342 
THE ELEPHANT. 
of their arrival. They appeared to be young males. 
I was too far off to fire with any certainty of suc¬ 
cess, and therefore left my ambush in order to 
“stalk” within range; but the beasts were on their 
guard, and soon began to retreat—a shot at the 
nearest hastening their departure. The lead sped 
truly, but not fatally, and the troop immediately dis¬ 
appeared. 
I had scarcely withdrawn to my ant-hill when 
another herd, consisting of full-grown bulls, rapidly 
approached the water, with a steady, heedful step. 
I ran to a small tree to intercept them, and, just as 
the foremost had fairly passed me in rather dan¬ 
gerous proximity, I pulled the trigger. On re¬ 
ceiving the bullet the brute uttered a faint cry, and 
with ears erect, his proboscis swaying to and fro, 
turned and fled, passing within a few paces of the 
spot where I stood. One of his companions took 
the same course on the opposite side of the tree, 
thus placing me between two tremendous foes. I 
felt frightened, but, fortunately, they did not at¬ 
tempt to molest me. To my surprise and vexation, 
the stricken beast succeeded in making good his 
retreat. 
I felt annoyed at my want of success, and was ask¬ 
ing myself how it happened that my last shot had not 
proved fatal, when I observed two other elephants 
cautiously approaching the water, at a little dis¬ 
tance from which they halted; but, after awhile, 
the leader, more courageous than his associate, 
moved forward, stopping, nevertheless, now and 
then to listen. [ was at this time well concealed by 
