302 
THE ELEPHANT. 
when subjects for the compass and the pencil were 
temporarily exhausted, that I had opportunity to 
enjoy my gun ; and if at such times I happened to 
be in an elephant country, I cared little for any 
other game; following the creature’s cc spoor” by 
day, and watching by the pool where he came to 
quench his thirst during the hours of darkness, 
were then my chief occupations. During this period, 
I had many interesting, and not a few dangerous 
encounters with the huge animal; and though 
occasionally my success was inconsiderable, yet, on 
the whole, I was well repaid for all my labour and 
trouble; not a few of my prizes proved splendid 
specimens of the giant race, and bore tusks that 
even Gordon Gumming would have beheld with 
rapture. 
From the exhausted state of my exchequer, how¬ 
ever, and other circumstances, I was unable to 
maintain a stud of horses suitable for elephant¬ 
hunting, and was consequently compelled to pursue 
the sport on my own legs; that is, generally, for 
once in a time I followed the spoor of the animal, 
for a certain distance at least, on ox-back, my usual 
way of travelling in Africa. 
As, therefore, I am best acquainted with the 
chasse of the elephant on foot, I will speak of it in 
the first instance. 
On arriving at a pool which elephants are known, 
or suspected, to frequent for the purpose of slaking 
their thirst, the ground in the vicinity is carefully 
examined, and if there is evidence of these animals 
having recently been there, preparations are at once 
