io6 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
River, we at once started off in pursuit of him ; but 
after two hours’ tracking, as our quarry appeared to 
be a long way ahead and still going strong, I decided, 
ere proceeding further, to indulge in a brief rest to 
recuperate from the fierce exertions of the morning, 
and told my two trackers to go and quench their 
thirst and fill my water-bottles at the river, quite 
forgetting to keep one of my rifles by me while they 
were away. The immediate country was fairly open, 
save for a space some thirty yards wide on either 
side of the river, where grew that long, reedy grass 
in which buffaloes and elephants love to roam. 
Never dreaming that the elephant was in the 
vicinity, I flung myself down beside a large ant-hill 
to await my trackers’ return, when, all of a sudden, I 
was aroused by the snapping of twigs, a short 
distance off, and jumping up, saw the animal, quite 
unaware of my proximity, slowly approaching the 
eminence near which I lay. What a beautiful 
shot he presented, and how I cursed my stupidity 
for not having kept a rifle beside me ! When only 
about ten yards away, evidently having scented our 
tracks, he halted and began sniffing the air, and at the 
same moment, Ntawasie, returning from the river, 
suddenly burst into view from the dense belt of 
reeds fringing the bank. At once, the elephant saw 
him, and uttering an angry scream made for him at 
a terrible pace, while Ntawasie, scared out of his 
