198 
IN AFRICA 
danger, paused an instant as it reached the trail and 
then the animal drew back sharply as though stung. 
Then it whirled about and the herd went crashing 
away through the sparse undergrowth. It was a 
time of the utmost nervous tension, and I don’t 
believe the human system could undergo a pro¬ 
longed strain of that severity. 
During all this time we had not succeeded in 
It Started Bach as Though Stung 
positively locating a bull elephant. Of all the 
forty-four elephants that were visible at any one 
time, there was not one that we could feel safe in 
identifying as the elephant needed for the group. 
Three more times we stalked the herd to very close 
range, but they were now so restless that nothing 
could he ascertained. So finally we decided to get 
ahead of them and watch them as they passed us, 
but just as we had reached a point where they were 
