OF THE OLD WOULD, 273 



I ordered Chineah and the rest of the gang to 

 halt, and having looked to the powder in my nipples, 

 and made sure of the direction from which the 

 sounds proceeded, stole noiselessly forward, accom- 

 panied by Googooloo only, who carried a couple of 

 spare guns. AVe soon came up with the rearmost 

 of the herd, a group of five females, who were 

 browsing upon the young and tender shoots of tlie 

 bamboo and other succulent plants which abounded 

 in that part of the jungle. As they were beneath 

 my notice, I gave them a wide berth, and Googooloo 

 and I separated, in order that we might have a better 

 chance of finding the trail of a bull. 



I soon came across a spoor larger than any of the 

 rest, and Googooloo not being in sight, I followed it 

 up alone. After half-an-hour's tracking, in which I 

 passed a young male and three other females, I saw 

 a huge tusker standing alone by several large boul- 

 ders of rock, against one of which he was rubbing 

 his hind-quarters. 



Immediately I caiight sight of him I dived into 

 the deeper jungle, and, by making a circuitous route, 

 got well to windward of him. I then regretted that 

 Googooloo was not with me, as I had no spare gun, 

 and I felt nervous lest my prey might escape. 

 However, there was no help for it, so, after carefully 

 reconnoitring the ground, in order to avail myself of 

 any cover it afforded, I crept forward on my hands 

 and knees, and, after a few minutes' intensely ex- 

 citing stalking, managed to ensconce myself behind 



s 



