46 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



Having taken his place, I was warily advancing, 

 rifle in hand, when, all at once, there came to our 

 ears the sound of an elephant crashing and 

 smashing headlong through the bush. There was 

 no mistaking what had occurred : Kom-Kom, 

 having got a sniff of our tainted air, had instantly 

 made off at a tremendous pace. We followed 

 in hot pursuit and what a dance he led us, 

 through the long jungle grass under the rays 

 of a broiling sun ! On all sides the upupu, or 

 itching buffalo bean, twined among the tall grass 

 and every accidental contact with the latter sent 

 the dark green velvety hairs that clothe the 

 bean-pods in showers upon our bare arms, legs, 

 necks, and faces. As there is no method of 

 alleviating the insufferable itching produced by 

 these hairs, except by rubbing the affected parts 

 with wood ashes, an impossible procedure at such 

 a critical juncture, we had simply to endure 

 the irritation in silence and trudge stubbornly 

 on, buoyed up with the knowledge that we were 

 after Kom-Kom, the Mighty One. At length, 

 having thoroughly tired us, he entered a dense 

 patch of entangled vegetation and began to 

 double and redouble on his tracks, using every 

 wile to throw us off the spoor that frequent 

 hunting at the hands of native ivory collectors 

 had taught him. When an elephant begins to 



