288 After Big Game in Central Africa 



of food which they require forces them to travel long dis- 

 tances daily. They eat much grass, preferably green, or, 

 lacking that, straw, reeds, leaves, bark, and especially thorny 

 shrubs, which they like very much, and can smell at a 

 distance. They also like the many kinds of fruit with 

 which the African bush supplies them at various times 

 of the year. Among these I have already mentioned the 

 " matondos " in December and the " fulas " in May. Add 

 to those the " mtudzi " in June, the fruit of the hyphcenae 

 in September, " tchendjes," etc. They swallow them whole 

 without masticating them. They like the young shoots of 

 bamboos which grow in damp places, and they also eat the 

 roots ("tsungwi"); they are fond of sorgho, Indian corn, 

 and cucurbitacere, of which native plantations are composed ; 

 nay, even tobacco, with the result that they often, at night, 

 make great ravages in cultivated places. An average 

 of eight to eight hundredweight and a half of food is 

 required by an elephant during the twenty-lour hours, so 

 that if there are twenty of them, it will be clearly seen, 

 they cannot make long stays anywhere. As it is smell 

 alone which guides them in the choice of their food, 

 they feed either during the daytime or at night. Having 

 scented at a distance the special kind of food which 

 they require, they proceed straight to it. They do the 

 same in the case of water. Consequently, an elephant 

 track is a series of straight lines, marked over its whole 

 extent by thorny shrubs, fruit trees, and pools of water, 

 in short, by everything which is necessary to their sustenance. 

 For these various reasons, they march almost always against 

 the wind ; thus they know for certain that no danger is 

 ahead. When feeding, elephants spread out in a line like 

 sharpshooters, and trace parallel tracks, eating as they walk 

 along. 



They proceed in single file when travelling, and, as a 

 pastime, take mouthfuls of grass or shrubs to right and left 

 without stopping. Females with young ones are generally 



