ELEPHANT-HUNTING 221 



hut on the spot to shelter me for the night. These grass-huts 

 can be run up in half-an-hour or less, and are very primitive. 

 About a dozen long, lithe wands are cut from the nearest 

 shrubs, or from the reed-stalks of the elephant-grass, and are 

 stuck an inch or two into the ground in a circle. By bending 

 the reeds towards each other, and fastening the ends together 

 with wisps of grass, and then piling grass over this beehive 

 frame, leaving a small hole open to serve as entrance, the hut 

 is ready. 



At first the elephant track through the jungle was easy 

 enough to follow, but soon we had to keep to the spoor of one 

 animal only, because the herd had spread itself out, where the 

 bush grew denser and more difficult to pass. By-and-by we 

 heard the peculiar rumbling noise made by elephants feeding 

 in security and unalarmed. We made straight for it, till it 

 became the clear " hurr-hurr," a sure sign that the elephant is 

 very comfortable and quite unconscious of danger. 



As the bush became so dense that we could barely see 

 three or four yards ahead of us, we got, quite unintentionally, 

 right into the very middle of the herd. For we suddenly heard 

 one of the elephants rumbling behind us, and two others answer- 

 ing to our right and left. To find one's self unexpectedly sur- 

 rounded by these dangerous animals is rather unpleasant ; but 

 having placed ourselves in the dilemma, we had to make the 

 best of it. 



Elephant-hunting is considered out here a much more 

 dangerous sport than hunting lions. The elephant and the 

 buffalo are exceedingly vindictive and revengeful, especially 

 if wounded, and they then offer a more exciting sport to the 

 hunter, as they usually go for their enemy, if they see him, and 

 try to kill him. We therefore pushed forward with great caution 

 towards the elephant we knew to be somewhere in front of us, 

 when suddenly my Soudanese guide dropped on his knee and 

 pointed silently ahead. Kneeling down by his side and peering 

 into the obscurity of the bush, I had just realised that two 

 elephants were standing motionless within a few yards of us, 

 when one of the animals swung round. I rapidly aimed half-way 

 between ear and eye, and gave him a solid bullet from the 

 Lee-Speed rifle. The shot was instantly followed by the whole 

 herd, over fifty probably, setting up the most awe-inspiring 

 screaming, hissing, snorting, and trumpeting imaginable. It 



