IX 
EXCURSIONS FROM EL BOGOI 
203 
forest on our side, and it seemed there as if they had been in¬ 
clined to turn down again ; but possibly they had got our wind, 
for they entered the bush again and continued up the valley. 
After a time we came to a place where the river spread 
into a number of channels, meandering and interlacing in a 
bewildering manner, and all between was a horrible quagmire, 
full of half-dead, tangled jungle, battered and broken down, 
while below was stagnant water and fetid, black mud—a 
dismal, forbidding swamp. In some of the deep pools were 
quantities of fish, showing that they never dry up. We soon 
found it impossible to penetrate this fastness, and all we could 
do was to skirt round it on the far side. I feared the elephants 
might be in this impenetrable stronghold, and that we should 
pass them ; but luckily we struck off the spoor again, higher 
up, just outside. We followed it again, with sundry checks, a 
long way ; and, when nearly opposite where we had first struck 
the river when coming from El Bogoi, we found that we had 
overrun the scent. Then, suddenly, we heard elephants 
singing out quite close in our rear. It was fortunate that we 
had thus got beyond them, for the wind was, as usual, blowing 
up the valley, and consequently had been with us. It was 
now about 3 P.M., for we had had many delays, and at one 
time, believing the elephants to be near, had unluckily waited 
for a spell, in hopes of hearing them, so as to avoid inadvert¬ 
ently running into them with the wind, thus wasting much 
valuable time. Going round a bit farther, in order to get well 
to leeward of the herd, we then advanced cautiously, hearing 
the elephants at intervals, but farther off, as they were moving 
—but now in the opposite (down stream) direction. The 
cover here was rather open forest, with an undergrowth of dense 
jungle (but at this part not very high), so that, though it was 
rather troublesome to get through, I could see over it. After 
following slowly some little distance, and when beginning to 
fear that they must have got our wind, while we were passing 
up, and were now retreating, I suddenly saw ahead the tops of 
