XIV RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 325 



my gun, indenting it with her toe-nails, but otherwise it was 

 uninjured. 



I could not blame my gun-bearers for leaving me ; though 

 they had loaded rifles in their hands. It was through no fault 

 of theirs that I was caught this time. It is true that I did 

 think that Squareface, who had my big double in his hands, 

 might have fired a shot, considering that he had shown himself 

 able to kill an elephant when he was not wanted to ; but it is 

 not a service that one expects of Swahilis, and it might probably 

 have done no good. They had never left me in the lurch 

 without occasion, but had many times stuck by me well at 

 critical moments ; and as for poor Squareface, he has since 

 fallen a victim to a still worse fate himself, as will appear later 

 on. They declared, very likely with truth, that they had not 

 even known I was caught. It was a most fortunate circum- 

 stance for me that this accident had occurred beside the lake, 

 where water was close at hand to appease my feverish thirst, 

 cool my wounds, and pour over my head. Camp was a con- 

 siderable distance away ; but at last, in the afternoon, the men 

 came, cut a pole, and carried me carefully in a ground-sheet 

 slung on it. On the way back we had to pass close to part 

 of the herd of elephants, which were still about. I could hear 

 them quite near, and dreaded lest the men should throw me 

 down and bolt. But they carried me past safely, shouting 

 occasionally as a precaution, and we reached my tent at sun- 

 down. Then I had to be washed amid clouds of mosquitoes. 



There is no need to describe my sufferings. That they 

 were intense is self-evident. Still, I felt from the first that I 

 had a good chance of recovery. By the most happy good 

 fortune, though several of my ribs were broken, no limb was 

 fractured ; and, by almost a miracle, the tusk had neither 

 severed the artery of my arm nor penetrated my lungs. Thus 

 I had every reason to feel thankful for having got off so easily. 

 In following this pursuit one must reckon with the risks ; and 

 I always knew that there was a probability of an accident 



