8 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
mation, sometimes, even dragging our feet along 
the ground to give them an unmistakable indi¬ 
cation of the direction we have taken. If I 
wish them to go easy, I tie a piece of handker¬ 
chief to a twig; if they are to follow fast, I 
drop fragments of my handkerchief on the path ; 
if I desire them to halt dead, I lay my hand¬ 
kerchief or tie the grass right across the path. 
We are now close to our quarry and move 
with the utmost caution, lest a hasty movement 
or a snapping twig warn them of our proximity. 
If there is no wind, or if the wind blows from 
them to us, our chances of bagging them are 
greater than if we were to windward of them, 
for, in the last case, they may get a whiff of 
our scent and bolt without giving a chance of 
a shot, and all our tracking and following up 
have to be renewed with the same patience 
and care. 
Let us suppose they have not winded us. I 
manoeuvre for a shot, either shifting my own 
position or waiting for them to move so that 
they present a favourable view. Temporarily, my 
mind is absolutely concerned with the business in 
hand : there is no time to look round and con¬ 
template the beauty of the surrounding vegetation 
to see whether, in the words of some journalistic 
hunter, ‘ the sunlight quivered from a thousand 
