386 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
fear of man. We continually heard them breaking branches, 
and making rumbling or squeaking sounds. They then 
fed slowly along in the opposite direction, and got into 
rather more open country; and we followed faster in the 
big footprints of the bull we had selected. Suddenly in an 
open glade Kongoni crouched and beckoned to me, and 
through a bush I caught the loom of the tusker. But at 
that instant he either heard us, saw us, or caught a whiff 
of our wind, and without a moment’s hesitation he him¬ 
self assumed the offensive. With his huge ears cocked at 
right angles to his head, and his trunk hanging down, he 
charged full tilt at us, coming steadily, silently, and at a 
great pace, his feet swishing through the long grass; and a 
formidable monster he looked. At forty yards I fired the 
right barrel of the Holland into his head, and though I 
missed the brain the shock dazed him and brought him to 
an instant halt. Immediately Kermit put a bullet from 
the Winchester into his head; as he wheeled I gave him 
the second barrel between the neck and shoulder, through 
his ear; and Kermit gave him three more shots before he 
slewed round and disappeared. There were not many 
minutes of daylight left, and we followed hard on his trail, 
Kongoni leading. At first there was only an occasional 
gout of dark blood; but soon we found splashes of red 
froth from the lungs; then we came to where he had fallen, 
and then we heard him crashing among the branches in 
thick jungle to the right. In we went after him, through 
the gathering gloom, Kongoni leading and I close behind, 
with the rifle ready for instant action; for though his 
strength was evidently fast failing, he was also evidently 
in a savage temper, anxious to wreak his vengeance before 
