HUNTING THE ELEPHANT 



in breathless haste. The thundering, dull noise of the 

 pursuing elephants came nearer and nearer. Then, sud- 

 denly, a piercing, trumpet-like sound was heard above 

 the dull noise. 



Turning around, I saw the wounded animal falling 

 into a sitting posture and the rest of the herd in wild 

 flight away from us. My men retraced their steps and 

 joined me, picking up part of the things which they had 

 dropped to facilitate their escape. A bullet just reached 

 the last of the female elephants; I hoped to delay her 

 flight and to capture her young one. Then I turned 

 my attention to the sitting bull, who was apparently 

 mortally wounded. Before he succumbed to the effect 

 of my bullets, I took a few snap-shots at him with my 

 camera. 



I sent for the men whom I had left behind when I 

 started, with only five companions, on my pursuit of 

 the animals, told them to skin the head of the dead 

 elephant, and to loosen the tusks, and then, taking 

 with me six men and the whole supply of water, but 

 forgetting the ropes, I followed again the retreating 



herd. 



After about two hours we found the animals, sepa- 

 rated according to sex, in two groups, standing under 

 some locust-trees. My men, carrying my reserve rifles 

 and photographic apparatus, followed me up to about 

 four hundred feet from the herd. Two cow elephants, 

 with their young, stood a little aside from the rest, one 



105 



