WE MARCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS 195 
warning cry of a bird or the suspicious rustling of 
our footsteps in the tall grass, but at any rate the 
herd began to move slowly away. Two of the larger 
groups marched solemnly down the slope away 
from us and the other disappeared among the low 
scrub trees to our right. We followed the two larger 
groups and soon were again within a few yards of 
them. An ant-hill four or five feet high gave us 
some protection, and over the top of this we watched 
the enormous animals as they stood under the trees 
ahead of us. While watching these two large 
groups we forgot about the one that had disap¬ 
peared to the right. 
Suddenly one of the gunbearers whispered a 
warning and we turned to see this group only a 
few yards from us and bearing directly down 
toward the ant-hill where we crouched in the grass. 
They had not yet seen us, but it seemed a miracle 
that they did not. If one of us had moved in the 
slightest degree they would have charged into us 
with irresistible force. We held our guns and our 
breath while these big animals, by a most fortunate 
chance, passed by us to the windward of the ant¬ 
hill, not more than thirty feet away. If they had 
passed to the leeward side they would have got 
our wind and trouble would have been unavoidable. 
I took a surreptitious snap-shot of them after they 
had passed by, and for the first time in some min¬ 
utes took a long breath. 
Then we circled the herd again and came up to 
them. They were now thoroughly uneasy. They 
