ELEPHANT HUNTING 
257 
surprised the temper of ‘The huge earth-shaking beast’’ 
is sometimes of the shortest. 
Cuninghame and Tarlton stopped for a moment to con¬ 
sult; Cuninghame stooped, and Tarlton mounted his 
shoulders and stood upright, steadying himself by my 
hand. Down he came and told us that he had seen a 
small tree shake seventy yards distant; although upright on 
Cuninghame’s shoulders he could not see the elephant it¬ 
self. Forward we stole for a few yards, and then a piece 
of good luck befell us, for we came on the trunk of a great 
fallen tree, and scrambling up, we found ourselves perched 
in a row six feet above the ground. The highest part of 
the trunk was near the root, farthest from where the ele¬ 
phants were; and though it offered precarious footing, it 
also offered the best lookout. Thither I balanced, and 
looking over the heads of my companions I at once made 
out the elephant. At first I could see nothing but the 
shaking branches, and one huge ear occasionally flapping. 
Then I made out the ear of another beast, and then the 
trunk of a third was uncurled, lifted, and curled again; it 
showered its back with earth. The watcher we had left 
behind in the tree top coughed; the elephants stood mo¬ 
tionless, and up went the biggest elephant’s trunk, feeling for 
the wind; the watcher coughed again, and then the bushes 
and saplings swayed and parted as three black bulks came 
toward us. The cover was so high that we could not see 
their tusks, only the tops of their heads and their backs 
being visible. The leader was the biggest, and at it I fired 
when it was sixty yards away, and nearly broadside on, 
but heading slightly toward me. I had previously warned 
every one to kneel. The recoil of the heavy rifle made 
