CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 175 



every small stream into a howling torrent and 

 so spoiling- the shooting- that I had decided 

 to go back. One morning, however, saw an 

 abrupt change in all my plans, as my tracker, 

 a local savage named Makale, brought me 

 word that two of his friends had seen three big 

 bull elephants a day or two before at a place 

 not much more than twenty miles east of where 

 we were encamped. I confess that, just at 

 first, I was much inclined to doubt the story, 

 as Makale, who had been with me about a 

 month, had proved himself not only a first-rate 

 tracker, but also a persistent liar. The friends 

 were, however, produced and strenuously cross- 

 examined separately by my headman Benjamin, 

 and their accounts agreed so accurately that 

 there seemed no further room for doubt. 



" The first step was to take out a new licence, 

 costing ^25, as all game licences in that dis- 

 trict expire on December 31, and this entailed 

 two long marches to Mpika, one of the stations 

 in North-Eastern Rhodesia at which licences 

 are issued by the authorities. 



" The next thing, which proved more labori- 

 ous, was to get across the Nyamadzi River, 

 then in full flood, as the elephants had been 

 sighted near a village called Kafwimbi, about 

 twenty miles away on the other side. At other 

 times of year this river may be forded without 

 difficulty, but the heavy rains had swelled it 

 to formidable proportions, and, as no dug-out 

 was to be had locally, there was nothing for 

 it but to build a boat for ourselves. My men 

 set to, selecting a particular tree with thick 



