CHAPTER XIII 
STIRRING TIMES AT LECUNDI 
It was on December 20th, 1909, while the 
majority of people at home were distraught over the 
vexed subject of Christmas presents and busy prepar¬ 
ing for the hundred and one amenities of the festive 
season, that I was on safari towards the coast with 
my men and their wives and children. We had had 
a couple of uneventful weeks, but the F'ates were 
going to recompense us fully for the dull time by 
some excellent excitement. We were making for 
the upper reaches of the Mbarangandu River, when, 
near the Lecundi stream, we came across the fresh 
spoor of a herd of elephants. On our approach 
they winded us and decamped, but, determined not to 
let them escape, I set out on their tracks with four 
of my men, leaving the rest of the caravan to camp 
and await our return. A couple of hours’ tramping 
brought us up to them in a country abounding with 
long grass, but they scented us once more and, as 
they went crashing off through the tall growth, I 
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