THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT 



them with destructive effect, not only against the ele- 

 phants, but also against other game on which they fed. 

 These expeditions will soon cease, because the profits 

 grow smaller and smaller. 



The temho, as the Waswahili call the elephant, has 

 adapted himself to the changed conditions. He has 

 grown exceedingly cautious and keeps out of the sight 

 of man as much as possible, issuing forth from the pro- 

 tecting thickets only at night. 



The elephants keep to the thickets and the remote 

 mountain retreats during the dry season; during the 

 rainy season, when food and water become plentiful, 

 they roam over the open steppe. The herds move very 

 quickly. It is, therefore, often very unsatisfactory and 

 hopeless to follow even the fresh tracks of the animals, 

 who may have gone ahead without stopping, to the 

 next dense thicket or swamp, or into the mountains, 

 or to some far-off place in the steppe. It is often im- 

 possible to make out the number of the animals, be- 

 cause they form a line to proceed more quickly, and 

 each steps in the footprint of the one ahead. They 

 often keep up their quick step for hours and hours, 

 apparently without resting, so that it is almost fruit- 

 less to follow them. 



One often meets elephants unexpectedly near hunt- 

 ing-camps and settlements, where they may have been 

 for days or weeks. The intelligent animals realize that 

 one does not naturally look for them there, but rather 



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