WE MARCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS 189 



We got back to the Xzoia River on December 

 third. On the fifteenth, after many more unsuccess- 

 ful attempts to get in touch with a herd, Mr. Ake- 

 ley and I resolved to try the mountain again. We 

 thought that perhaps the elephants might have 

 moved northward along the eastern slope, and so 

 we thought we'd push clear up to the Turkwel 

 River and find out beyond question. We outfitted 

 for an eight days' march, carried only one tent and 

 a small number of good porters. Only the abso- 

 lute necessaries were taken, for we expected to 

 move fast and hard. The first day we marched 

 eight hours, crossed the Xzoia River, and by a 

 curious chance at once struck a fresh trail which was 

 diagnosed as being only a few hours old. The bark 

 torn from trees was fresh and still moist; the leaves 

 of the branches that had been broken off as the ele- 

 phants fed along the way were still unwithered, 

 and the flowers that had been crushed down by the 

 great feet of the herd had lost little of their fresh- 

 ness and fragrance. 



The trail led us first in one direction, then in 

 another; sometimes it was a big trail that plowed 

 through the long grass like a river, with little tribu- 

 taries branching in and out where the individual 

 members of the herd had swerved out of the main 

 channel to feed by the way. And sometimes when 

 all the herd were feeding, the main trail disap- 

 peared, to be replaced by a maze of lesser trails 

 leading in all directions. But by the skilful track- 

 ing of our gunbearers the main trail would be 



