246 ELEPHANT-HUNTING [ch. x 
elephant paths led up hill and down—for the beasts are 
wonderful climbers—and wound in and out in every 
direction. They were marked by broken branches and 
the splintered and shattered trunks of the smaller trees, 
especially where the elephant had stood and fed, 
trampling down the bushes for many yards around. 
Where they had crossed the marshy valleys they had 
punched big round holes, three feet deep, in the 
sticky mud. 
As evening fell we pitched camp by the side of a 
little brook at the bottom of a ravine, and dined 
ravenously on bread, mutton, and tea. The air was 
keen, and under our blankets we slept in comfort until 
dawn. Breakfast was soon over and camp struck ; and 
once more we began our cautious progress through the 
dim, cool archways of the mountain forest. 
Two hours after leaving camp we came across the 
fresh trail of a small herd of perhaps ten or fifteen 
elephant cows and calves, but including two big herd 
bulls. At once we took up the trail. Cuninghame 
and his bush people consulted again and again, scan¬ 
ning every track and mark with minute attention. 
The sign showed that the elephants had fed in the 
shambas early in the night, had then returned to the 
mountain, and stood in one place resting for several 
hours, and had left this sleeping ground some time 
before we reached it. After we had followed the trail 
a short while we made the experiment of trying to 
force our own way through the jungle, so as to get the 
wind more favourable ; but our progress was too slow 
and noisy, and we returned to the path the elephants 
had beaten. Then the ’Ndorobo went ahead, travelling 
noiselessly and at speed. One of them was clad in a 
white blanket and another in a red one, which were 
