iv KOM-KOM 51 



of Kom-Kom. Though still unable to see him, we 

 could hear the occasional flapping of his enormous 

 ears, and feeling that any attempt at a closer 

 approach would apprise him of our presence, 

 we decided to remain perfectly still for a while 

 and await developments. A few minutes afterwards, 

 we heard the snapping of twigs and branches as 

 he pushed his way for another fifty yards through 

 the thicket, and hurrying to the spot which he had 

 just vacated, we began most cautiously to follow 

 the path which his bulky body had cleared through 

 the matted jungle. Quietly as we had advanced, 

 he must have heard some faint rustle of our 

 movements (unless some treacherous eddy of air 

 had borne him our scent), for, all at once, he 

 turned, came back several yards on his tracks, 

 and stood intensely still. Hoping to get a shot at 

 him at an angle, we stole some distance towards 

 the right, moving the branches aside as gently as 

 possible and taking infinite care not to break any 

 dry twigs underfoot. At this point, the inter- 

 vening bush was considerably sparser and enabled 

 us to obtain a fairly good view of Kom-Kom 

 who, we found, was standing absolutely motion- 

 less, with ears outstretched, intently looking back 

 on the path which he had just made. There 

 was something magnificent and statuesque about 

 his whole pose as he waited there ready to give 



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