14 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



say what a strange emotion fills the mind at the 

 simple sight, for it is a symbol of all those wider 

 issues that twine about the heart and create that 

 sentiment, which, in the first instance, binds a man to 

 his home and again more widely to his native land. 



My men's wives and 

 children come out to 

 meet them ; chums 

 meet chums; laughter 

 and chatter and affec- 

 tionate greetings re- 

 sound on all sides, 

 while I am greeted 

 by my little terrier, 

 who comes jumping 

 up to me, licking my 

 hands and tugging at 

 my trousers in a 

 frenzy of excitement 

 and joy. At last we 

 are home, and I im- 

 mediately bathe and 

 change my clothes, and all my men, who are wonder- 

 fully cleanly, do the same. A nicely cooked meal 

 is the next luxury, and after that, I indulge in a peg 

 or two of whisky and the solace of tobacco. My men 

 make a hilarious night of it. Pombe (native beer) 

 is drunk in large quantities ; they dance and sing 



NATIVE AXE AND KNIFE USED FOR 

 CUTTING OUT ELEPHANT TUSKS, ETC. 



