CH.XXX A FEW THRILLS AT BANGALLA RIVER 259 



away to the pori (forest) to try my luck, but, 

 disappointed at meeting with no fresh elephant 

 spoor during the first three days, I decided to return 

 to camp and provision my party for fifteen days, 

 a period which would enable me to scour all the 

 country towards the source of the river near the 

 Kibali Hill. 



But the best laid schemes of mice and men gang 

 aft agley ! We had just left a small water-hole in 

 the neighbourhood of which we had slept overnight, 

 and were hopeful of reaching camp in a few hours, 

 when, to our intense joy, we came across the fresh 

 spoor of three large elephants. Broken branches, 

 the freshly expectorated fibre of chewed hemp 

 leaves, as well as the presence of comparatively 

 warm droppings, gave us unmistakable evidence 

 that they had passed by quite recently, so we fell 

 into our customary formation and followed the spoor. 

 After about an hour's tracking through seemingly 

 interminable glades of tall dry grass and rustling 

 bamboos, we all at once came up with our quarry, 

 standing in a group, their dark, hulking bodies 

 clearly discernible through the interlacement of 

 vegetation. One of them, as if lost in elephantine 

 meditation, was standing in a beautiful position for 

 placing a shot ; the other two, quite heedless of the 

 approaching danger, were placidly feeding among 

 the bamboos. I took most deliberate aim at the 



s 2 



