204 FEOM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



little shoots with the daintiness of children gathering nuts. 

 At the noise of our paddles dipping in the water they raised 

 their trunks and snuffed the air, pushing their large ears 

 forward like screens. Then off they went at a trot down 

 wind. 



The distant trumpeting of another herd in the direction 

 of the sand-bank for which we were making, decided us to 

 go on at once and pitch camp and then look for the elephants. 

 The place we had chosen was evidently a favourite resort ; 

 a clean, pebbly sand- bank served for a playground where 

 they could come to roll in the sand, and there was a big 

 pool for their bath at the foot of the thickly wooded 

 knoll where paths were worn by the elephants scrambling 

 up and down between the steep rocks. 



About three o'clock after a cup of tea we started off in 

 pursuit. As we threaded our way cautiously through the 

 wood by the river before gaining the higher ground, we saw a 

 mysterious man, quite naked, moving through the trees. 

 When he caught sight of us he dashed away and flung him- 

 self shrieking into the river, and, abandoning his spears in 

 the water, swam as if for dear life to the other side, where 

 he disappeared in the long grass. He was an elephant- 

 hunter, but pluck in his own line evidently availed him 

 little in the present situation. 



Ascending the rock by twists and turns we gained a flat 

 bush country covered with tall grass. After losing an hour by 

 a wrong cast, Umuru cleverly got on to the right track. To 

 follow elephants one must be a good walker, for it is surpris- 

 ing what a distance they will cover in a short time when dis- 

 turbed, and in this instance they had got a long start of us. 



