8 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



mation, sometimes, even dragging our feet along 

 the ground to give them an unmistakable indi- 

 cation of the direction we have taken. If I 

 wish them to go easy, I tie a piece of handker- 

 chief to a twig; if they are to follow fast, I 

 drop fragments of my handkerchief on the path ; 

 if I desire them to halt dead, I lay my hand- 

 kerchief or tie the grass right across the path. 



We are now close to our quarry and move 

 with the utmost caution, lest a hasty movement 

 or a snapping twig warn them of our proximity. 

 If there is no wind, or if the wind blows from 

 them to us, our chances of bagging them are 

 greater than if we were to windward of them, 

 for, in the last case, they may get a whiff of 

 our scent and bolt without giving a chance of 

 a shot, and all our tracking and following up 

 have to be renewed with the same patience 

 and care. 



Let us suppose they have not winded us. I 

 manoeuvre for a shot, either shifting my own 

 position or waiting for them to move so that 

 they present a favourable .view. Temporarily, my 

 mind is absolutely concerned with the business in 

 hand : there is no time to look round and con- 

 template the beauty of the surrounding vegetation 

 to see whether, in the words of some journalistic 

 hunter, ' the sunlight quivered from a thousand 



