ELEPHANT SPOORING. 21 



to graze long before the dawn of day. No elephants 

 had visited the fountain ; so, after an early breakfast, 

 we saddled up, and again held on in an easterly direc- 

 tion thirough boundless forests, till I found myself in a 

 3ountry ■which I had not hitherto visited. Passing 

 along beneath a rocky hillock, we started a detachment 

 of hideous hysenas, which sought shelter from the sun 

 beneath the shadow of the rocks. We passed several 

 large herds of lovely camelopards, and I also obtained 

 two very deadly chances of rhinoceros, both fine old 

 bulls ; but knowing well from past experience that mj 

 policy was to keep my followers hungry, I refrained 

 from firing a single shot. 



In the afternoon we reached a small vley, where five 

 first-rate bull elephants had drunk on the preceding 

 evening. Here my followers all sat down and rested 

 for a quarter of an hour, a wild duck swimming fear- 

 lessly beside us. We then took up the spoor, but, as 

 it was late in the day, I had not the slightest expecta- 

 tion of success, and was so done up with the power of 

 the sun that I felt it irksome to sit in the saddle. The 

 spoor led east, right away from camp, but the elephants 

 seemed to have proceeded slowly, having extended wide- 

 ly from one another, and rent and uprooted an amazing 

 number of goodly trees. Presently the spoor took a 

 turn to our left, when I grieved to remark that we were 

 following it down the wind ; thus we eventually started 

 the elephants, which were feeding in the forest at no 

 great distance, but, owing to a check among the track- 

 ers, we were not aware of this until the elephants had 

 . gained a considerable start. 



On finding that they were gone, Johannus and I 

 went off on the spoor at a rapid pace, but I had not the 

 slightest expectation of overtaking them ; for it was so 



