AN UNEXPECTED MEETING BY MOONLIGHT. 81 



having examined the path, showed me that, as there 

 were no fresh tracks, no elephants could have passed that 

 way to drink earlier in the evening. Sitting quietly 

 under the shadow of a tree whilst the moon is shining 

 with intense brilliancy, and listening eagerly to every 

 sound of crackling bushes in the hope each time that it 

 may prove to be an elephant approaching in the distance, 

 is in itself a source of no small excitement to an inex- 

 perienced hunter, though time after time it turns out to 

 have been caused by an antelope, jackal, or other small 

 animal that the surrounding trees had concealed from 

 view. But the hunter's command must be for the present 

 our law ; so, on a sign from Essafi, I turned my steps 

 homeward. 



If this watching by moonlight is a very wakeful oc- 

 cupation, returning is just the reverse ; and so in a dreamy 

 way I followed Essafi until, emerging from a ravine, he 

 suddenly stopped short, and, seizing me by the arm, 

 whispered ' feel ' in my ear. For a moment I could see 

 nothing, but upon looking across the open ground in 

 front of us, I caught sight of a huge mass coming out 

 of the opposite ravine, about which there could be no 

 mistake ; and what was equally certain was the fact of 

 its being in our path, and coming directly towards us. 

 In a moment we were off the path, and crouching in 

 some long grass under the shade of a tree to wait for 

 its approach ; whilst Essafi, trembling all over with ex- 



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