XV RETURN TO LAKE RUDOLPH 357 



they are laid, to preserve them from the rapacity of the 

 vultures. 



The distance to our elephants not being great, I sent Juma 

 back with another man in the afternoon to get me some fat and 

 a piece of the heart of one. I told him I thought the smaller 

 of the two was the fatter ; but he found it to be in poor con- 

 dition, while the big one was fat. I doubt if any one can tell, 

 without opening it, whether an elephant is fat or not ; as a 

 matter of fact they never look so externally. 



Squareface had brought word that he had found the spoor 

 of an odd bull or two near one of our former camping-places, 

 some distance on, and also that the herd, at which I had so 

 bungled my chance, had drunk near here during the previous 

 night. Knowing him to be an indifferent judge of spoor, I did 

 not put much faith in the latter piece of information ; but I 

 decided, at any rate, not to move camp again until I had made 

 sure that we were leaving no elephants in the immediate 

 vicinity. So, as I did not feel much the worse in the morning 

 for what had been a rather hard day's work for me nowadays, 

 I started off about 5.30 with Juma and Smiler to look for fresh 

 spoor ahead, sending Squareface in the opposite direction on a 

 similar errand. We went nearly to our next camping-place, 

 but found no spoor, even of the day before, barring that of the 

 two bulls already accounted for ; so I came back to camp early, 

 feeling that, failing any news of elephants near, I needed some 

 rest to-day. As Squareface, who did not return till about 

 I o'clock, reported that our herd had gone right back to its 

 former haunts, I spent the rest of the day quietly in camp. 

 Having already sent instructions to Abdulla to follow with the 

 caravan, I decided not to move back in the direction of Reshiat 

 again, but to go on to the camp where I had arranged to wait 

 for him, and hope to pick up another bull in that neighbour- 

 hood, so as to be ready to continue our journey when my 

 people overtook me. 



During this last night here there were noises and reports 



