204 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



the ears and heads of several, standing in a cluster under a 

 tree. Creeping on, big gun in hand, a few paces farther, I 

 was able to see them well, apparently all cows. One bulky 

 but short old cow stood nearest me, but I could not see her 

 tusks at first, and, as she was partly facing towards me, she did 

 not offer a very good shot. Still she seemed to be the biggest 

 and was also the one I could see best, the others being more 

 or less hidden behind each other. 



I waited, deliberating whether to try a head shot, and with 

 this idea took the Lee-Metford from my gun-bearer, who stood 

 silently behind me. But she then gave her head a lift and 

 showed me a fine long pair of " kalashes," crossed at the tips. 

 This decided me not to risk the doubtful chance of reaching 

 her brain from that position, so, taking the lo-bore rifle again, 

 I waited till she let me see the spot just behind the shoulder, 

 and fired for it (though, considering the way she was standing, 

 I ought to have aimed at the shoulder itself). While the 

 others were turning rather slowly to retreat in the opposite 

 direction, I got in a good second barrel on the shoulder of one. 

 The first went on with the rest, but the other could not move 

 away, and in a minute was over and dying. Then Squareface 

 saw some run back away to our left. We rushed to try and 

 cut them off, but the jungle was too dense to let us get through 

 quickly enough, and they passed before we got near. Return- 

 ing, we followed the spoor, and found blood sprinkled over the 

 jungle, evidently blown either from the trunk or through the 

 wound. A little farther we got puzzled, the blood spoor seem- 

 ing to return on itself ; but while looking about to make out 

 which way it led, I heard, close ahead, the rumbling made by 

 a hard-hit elephant. These are the most intensely exciting 

 moments of the chase. The nerves are tightly strung, but 

 the tension is so great that, when it has been repeatedly 

 indulged in, one is rendered ever after incapable of excite- 

 ment : the capacity for it becomes exhausted. 



Gliding cautiously nearer, with set teeth, I saw my big cow 



