180 
IN AFRICA 
gle file we moved on tiptoe along the trail. Then he 
stopped and by his attitude said that the quest was 
ended. The elephant was there. One by one we 
edged forward, and there, thirty yards away, partly 
hidden by slender bamboos, stood a motionless ele¬ 
phant. He seemed to be the biggest one I had ever 
It Looked Like the Rear Elevation of a Barn 
seen. He was quartering, head away from us, and 
we could not see his tusks. If they were big, we 
were to shoot; if not, we were to let him alone. As 
we watched and waited for his head to turn we 
noticed that his ears began to wave slowly back and 
forth, like the gills of a fish as it breathes. The 
head slowly and almost imperceptibly turned, and 
