THE ELEPHANT 207 



finding other kinds of game, excepting in very thick bush, or 

 when the particular game sought after is scarce, as game can 

 generally be found in the open, provided the sportsman is 

 on the feeding grounds early enough in the morning. With 

 elephants the case is different, as they are great wanderers, 

 and tracking is the universal method of finding them, the 

 nature of the country in which they are found (generally 

 forest, bush, or tall cane-like grass) being very unfavourable 

 for seeing them at any distance. It is therefore necessary to 

 make an early start, as much time is often lost before finding 

 spoor sufficiently fresh to follow. Even when found, and 

 though it appears to indicate that the elephants have just 

 passed, the sportsman may have to follow it for several hours 

 before coming up with them. Perhaps few things will try 

 perseverance and endurance more than elephant hunting, as 

 even though the spoor seems not more than a few minutes old, 

 and though there is apparently every hope of approaching 

 the beasts very shortly, delays are often caused by having to 

 pick out the spoor of particular animals from a number of 

 other tracks, and the knowledge that the beasts are in all pro- 

 bability gaining on him during these delays is decidedly trying 

 to a man's patience. After such delays the sportsman may 

 manage to get on at a good pace, which, together with the 

 rough going, soon tells on him, and after three or four hours 

 (by no means an unusual time) he begins to feel a little 

 down on his luck, and to despair of ever seeing the game 

 again, when possibly he comes across the place where they 

 have stood or stopped to feed. Here he may find fresh dung, 

 into which some of his men will eagerly thrust their toes to 

 try whether it is still warm or not. If it is, he starts off with 

 renewed energy and buoyed up with fresh hope. Further on 

 may be indications that the elephants have again stopped to 

 feed, and the hunter's spirits go up with a bound at the know- 

 ledge that he must have gained on them, only to be damped 

 a little later on when he finds that they have again moved on. 

 Though feeling inclined to throw up the whole thing in despair, 



