II 
ON THE JAMBENI RANGE 
45 
with a temple shot, and, as she stood up again, though 
apparently about to fall dead, I made sure by shooting her 
through the heart with the “ cripple-stopper,” and the stream, 
in which she lay, literally ran red. Her tusks were about the 
same as those of the three previous ones. 
No other elephants were in sight, but we could see the 
natives, who had taken up their position (as above mentioned) 
on a rise, excitedly beckoning to us, so we went towards 
them, unfortunately, as it turned out. Before we reached 
them we saw what they were looking at, namely, a long 
line of elephants coming straight for the spot where I had 
just shot the first. There was quite a crowd of natives 
collected on the rise watching them, quite regardless of the 
fact that they were directly to windward. I made back 
as quickly as possible, but, the elephants having already got 
our wind, I was too late to intercept them, as they were going 
fast. Had I only known and remained where I was, the whole 
herd must have passed right by me. They were making 
straight back for their stronghold, the patch of forest near the 
“ shambas ” (cultivation), and we followed their spoor as quickly 
as possible. It was not till they were close to thick cover, 
though, that we again sighted the tail of the herd. I climbed 
a tree to get a view of them, and could see two or three 
standing in rather open ground, one a large cow with tusks 
that seemed long and much curved. Making for this one, 
which stood sideways, offering a perfect shot, I was just 
getting up to it when a wretched native who had been 
following me rushed right to windward, in spite of my frantic 
beckonings, in order to get behind a thick bush he had spotted 
as a safe retreat, with the result, of course, that the elephants 
got his wind and made off before I could get a shot at the one 
I had chosen as my victim. Running on, however, I could not 
resist giving her a stern shot ; and just ahead another stood 
sideways for a moment, about fifty yards off, apparently to 
see what was the matter with their rear, which I dropped on 
