MORE ELEPHANTS KILLED 



39 



made a rampart round the little ones with their huge bodies, 

 and with uplifted trunks and ears erect, swayed backwards 

 and forwards in their hesitation and dismay, scenting danger 

 on every side. Then came the crash of the death-bringing 

 shots, two animals falling on their sides as if struck by light- 

 ning, whilst a third, as suddenly lamed, remained standing, and 

 a fourth limped painfully away. Shot followed shot from the 

 tree in our camp, and the little ones hurried in terror from one 

 dying mother to the other, and then to the one elephant still 

 standing, which had crept away for a little distance, hoping to 

 get protection from her. When she, too, fell, the poor little 

 things, wild with distress, rushed towards the Count and his 

 men like angry turkey-cocks, and only when they were quite 

 close to them turned tail and galloped away. We all looked 

 on with bated breath, and I was so intensely interested in 

 the extraordinary scene that I forgot my suffering for a time. 

 I got some men to carry me out afterwards to photograph the 

 bodies of the slain. 



We lost two of our guides here, Manwa Seri and Meri, both 

 of whom had been ailing since we left Taveta, and died of con-; 

 sumption. The former thus ended a long career as a trust- 

 worthy guide ; the latter was a promising young fellow whom 

 we could ill spare and whose death we felt keenly. To take 

 their places we promoted others. Passing over the lazy Bedue, 

 Schaongwe became first leader of the caravan, whilst Himidi 

 bin All, originally engaged as a mere porter, and later promoted 

 to be an Askar, a very trustworthy negro from the Comoro 

 Isles, also became a guide. 



On the afternoon of January 22, Qualla and his men at last 

 returned, after an absence of thirty-five days, the men all look- 

 ing wild and completely worn out, some with scarcely clothing 

 enough for decency, others with none. They had evidently had 

 terrible hardships to endure. We were at a loss to understand 



