666 
African Game Trails 
We had, of course, no idea that elephant 
would be found close at hand. But next 
morning, about eleven, Horne came to our 
camp with four of his black scouts, who re¬ 
ported that three elephants were in a patch 
of thick jungle beside the shambas, not 
three miles away. Horne said that the ele¬ 
phants were cows, that they had been in the 
neighborhood some days, devastating the 
shambas, and were bold and fierce, having 
charged some men who sought to drive 
them away from the cultivated fields; it is 
curious to see how little heed these elephants 
pay to the natives. I wished a cow for the 
Museum, and also another bull. So off we 
started at once, Kermit carrying his camera. 
I slipped on my rubber-soled shoes, and had 
my gun-bearers accompany me barefooted, 
with the Holland and the Springfield rifles. 
We followed foot-paths among the fields 
until we reached the edge of the jungle in 
which the elephants stood. 
This jungle lay beside the forest, and at 
this point separated it from the fields. It 
consisted of a mass of rank-growing bushes, 
allied to the cotton plant, ten or twelve feet 
high, with only here and there a tree. It 
was not good ground in which to hunt 
elephant, for the tangle was practically 
impenetrable to a hunter save along the 
elephant trails, whereas the elephants them¬ 
selves could move in any direction at will, 
with no more difficulty than a man would 
have in a hay field. The bushes in most 
places rose just above their backs, so that 
they were completely hid from the hunter 
even a few feet away. Yet the cover af¬ 
forded no shade to the mighty beasts, and 
it seemed strange that elephants should 
stand in it at mid-day with the sun out. 
There they were, however, for, looking 
cautiously into the cover from behind the 
bushes on a slight hill crest quarter of a 
mile off, we could just make out a huge ear 
now and then as it lazily flapped. 
On account of the wind we had to go 
well to one side before entering the jungle. 
Then in we went in single file, Cuninghame 
and Tarlton leading, with a couple of our 
naked guides. The latter showed no great 
desire to get too close, explaining that the 
elephants were “very fierce.” Once in 
the jungle, we trod as quietly as possible, 
threading our way along the elephant trails, 
which crossed and recrossed one another. 
Evidently it was a favorite haunt, for the 
sign was abundant, both old and new. In 
the impenetrable cover it was quite impos¬ 
sible to tell just where the elephants were, 
and twice we sent one of the savages up a 
tree to locate the game. The last time the 
watcher, who stayed in the tree, indicated 
by signs that the elephant were not far off; 
and his companions wished to lead us 
round to where the cover was a little lower 
and thinner. But to do so would have 
given them our wind, and Cuninghame re¬ 
fused, taking into his own hands the man¬ 
agement of the stalk. I kept my heavy 
rifle at the ready, and on we went, in 
watchful silence, prepared at any moment 
for a charge. We could not tell at what 
second we might catch our first glimpse at 
very close quarters of “ the beast that hath 
between his eyes the serpent for a hand,” 
and when thus surprised the temper of “ the 
huge earth-shaking beast” is sometimes of 
the shortest. 
Cuninghame and Tarlton stopped for a 
moment to consult; Cuninghame stooped, 
and Tarlton mounted his shoulders and 
stood upright, steadying himself by my 
hand. Down he came and told us that he 
had seen a small tree shake seventy yards 
distant; although upright on Cuninghame’s 
shoulders he could not see the elephant it¬ 
self. Forward we stole for a few yards, 
and then a piece of good luck befell us, 
for we came on the trunk of a great fall- 
. en tree, and scrambling up, we found our¬ 
selves perched in a row six feet above the 
ground. The highest part of the trunk 
was near the root, farthest from where the 
elephants were; and though it offered pre¬ 
carious footing, it also offered the best look¬ 
out. Thither I balanced, and looking over 
the heads of my companions I at once made 
out the elephant. At first I could see noth¬ 
ing but the shaking branches, and one huge 
ear occasionally flapping. Then I made 
out the ear of another beast, and then the 
trunk of a third was uncurled, lifted, and 
curled again; it showered its' back with 
earth. The watcher we had left behind in 
the tree top coughed; the elephants stood 
motionless, and up went the biggest ele¬ 
phant’s trunk, feeling for the wind; the 
watcher coughed again, and then the bushes 
and saplings swayed and parted as three 
black bulks came toward us. The cover 
was so high that we could not see their 
tusks, only the tops of their heads and their 
