REMARKABLE STORY. 
265 
the Bushmen came up to him, which was not far 
from where I had seen him last. What followed I 
must give in their own words : 
“ 6 They found him still alive and standing, but 
unable to walk, owing to his leg being broken. 
They slept near him, thinking he might die during 
the night; but at an early hour after dark they 
heard another elephant at a distance, apparently 
calling, as he was answered by the wounded one. 
The calls and answers continued until the stranger 
came up, and they saw him giving the wounded one 
water, after which he assisted in taking his maimed 
companion away.’ 
“When this story was told me, I put it down 
as a very ingenious fabrication of the Bushmen, and 
determined to be led to the spot myself. Accord¬ 
ingly, the next afternoon found me at the identical 
place where I had left the wounded elephant. I can 
only add that the statement of the Bushmen, as to 
the stranger elephant coming up to the maimed one, 
was proved by the spoor; and their further asser¬ 
tion, as to his having assisted his unfortunate friend 
in removing elsewhere, was also fully verified from 
the spoor of the two being close alongside each 
other, the broken leg of the wounded one leaving 
after it a deep furrow in the sand. As I was satis¬ 
fied that these parts of their story were correct, I 
did not see any further reason to doubt the other. 
I followed the spoor some few miles, but as the 
evening was far advanced, and we were all suffering 
from thirst, I relinquished the pursuit; but I heard, 
the following year, that the wounded elephant had been 
