Chap. XLI. ELEPHANTS TRACK. 
87 
attain our object, when suddenly in the evening we 
received information that Halluf had receded from 
his engagement, and that therefore no further idea 
of our going with him could be entertained. 
What the reason was for this sudden change of pro- 
ceeding I cannot say; but all our arguments, of course, 
were faulty, as we were unable to give them suf- 
ficient weight by good presents. That the tidings of 
the carrying off of three herds of cattle from a village 
at a few miles' distance from Y6, by the Tawarek, 
which arrived this evening, could have had any in- 
fluence upon this course of policy was rather impro- 
bable. 
I was so happy as to collect a good deal Wednesday> 
of information about the country of Shi- October 15th. 
tati, which we had now entered, once densely inha- 
bited in large and populous cities, and passed the day 
quietly and usefully. We heard, to our great joy, 
that we were to go on the next day with the whole 
expedition. 
We had scarcely left the place of our en- Thursday 
campment when we fell in with an ele- 0ctober 16th - 
phants 7 track, apparently leading to the well, and 
followed it for a long distance ; it was well trod- 
den, and was an undoubted proof that these huge 
animals abounded in this wild deserted region, where 
man had left scarcely any trace of his presence. 
Having proceeded at a swift rate, we crossed, at the 
distance of about six miles, a very fine hollow or vale 
stretching south and north, and capable of producing 
Q 4 
