EXCURSIONS FROM EL BO GO I 



forest on our side, and it seemed there as if they had been in- 

 clined to turn down again ; but possibly they had got our wind, 

 for they entered the bush again and continued up the valley. 



After a time we came to a place where the river spread 

 into a number of channels, meandering and interlacing in a 

 bewildering manner, and all between was a horrible quagmire, 

 full of half-dead, tangled jungle, battered and broken down, 

 while below was stagnant water and fetid, black mud — a 

 dismal, forbidding swamp. In some of the deep pools were 

 quantities of fish, showing that they never dry up. We soon 

 found it impossible to penetrate this fastness, and all we could 

 do was to skirt round it on the far side. I feared the elephants 

 might be in this impenetrable stronghold, and that we should 

 pass them ; but luckily we struck off the spoor again, higher 

 up, just outside. We followed it again, with sundry checks, a 

 long way ; and, when nearly opposite where we had first struck 

 the river when coming from El Bogoi, we found that we had 

 overrun the scent. Then, suddenly, we heard elephants 

 singing out quite close in our rear. It was fortunate that we 

 had thus got beyond them, for the wind was, as usual, blowing 

 up the valley, and consequently had been with us. It was 

 now about 3 P.M., for we had had many delays, and at one 

 time, believing the elephants to be near, had unluckily waited 

 for a spell, in hopes of hearing them, so as to avoid inadvert- 

 ently running into them ivitJi the wind, thus wasting much 

 valuable time. Going round a bit farther, in order to get well 

 to leeward of the herd, we then advanced cautiously, hearing 

 the elephants at intervals, but farther off, as they were moving 

 — but now in the opposite (down stream) direction. The 

 cover here was rather open forest, with an undergrowth of dense 

 jungle (but at this part not very high), so that, though it was 

 rather troublesome to get through, I could see over it. After 

 following slowly some little distance, and when beginning to 

 fear that they must have got our wind, while v/e were passing 

 up, and were now retreating, I suddenly saw ahead the tops of 



