ELEPHANT HUNTING 
253 
Cuninghame had predicted, the old Masai Dorobo, from 
pure delight, proceeded to have hysterics on the body of 
the dead elephant. The scene was repeated when Heller 
and the porters appeared half an hour later. Then, chat¬ 
tering like monkeys, and as happy as possible, all, porters, 
gun-bearers, and ’Ndorobo alike, began the work of skin¬ 
ning and cutting up the quarry, under the leadership and 
supervision of Heller and Cuninghame, and soon they were 
all splashed with blood from head to foot. One of the 
trackers took off his blanket and squatted stark naked in¬ 
side the carcass the better to use his knife. Each laborer 
rewarded himself by cutting off strips of meat for his private 
store, and hung them in red festoons from the branches 
round about. There was no let up in the work until it was 
stopped by darkness. 
Our tents were pitched in a small open glade a hun¬ 
dred yards from the dead elephant. The night was clear, 
the stars shone brightly, and in the west the young moon 
hung just above the line of tall tree tops. Fires were speed¬ 
ily kindled and the men sat around them, feasting and sing¬ 
ing in a strange minor tone until late in the night. The 
flickering light left them at one moment in black obscurity, 
and the next brought into bold relief their sinewy crouching 
figures, their dark faces, gleaming eyes, and flashing teeth. 
When they did sleep, two of the ’Ndorobo slept so close 
to the fire as to burn themselves; an accident to which they 
are prone, judging from the many scars of old burns on 
their legs. I toasted slices of elephant’s heart on a pronged 
stick before the fire, and found it delicious; for I was hun¬ 
gry, and the night was cold. We talked of our success and 
exulted over it, and made our plans for the morrow; and 
