REMINISCENCES OF “ STALKS.” 807 
has penetrated any of the vital parts, he curls up 
his trunk, and, uttering a faint cry, plunges vio¬ 
lently forward, and presently subsides in the dust. 
The report of the gun is the signal for a general 
and confused rush of the whole herd; and should 
they unfortunately come your way, it requires great 
coolness and self-possession to guard against being 
trampled to death by the towering masses. They 
sweep past on these occasions with the violence of a 
tornado, carrying havoc and devastation in their path. 
Having described in a general way the manner 
in which the elephant-hunter usually proceeds when 
on foot , I will now, for the readers’ better under¬ 
standing of the subject, relate two or three of my 
own “ stalks ” after the noble creature. 
Just prior to leaving a place called Orombola, I 
took up the spoor of an immense herd of female 
elephants. A short time before I had, on more 
than one occasion, been so savagely attacked by 
cows with calves, that I had my life placed in 
great jeopardy, and, in consequence, had resolved 
not again, without adequate cause, to molest troops 
so constituted ; but in this instance I was induced 
to depart from my newly-formed resolution, be¬ 
cause, amongst the spoors in question, were those 
of first-rate bulls, whom I hoped to find by them¬ 
selves, or lingering behind the rest. 
The elephants, whose tracks we were now fol¬ 
lowing, led us a long chase. Hour after hour 
elapsed, miles after miles of weary walking were 
passed, without the least indication that they would 
come to a halt* The zeal of the “trackers” began 
x 2 
