210 IN AFRICA 



on one side, a dense tangle of trees on two other 

 sides, and with a narrow open aisle between it and 

 ourselves. The two smaller elephants were at its 

 side. To see to fire I had to step out from the tree 

 and expose myself, and as I stepped out the 

 wounded beast saw me and reared its head as if to 

 make a final rush. I fired point-blank; it swung 

 around and a second shot sent it down. Hassan 

 grabbed my arm and told me to hurry back before 

 the two smaller elephants charged. If they did so 

 it might be necessary to shoot them, which we didn't 

 want to do. So we ran swiftly back to the edge of 

 the river and waited. But all was quiet, and after a 

 time we climbed across the river on the interlacing 

 branches, circled around to where the elephants 

 were visible just across the stream and scared the 

 two smaller ones away. Once more we swung across 

 from branch to branch over the swift waters of the 

 river and reached the other bank where lay the 

 mountainous bulk of the dead elephant. It was a 

 young bull about eight feet high and with two well- 

 shaped tusks twenty-two inches long in the open, 

 or approximately thirty-eight inches in all. 



Sulimani was sent to notify Mr. Akeley and Mr. 

 Clark, and after a long search found them, and to- 

 gether they arrived a couple of hours later, followed 

 by gunbearers and saises. Mr. Stephenson had 

 gone back to camp to see that salt and supplies, with 

 one tent, were sent out. 



Then began the work of measuring the elephant, 

 a work that must be done most thoroughly when the 



