they 

 landed on the elephants' backs, a good shower of dry earth, 

 sand, and dust was the result. 



Tracking in East Africa is rather an unusual method of 



