LARGE HERD OF ELEPHANTS. 
261 
Last week was a hard and unprofitable time. On 
Monday we crossed the river at dawn of day; not, 
however, until I had paid a bag of powder and a 
bar of lead for the use of two old canoes, which, 
however, were indispensable to us. We took up the 
spoor of a large herd of elephants, and followed it 
unremittingly till within two hours of sunset, straight 
away from the river, to a thick grove of mapani 
trees, the leaves of which very much resemble the 
beech, and are even now, in the depth of winter, 
green and luxuriant. Here we found a large herd of 
fifty or sixty, all cows and calves. They were feed¬ 
ing, but on seeing us they disappeared like magic; 
and, when the dogs got among them, they spread in 
all directions. I looked in vain for a bull, and then 
chased and shot a cow, within fifteen yards, behind 
the shoulder. I stopped to load, however, and lost 
her in the mapani trees; and, night coming on, we 
gave her up. I shot, also, an old bull buffalo, and 
we made our encampment for the night by his car¬ 
case ; and the Masaras and Makubas, though well 
wearied, made a night of it, that is, did not stop 
eating until morning ; consequently, only two that 
we sent for water were able to work the next day. 
On the Tuesday morning we found a troop of 
eleven or twelve bull elephants in a thick hack- 
thorn bush on the banks of the river. As they 
crashed away, I rode hard in their rear, shouting 
lustily, and singled out the largest bull. I rode 
close under his stern, and he cleared a path for me. 
