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ALONG LAKE EUDOLF 



near tlieir settlement if we wanted to buy them. They also 

 inquired what our guns were for, and Qualla fired one in the 

 air, at which they flung themselves flat on the ground in their 

 terror. 



Wednesday, March 21. — To get out of the dust we shifted 

 our camp about two miles to the north-east. There was not a 

 scrap of shade there, but the sand was coarser and the ground 

 harder, so that we did not suffer so much from the wind. The 

 temperature in our tents was +39° Centigrade. The Count 

 brought down a rhinoceros and we heard lions roaring in the 

 night, but we saw no sign of the Elmolo. 



Thursday, March 22. — We marched about four miles along 

 the muddy shore and arrived unexpectedly at one of the 

 Elmolo settlements. The latter part of this short stage was 

 through a district rendered extremely interesting by the number 

 of elephants in it, several of which fell victims to our guns. 

 We came upon six females with five little ones of different 

 ages soon after we started. They were in a flat, open bit of 

 ground some 400 paces from the caravan, and were basking 

 happily in the sunshine, all unconscious of danger. The mothers 

 now spread out and now closed their big ears, caressed their 

 young, and suckled them ^ as the little creatures cuddled 

 beneath them. It was a charming scene of domestic life. 

 Perfect silence reigned around and we all remained as quiet as 

 possible. We refrained from shooting any of the animals on 

 account of the young ones, but at last we were obliged to think 

 of resuming our journey, and as the elephants were right in 

 . our way we were compelled to drive them off. A conspicuous 

 object from afar in his snow-white shirt, Qualla advanced slowly 

 upon the grouj) across the sandy plain, armed with a Henry- 

 Winchester rifle only. The herd soon showed signs of excite- 

 ment, flapping their great ears and uprearing their curved 



The udders of the elephant are between the forelegs. 



