18 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
starting, however, I despatched my two private 
boys to the river to slake their thirst, instructing 
them to return and double back on the previous 
day’s spoor until they met my four tardy carriers, 
when they were all to repair to the river and await 
my arrival. Immediately on their departure, I 
set out with my two trackers, Simba and Chingondo, 
the former carrying my light *318 axite rifle, the 
latter, my double '577, and we had not gone far 
afield, when we came across the spoor which we 
had anticipated, finding to our surprise that the 
tracks were those of the same four bulls that had 
so cleverly eluded us the previous day. They had 
come from the direction of the river, which they had 
evidently visited for water, and were now making 
for dense bush, about three hours’ journey further 
on. Fortunately, the wind was favourable, and as 
they were travelling slowly, smashing, en route, an 
occasional quaju or wild tamarind tree and feeding 
at leisure on the juicy, acrid fruit, our prospects 
of overtaking them, ere they reached their desti¬ 
nation, were distinctly good. So we hurried along in 
pursuit, as fast as necessary precautions permitted, 
and by ten o’clock managed to get quite close to 
them, only to experience at the critical moment, a 
repetition of the previous day’s adverse fortune, 
for they again winded us and bolted. 
My second tracker, Chingondo, who carried my 
