130 The Life of an Elephant 



of day that he was to be followed and destroyed. 

 His tracks were easy to distinguish, and 



soon a khaki-clad 

 figure accompanied 

 by two Indians was 

 on the trail ; this 

 followed the beaten 

 path left by forty 

 elephants bringing 

 in the twenty cap- 

 tives of yesterday ; 

 it overlay the broad 

 footmarks of the herd-bull as he too had 

 brought up the rear of that sad procession. 

 Then entering the scene of the conflict it had 

 passed towards the higher hills and ultimately 

 joined a fresher track where the remainder of 

 the herd had met and hurried away in single 

 file to some haven of fancied security. 



The huntsmen followed on the trail now 

 some hours old. They hoped that during the 

 heat of the day the frightened animals might 

 rest ; but such was not the case. Unhampered 

 by young calves and with a known goal before 



