Elephant Country. 55 



in Southern Rhodesia, and that famed elephant-hunter, the 

 late Mr. A. H. Neumann, once bagged sixteen in a day, 

 using a -303 and a lo-bore rifle. But after this wandering 

 from the tracks, I must get back again to the elephant I 

 was after. 



The fresh spoor led us into some bad country, bad for 

 puny man, but, of course, nothing to the elephant; and 

 some of the long, half-dry grass towered over our heads, 

 and I hoped when I got into this kind of country that the 

 elephants would stand in more comfortable surroundings 

 for the last round. 



In such grass it is often difficult to move, once one leaves 

 the broad tracks of the elephants, and I have found that 

 elephants are much more inclined to be disagreeable in 

 such country than they are in more open timber land. 

 Therefore it is a very sound plan to climb anthills to look 

 round or send men up trees for the same purpose, so as 

 not to get right under the animals before being aware that 

 they are so close. 



Not far from this place, and when approaching an 

 elephant which had been blowing red anthill dust all over 

 himself, I once mistook the animal for an anthill, and got so 

 close that I could have touched his stern with the muzzle of 

 my rifle. Luckily the elephant was asleep, and I and the 

 man with me were able to retreat and get to the anthill 

 which I knew was near the elephant. 



On crawling to the top of it, he was still asleep and 

 swaying gently backwards and forwards, and my sight was 

 just on the orifice of his ear when my gunbearer, in his 

 eagerness to see results, cracked a stick or bit of dry reed. 

 At the sound the elephant twisted right round (just like a 

 top being spun), and the bullet that I fervently hoped would 

 have punctured his brain went into his side somewhere, 

 and he went off ; and, although I did my best to find him, 



I failed. 



Kamwendo took me along splendidly until, at about 



I 1 a.m., we suddenly saw the three elephants wandering 

 about, feeding. I told the men who were carrying some 



