WE MARCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS 
191 
that they were feeding quietly and without the 
slightest evidence of uneasiness. 
We left our horses and the porters under a big 
tree and told the latter to come on if they heard 
any firing; otherwise, they were to await our return. 
Then, with only our gunbearers and a man carry¬ 
ing Akeley’s large camera, we circled in a wide 
detour until we were safely behind the elephants. 
The wind continued favorable, and we cautiously 
approached the brow of a hill near where we had 
last seen them. They had disappeared, but their 
trail was as easy to follow as an open road. Before 
reaching the brow of the next hill one of the gun- 
bearers was sent up a tree to reconnoiter the coun¬ 
try beyond. 
“Hapa” he whispered, as he carefully climbed 
down and indicated with his hand that they were 
near. Again we swung in a wide circle and came 
over the brow of the next hill. There, four or 
five hundred yards away, was the herd of elephants, 
standing idly under the low trees that studded the 
opposite slope. There were between forty and 
fifty of them, and from the number of totos, or 
calves, we assumed that many of the big ones were 
cows. We studied the herd for some minutes, esti¬ 
mating the ivory and trying in vain to pick out the 
bulls. There is very little difference between the 
appearance of a cow and a bull elephant when the 
latter has only moderate-sized tusks. Usually the 
tusks of the male are heavier and thicker, but except 
for this distinction there is very little noticeable dif- 
