228 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



elephant news. He told me then that there was a small troop 

 of bulls about, and that they had been seen yesterday not far 

 from here. He slept at my camp, so as to be ready to go out 

 early with me on the morrow. By sunrise we were well on the 

 way towards the part where he thought the herd might probably 

 be, as he was familiar, from life -long experience, with their 

 favourite haunts when in the neighbourhood. 



Before long fresh spoor showed that he was right in his 

 calculations. We did not, however, follow it, but made for a 

 high rocky koppie not far off, which we proceeded to climb. 

 As I reached the summit, Lorgete, who had preceded me, 

 beckoned me to follow him on to a rock free from bushes. I 

 could see by his smile of satisfaction and the excited look in 

 his eyes that he had already made out elephants, and on 

 reaching his side I too saw at once — without the help of his 

 eager clutch of my arm and demonstrative pointing- — the tops 

 of the heads and backs, and the upper parts of the slowly 

 flapping ears, of several elephants, visible, from our point of 

 vantage, among the bush a little beyond. Our perch on the 

 top of this abrupt, conical hill completely overlooked the 

 dense jungle, which lay spread below us in all directions, 

 for some distance. The greater part of it was thorny scrub, 

 some ten or twelve feet in height, but in some places were 

 clumps of bushy thorn -trees through which we could not 

 see. 



As I carefully scanned the bush all about and beyond the 

 elephants I had first caught sight of, gradually another and 

 another became defined as it waved its huge ears or moved out 

 of the shadow of a tree with which its dusky form had been 

 blended. I thus made out eight, all big bulls as their broad 

 foreheads and massive outlines made at once apparent. 

 "YJxtok^^ (big), whispered Lorgete, with tremendous emphasis on 

 the last syllable, — holding out his spear to indicate exaggerated 

 length, and then putting his hands, spread, in the position of 

 grasping, wide apart on each side of his thigh, by way of 



