11 ON THE JAMBENI RANGE 45 



with a temple shot, and, as she stood up again, though 

 apparently about to fall dead, I made sure by shooting her 

 through the heart with the " cripple-stopper," and the stream, 

 in which she lay, literally ran red. Her tusks were about the 

 same as those of the three previous ones. 



No other elephants were in sight, but we could see the 

 natives, who had taken up their position (as above mentioned) 

 on a rise, excitedly beckoning to us, so we went towards 

 them, unfortunately, as it turned out. Before we reached 

 them we saw what they were looking at, namely, a long 

 line of elephants coming straight for the spot where I had 

 just shot the first. There was quite a crowd of natives 

 collected on the rise watching them, quite regardless of the 

 fact that they were directly to windward. I made back 

 as quickly as possible, but, the elephants having already got 

 our wind, I was too late to intercept them, as they were going 

 fast. Had I only known and remained where I was, the whole 

 herd must have passed right by me. They were making 

 straight back for their stronghold, the patch of forest near the 

 " shambas " (cultivation), and we followed their spoor as quickly 

 as possible. It was not till the)' were close to thick cover, 

 though, that we again sighted the tail of the herd. I climbed 

 a tree to get a view of them, and could see two or three 

 standing in rather open ground, one a large cow with tusks 

 that seemed long and much curved. Making for this one, 

 which stood sideways, offering a perfect shot, I was just 

 getting up to it when a wretched native who had been 

 following me rushed right to windward, in spite of my frantic 

 beckonings, in order to get behind a thick bush he had spotted 

 as a safe retreat, with the result, of course, that the elephants 

 got his wind and made off before I could get a shot at the one 

 I had chosen as my victim. Running on, however, I could not 

 resist giving her a stern shot ; and just ahead another stood 

 sideways for a moment, about fifty yards off, apparently to 

 see what was the matter with their rear, which I dropped on 



