THE ELEPHANT 209 



a very large proportion have not been so successful as this 

 was. 



In May 1887 I was encamped on one of the numerous 

 streams on the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, below Kiboso, 

 with my friend Mr. H. C. V. Hunter. 



This country, as I have said elsewhere, is very undulating, 

 and the covert on it very varied, brush and grass 10 to 12 ft. 

 high alternating with open forest of table-topped mimosa or 

 dense clumps of bush and large forest trees. It is, however, 

 decidedly an unfavourable country for sport, as the wind is very 

 uncertain and can never be relied upon to keep steady, owing 

 probably to the proximity of the mountain, which causes the 

 cross currents and eddies that constantly betray the sports- 

 man's presence. Mr. Hunter and I were three weeks in this 

 country, and I think we each came up with ,elephants nearly 

 every day we were out ; but one of these cross currents or eddies 

 in the wind betrayed us before we could see the beasts in the 

 dense covert. When we did see them, they were nearly always 

 in the densest bush or long grass, and we got very few good 

 shots compared with the number of times we were actually within 

 shooting range. On the morning of the zgth I left camp with 

 thirteen men, very early, with the intention of following up the 

 spoor of a grand bull which I had severely wounded the day 

 before. This beast I had followed up until he brought me round 

 in a circle to within a couple of miles of camp, and as it was late 

 in the afternoon and I was pretty well knocked up at the time, 

 I gave up the hunt for the day, intending to take up the spoor 

 again on the following morning. Unfortunately, there was 

 heavy rain during the night, which, however, stopped just about 

 an hour before we started from camp, and when we picked up 

 the spoor we found that all traces of blood, which had been 

 very conspicuous the day before, had been completely washed 

 away. However, there was no mistaking the spoor of this beast 

 on account of its size ; we managed to get along at a good 

 pace, and had gone about three miles when we found that a 

 big herd had subsequently got on to the same track, and had 



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