362 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT chap. 



sible to see more than twenty or thirty feet from 

 where one stood, in any direction but skyward ; so the 

 natives appeared to be guided more by sound than 

 sight. 



Elephants break the bushes when feeding, occasion- 

 ally trumpeting softly through their trunks, thereby 

 making a sound similar to the loud purr of a cat ; so 

 that a hunter possessed of a keen sense of hearing 

 can fix the position of the brute by sound, and need 

 not depend upon sight. Unfortunately my sense of 

 hearing is none too acute ; so I depended entirely 

 upon the two natives, who preceded me, to show me 

 the whereabouts of the elephant. After informing" me 

 of the position of the brutes, and satisfying themselves 

 that I knew of their whereabouts, most of the Wan- 

 derobbo halted, and I was left with my two gun-bearers 

 and two guides. I had also taken with me Felix, the 

 fox-terrier, and his two puppies, the latter by this 

 time grown sufficiently to follow us on the march. 

 As soon as we came upon the fresh signs of ele- 

 phants, these three dogs had commenced to whine 

 and evince such excitement, that I left them in charge 

 of the Wanderobbo who remained behind, and pushed 

 on without them. We moved on steadily for half an 

 hour, when my guides suddenly stopped, then- eyes 

 blazing with suppressed excitement, and pointed to a 

 small opening fifty feet away. There in the opening 

 I saw a good-sized elephant. When satisfied that I 

 had seen the elephant, my guides silently and swiftly 

 disappeared. It was standing broadside on, and all 

 but its head and ears and the highest portion of its 

 back was concealed by the thick growth. I was armed 



