154 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



if they ever pondered on the risks and hardships 

 endured by those who sought the raw material. 

 What a far cry from the delicate objet d'art in 

 some dainty boudoir to the thirst-crazy hunter 

 wandering in primeval forest ! 



On, on we trudged, and as the sun sank on the 

 horizon like a globe of cooling iron, a large ant-hill 

 loomed ahead of us, and towards it we dragged 

 ourselves with painful steps. On reaching it, Hyiah 

 managed to crawl up it on hands and knees, and 

 simply stretching forth his hand and muttering the 

 one word ' Bwana,' lurched forward on his face, 

 utterly exhausted. Coming up to where he lay, I 

 saw wreaths of smoke ascending about half a mile 

 away and knew they must be rising from the camp- 

 fires of my men. Dropping the axe, I fired our 

 usual signal, four rifle-shots in quick succession, and 

 threw myself down beside my tracker. After a few 

 minutes of keen suspense, I could distinguish the 

 voices of my men who, on hearing the reports of 

 my rifle, had at once set forth in search of us. Too 

 weak to shout in reply, I fired three more shots to 

 guide them to where we lay, and shortly afterwards, 

 to our intense relief, my boy Konyaki and three 

 carriers arrived on the scene, bearing a couple of 

 small calabashes of water and a bottle of whisky. 

 Never were whisky and water more welcome ! 

 Pouring a little of the spirit into the palm of my 



