■^ 



The Arrival of the Herd 7 



its predecessor, so that soon there was but one 

 track sunk deep in the soft earth, as if some 

 old-time mammoth of enormous size 

 had passed that way. Females, young fr-^ '\ 

 calves, youthful tuskers, all passed in i J^ 

 succession, each rising into sight and 

 disappearing over the narrow pass, 

 plunged into obscurity on the further 

 side. There was silence in the ranks, 

 for the animals were on the march, 

 intent on changing their quarters ere 

 dawn should break. They might have 

 been so travelling for hours, and might 

 continue their resistless way for many more ere 

 they halted thirty or forty miles from their 

 starting point. 



Some hours later there was promise of day- 

 light in the sky. The mist now lay thicker 

 over the forest, it had sunk into impenetrable 

 strata which rested heavily on the land. 

 Above its sharp upper line the tops of hills 

 stood out like islands in a sea of white ; along 

 the ridges the crowns of trees appeared as 

 if floating in the waves, their stems were 



