42 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. iv 



to which the native mind is prone, they had 

 come to the conclusion that Kom-Kom was 

 the reincarnation of one of their famous chiefs, 

 who in the days gone by had been murdered 

 by the Wangoni. Now his restless spirit had 

 taken up its abode in the form of an elephant 

 and was avenging the wrongs he had suffered 

 during his existence in human shape. Further- 

 more, they told me that during the day Kom 

 Kom roamed where man seldom trespassed, 

 deep in the heart of the Lerongie jungle and, 

 at night, came forth to plunder their crops and 

 instil terror into their hearts. Even the women 

 were afraid to go and draw water from the 

 stream that flowed near their huts, and so 

 greatly had the reputation of Kom-Kom grown 

 that the inhabitants of Nagoromenia's Kraal, 

 which lay some thirty miles from Iperie's village, 

 lived in perpetual dread of him. 



Apart from the question of doing a public 

 service, I was in quest of ivory, and it was 

 immaterial to me whether that ivory was Kom- 

 Kom's or not, so, informing the native messengers 

 that I should make an effort to rid them of the 

 inconsiderate spirit of their former chief, I dismissed 

 them. 



Next day, as soon as it was light, we set out for 

 Nagoromenia's Kraal. As we tramped through 



