A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



main camp by dark that night, and explained the matter quite 

 lucidly to the old chief, who, from this time on, realized that 

 we were not joking, and tried his best to find game. 



We spent a day in recovering from our trying first experience, 

 and then AH came into camp one hot noon with the news that 

 he had just left a small herd of elephants feeding in the bush 

 at a distance of two hours' journey in his territory. When we 

 reached the spot, where the chief had left a native to watch 

 these beasts, we were delighted to find the fresh tracks of three 

 large elephants leading into the thick forest. For about an 

 hour we followed the broad trail, strewn with broken branches 

 and tree-tops, into the silent forest ; then it led us into the thick 

 bush. We fought our way through the vegetation in the wake 

 of the game until shortly before dark, when one of the natives, 

 climbing a small tree, discovered the elephants about four 

 hundred yards ahead. By climbing trees we could see the 

 moving gray backs, huge flapping ears, and an occasional gleam 

 of ivory as the animals wandered away from us through a ten- 

 foot-high tangle of rank vegetation. As it would have been 

 impossible for us to reach them before dark, we struggled back 

 to camp by the aid of a folding lantern, which w^e had fortu- 

 nately brought along, and reached the tents about nine o'clock 

 in a terrific downpour. 



Ali was back at daylight with the news that one of his fol- 

 lowers was watching the elephants again, which necessitated 

 our starting out immediately. Two hours later, from the top 

 of a conical hill planted in com, we were again w^atching the 

 movements of these three elephants, almost hidden in the 

 bush about a mile distant. This time we tried heading 

 straight for the game, and although at one time, from the top 

 of a small tree, we could see the back of the largest tusker about 

 three hundred yards distant in the bush, we did not realize 

 until too late that our guides were afraid to lead us up to such 

 large game in thick country. Much wiser, and with a decidedly 



134 



