VIII 



TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



369 



that his people never for a moment thought of ven- 

 turing into the place where they had cheerfully taken 

 me a few days before. They said that, owing to the 

 thorns, their retreat had been almost impossible; but 

 at the place where they were about to take me there 

 were very few thorns, and the cover was so thick 

 that one might approach quite close to the elephants 

 without being discovered. My experiences in ele- 

 phant hunting had not been such as to render me 

 very confident of my ability either to kill or to escape 

 those I had not wounded ; so with anything but 

 a light heart, I agreed to set out in search of further 

 game. These poor people seemed so much in need 

 of meat that I could not resist their importunate 

 entreaties for assistance in procuring it. 



One of the men who came with the Leguinan said 

 that he had been shooting with Lieutenant von 

 Hohnel two days before, and that Lieutenant von 

 Hohnel had had a very narrow escape. The story 

 of the event was as follows : he had shot a fine cow 

 elephant three times in the head, and it dropped. 

 He advanced toward it, and when he was quite close, 

 the elephant, with a scream, arose and charged. He 

 presented his rifle, which the elephant seized, and 

 broke to pieces. Lieutenant von Hohnel escaping by 

 a miracle. The infuriated beast then seized and de- 

 stroyed two of the water-bottles, which the frightened 

 porters had dropped. The elephant, having satisfied 

 itself with this revenge, made off. 



At the time I heard the story, I doubted its truth, 

 but the narrator swore to its credibility. 



On Sunday, August 20, I set out with five Wan- 



2 B 



