XIII 
STIRRING TIMES AT LECUNDI 
i 37 
me, uttered a yell and sprung aside into the reeds, 
and the animal, getting the odour of a human being 
from the load, had promptly left him and turned his 
attention to it, evidently taking it for a convenient 
victim. Having driven his tusk through it and 
trampled it out of all recognition, he had quietly 
walked away, satisfied that he had accounted for his 
man, who, having cautiously made his way to a tree 
near by, had climbed it and been an eye-witness of 
the whole performance. 
We pitched camp in a clearing a few hundred 
yards from the spot where the tusker had wreaked 
his vengeance on our food supply, and though 
deprived for the night of these necessaries, we were 
inclined to be in a cheerful mood, especially after a 
meal of toasted elephant’s heart, for we were 
conscious that we had had a most exhilarating time, 
and though of close shaves there had been a few, 
everyone was safe and sound. Close shaves, 
moreover, are the fare that the elephant hunter 
fully expects, and to him, of all people, the old 
saying, ‘All’s well that ends well,’ peculiarly 
applies. Moreover, the ivory resulting from the 
two days’ hunt reached the grand total of 623 lbs., 
not at all a bad Christmas-box from the hands of 
Fate. 
