UGANDA, AND THE NYANZA LAKES 387 
he died. On we went, following the bloody trail through 
dim, cavernous windings in the dark, vine-covered jungle; 
we heard him smash the branches but a few yards ahead, 
and fall and rise; and stealing forward Kermit and I 
slipped up to within a dozen feet of him as he stood on 
the other side of some small twisted trees, hung with a mat 
of creepers. I put a bullet into his heart, Kermit fired; 
each of us fired again on the instant; the mighty bull threw 
up his trunk, crashed over backward, and lay dead on his 
side among the bushes. A fine sight he was, a sight to glad¬ 
den any hunter’s heart, as he lay in the twilight, a giant in 
death. 
At once we trotted back to camp, reaching it as dark¬ 
ness fell; and next morning all of us came out to the carcass. 
He was full grown, and was ten feet nine inches high. 
The tusks were rather short, but thick, and weighed a 
hundred and ten pounds the pair. Out of the trunk we 
made excellent soup. 
Several times while following the trail of this big bull 
we could tell he was close by the strong elephant smell. 
Most game animals have a peculiar scent, often strong 
enough for the species to be readily recognizable before 
it is seen, if in forest or jungle. On the open plains, of 
course, one rarely gets close enough to an animal to smell 
it before seeing it; but I once smelled a herd of hartebeest, 
when the wind was blowing strongly from them, although 
they were out of sight over a gentle rise. Waterbuck have 
a very strong smell. Buffalo smell very much like do¬ 
mestic cattle, but old bulls are rank. More than once, 
in forest, my nostrils have warned me before my eyes that 
I was getting near the quarry whose spoor I was on. 
