304 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
suspicion, feeding quietly by the way. When they 
got to within eighty yards or so, I picked out the 
bigger head and was only waiting for him to make 
a slight turn before pulling the trigger, when dang 
went the heavy rifle of one of my companions about 
half a mile away. In an instant the two eland had 
bounded off, and I decided not to risk a shot, in the 
hope that they would soon settle down again and 
give me another chance. 
Mentally blessing my friend for firing at this 
untimely moment, I watched them make for a 
belt of wood about a mile further on, hoping 
against hope that they would remain on the near 
side of it. “No such luck, however, for they 
plunged into it and were quickly swallowed up 
out of my sight. Running to my pony, which 
Landaalu had dexterously brought up, I galloped 
in the direction of the spot in the trees where 
the eland had disappeared ; but imagine my vexa- 
tion when I found that I had to pull up sharp 
on the edge of a nasty-looking swamp, which at 
first sight appeared too boggy and treacherous to 
attempt to cross. I rode up and down it without 
being able to find anything like a really safe crossing 
place, so in desperation I at last determined to take 
the risk of crossing it along an old rhino path where 
the reeds were flattened down. My pony floundered 
bravely through, and eventually succeeded in get- 
