94 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
gigantic feet with the utmost caution through 
the forest. All at once, we heard the curious, 
rumbling, intestinal noises that betoken the close 
proximity of elephants, and seeing a large ant-hill 
some hundred yards away, in the direction of the 
Luwegu River, my tracker Simba and I stealthily 
made our way towards it, and on reaching its 
summit and peering over, we caught sight of five of 
the herd, grouped beneath a large haekaera tree, all of 
them, save one, whose tusks were insignificant, 
facing away from us. Not far from this group, stood 
two more bulls, one with tusks, which, I roughly 
computed, were about thirty pounds in weight, the 
other, absolutely devoid of tusks, while, to the left 
of the main group, and nearer to us than the others, 
the remaining elephant, an enormous brute, showing 
a magnificent tusk projecting from the right side of 
his head, had taken up his position. This last 
tusker was evidently the leader, and as he offered 
such a prize, I decided to try to bag him first, hoping, 
too, that his fall would throw his companions into 
wild confusion and give me a better opportunity of 
securing a few of them. But as the angle at which 
he stood rendered it impossible for me to place a 
vital shot, I decided to wait until he presented a 
more favourable view. I was, of course, afraid to 
change my own position lest the other elephants 
should see me and stampede, and I should, with all 
