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44 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



useful many times to me and mine, as well as subsequently, 

 at my instigation, to a German traveller, Dr. Kolb. Every- 

 thing went off satisfactorily, and it was arranged that I was to 

 be shown the haunts of the elephants the following morning, a 

 herd of which was said to be still in the bush adjoining the 

 cultivated lands. My feet were still very sore, but I felt that 

 I must walk somehow. 



Having made an early start, then, the next day, some of 

 the natives met us near the cultivation, close to where I had 

 shot the three elephants. Some had been in the crops that 

 night. We followed their spoor through the adjoining patch 

 of forest, in which were the swamps we had seen before, and 

 out into the shorter scrub beyond to the westward. They had 

 gone in the direction of Kenia (which was only a comparatively 

 short way off), evidently feeding. Unfortunately, I and my 

 proceedings were a source of such interest to the inhabitants of 

 the neighbourhood, few of whom had ever seen a white man, 

 that numbers of them had followed us, and we gradually 

 collected quite a gathering. They were a great nuisance, as 

 they have little idea of hunting ; it was difficult to keep them 

 quiet, and altogether they were very much in the way, but I 

 had to put up with them. 



After proceeding a considerable distance through scrub 

 sufficiently open to be easily walked through, on coming 

 near a small stream a single cow elephant was made out 

 standing by it. On our side there was open ground, but 

 across rather dense scrub. I made a circuit to get the 

 wind right and to have cover. Fortunately, the bulk of 

 the native onlookers had made for some rising ground some 

 distance away, whence they could get a view over the scrub, to 

 see if they could discover the whereabouts of the elephants, 

 and the one or two who had kept with me I now left behind. 

 After crossing the stream twice I got close up to the cow, 

 which was standing in the water feeding on trees growing on 

 the bank. She waded down towards me and I dropped her 



