178 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



Yet here was undeniable evidence of their lying 

 down, and, as a matter of fact, I had come 

 across similar proof of this habit when tracking 

 a solitary elephant a month earlier. 



" After their siesta, the three bulls had moved 

 on, feeding at intervals, as was apparent from 

 the way in which, though always moving in 

 one direction, the tracks kept diverging and 

 recrossing. We stuck to the spoor of the 

 biggest, which was very easy to follow, and 

 kept to it until three in the afternoon, when it 

 was evident from various signs that the ele- 

 phants were not far away. Soon afterwards I 

 saw an elephant standing in a comparatively 

 clear patch about 200 yards away on our left 

 front, and at the same moment I descried a 

 single zebra grazing his way slowly across this 

 patch towards the forest on the far side. We, 

 therefore, halted immediately under cover, so 

 as to let the zebra move on, as these animals 

 have a most irritating habit, the moment they 

 see the hunter, of galloping wildly round in 

 circles, about 150 yards distant, unavoidably 

 giving the alarm to all other wild animals in 

 the neighbourhood, and spoiling all chance of 

 a shot. This annoying habit is shared by the 

 kyang, or wild donkey, of Tibet and Ladak, 

 which has in such fashion ruined many a care- 

 ful stalk of mine after antelope or Ovis 

 Ammon. 



"It was fully a quarter of an hour before we 

 deemed that the wretched zebra had got far 

 enough into the forest to make it safe to pro- 

 ceed, and during this trying interval the 



