i 4 8 adventures OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
through such tracts ; in some places the air full of the 
spores or irritating spicules blown or shaken from the 
seed vessels of withered vegetation ; your shirt and 
trousers soaked with perspiration ; arms, face, and 
neck baked in the torrid glare, and not a mouthful of 
water to slake the terrible thirst induced by such 
circumstances ! The picture is not an inviting one, 
and yet the trying ordeal of thirst is one frequently 
suffered in greater or less degree by the elephant 
hunter and his men. 
The dry season of 1909 was an exceptional one, 
adding to my experiences one that I shall not 
readily forget, and the narration of it may conjure 
up more fully before the reader’s imagination the 
picture I should like to convey. 
Shortly after leaving camp, we came upon the 
fresh spoor of four elephants and followed it, but 
our quarry, winding us as we drew near, made off 
at top speed to a country in which there were only 
two or three water-holes, scattered at wide intervals 
in absolutely trackless forest. Under the circum¬ 
stances, I called a halt about 9 a.m., and instructed 
my carriers to make for a water-hole some nine 
miles distant, and await us there. At about 
11 o’clock, after two hours’ steady spooring across 
peculiarly trying country, I got my boy to empty 
one of my water-bottles and make tea for me, while 
the contents of the remaining bottles I gave my 
