62 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



— thus obtaining without trouble a fresh supply of good 

 meat. With the exception of rhinoceros, of which there is a 

 good sprinkling, there is hardly any game (besides elephants) 

 in all the neighbourhood. 



During the next fortnight I hunted perseveringly from this 

 camp without any success. Though I toiled hard almost every 

 day, frequently from daylight to dark — having my breakfast 

 before it was light and my dinner often late in the evening, 

 with nothing between but a bit of biscuit and a drink of water 

 or perhaps a banana — only once did I sight elephants, and in 

 that case I bungled abominably a chance at two bulls, both 

 getting away wounded, I regret to say. I followed the spoor 

 almost daily, but owing to the densely matted nature of the 

 tall dark jungle in which the elephants here live, except during 

 their nocturnal rambles, it is next to impossible, unless by a 

 stroke of exceptional luck, to get a shot at them. The labour 

 is most arduous. There are no open paths in this jungle ; the 

 growth is so elastic that the passage of elephants leaves scarcely 

 any opening, and one has to struggle, stoop, and crawl con- 

 tinually to get through at all. The work is very exhausting ; 

 and, to add to the drain on one's strength, poisonous caterpillar 

 hairs and an irritating dust from the vegetation, through which 

 one has to be always forcing one's way, cause a most annoying 

 eruption on the body, the itching of which is a constant worry 

 by day and prevents the refreshing sleep at night needed to 

 recruit the strength daily expended. A caterpillar down one's 

 neck, for instance, causes intense itching, tingling, smarting, 

 perhaps for days. All such discomforts would, however, be 

 lightly regarded by the elephant-hunter if he were rewarded by 

 success in the pursuit of his quarry. But such is the density of 

 this Kenia jungle that though you may get within a few yards 

 of your elephants it is impossible to see them, and they either 

 scent or hear you ; and all the satisfaction you get, after hours 

 of hard work, is to hear them crashing off. So tall, too, is this 

 cover and so leafy, that even from a tree (where there are any) 



