64 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
that the herd was four miles away. I gathered the 
natives around me, explained all the details of the 
drive and assigned men to the various tasks. Then 
we started in a body to get behind the herd. Every 
five hundred yards, I stationed a man in a tree to 
steer the drive. 
Driving elephants at night is a slow, trying, dan- 
gerous job. It means fighting every foot of the way 
through dense jungle and keeping up a continual 
hubbub of tom-toms and shouts. The elephants wish 
to avoid the noise and they move slowly away from 
it, crashing through the trees and vines. The men 
who are directly behind have the easiest time, for 
they can follow the trails broken by the elephants; 
those on the side must cut trails with their parangs. 
No lights can be used, and care must be taken to 
avoid the little elephants, which roam about, investi- 
gating the noise. If they see a man and give the 
danger-signal, the entire herd stampedes. 
When we arrived behind the herd, I spread the 
men out in a U formation, warning them to make 
no noise until the signal was given. With Ali stand- 
ing near me with my express rifle, I waited until 
darkness came; then I gave the signal and started 
forward. Ali, Omar, the priest, my Chinese boy 
and a few others followed along behind me, shout- 
ing. The noise was taken up on each side of us, and 
presently we heard the elephants moving forward, 
throwing their great hulks against the jungle 
growths. The night was black, and we stumbled 
