CHAPTER VII 



NORTH-EASTERN RHODESIA (CONTINUED) 

 IN THE GRIP OF THE WILDS 



There were large numbers of elephants in the 

 Luangwa Valley in the latter part of 1909, and 

 I spent much time hunting them and observing 

 their habits. What an intensely interesting and 

 almost human document the life story of one of 

 these great beasts would make ! We can imagine 

 the birth of the baby pachyderm in some remote 

 valley fastness between the Muchingas and the 

 Chinicoatali Mountains, the upbringing of the 

 little Titan, and then the memorable day when 

 his mother led him from the foothills and out 

 into the " dambos " and bush. 



He remembered that well, because he had 

 never before undertaken such a journey. The 

 next day the herd crossed the fringe of those 

 great plains which surround the swamped lands 

 of the lake. There were no trees to afford them 

 shade in the heat of the day on this great mono- 

 tonous expanse of land, where the grass was 

 grazed down almost to the roots by countless 

 herds of zebra and tsessebe. His grown-up 

 consorts therefore did not halt for a mid-day 

 siesta on the plains, but all day and all night 

 they moved at a great, long, striding pace which 

 taxed him sorely to make. Presently they began 

 to ascend the north-western slopes of the 

 Muchingas— that majestic range of bush-clad 



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