In the Heart of Africa 
188 
US, I essayed in spite of the distance to bring him down with a 
bullet. This, however, only resulted in his spreading his enor¬ 
mous ears after each shot and throwing back his trunk aggres¬ 
sively. As he then threatened to vanish in the reed-grass, I 
decided in spite of the unfavourable wind, which carried my 
scent towards him, to cross the swamp till I got near and could 
venture a finishing shot. The way through the morass was 
terribly difficult, and we frequently got stuck up to our knees, 
in addition to which a fire which had raged round that part not 
long before had covered everything with a thick layer of soot, 
so that we were, or, rather, I was, soon unrecognisable with dirt, 
for my sole followers, the Askari, Abdullah, and my boy 
Mambo, were very little altered by the addition of the soot. 
We finally worked our way through, and felt firm ground 
under our feet once more; but we had got into a belt of matete^ 
which shot up nearly twelve feet high and prevented our seeing 
any distance in front of us. Nothing was to be seen of the 
elephant. In order to get a better view I climbed on to 
Abdullah’s shoulders. But although a voice at my rear warned 
me, and a man on the terrace-sloped bank signed to me with his 
hands that the elephant was close by, I could only perceive a 
slight movement amongst the tops of the grasses. Believing the 
elephant to be badly hurt, I decided to approach closer. We 
had not gone many more steps when we became aware of rustling, 
crackling, and trampling sounds in the bushes, and knew that the 
creature had scented us and was preparing to charge. Unable 
amongst the tall matete to discern anything, we retraced our steps 
somewhat in order to get into freer ground. My two followers, 
however, lost their heads in the presence of the approaching 
danger, and instead of following me they decamped as quickly 
as possible, reaching a spot where they found their further 
passage barred by the stout stalks of the tall grasses. Here they 
got entangled, and in a desperate attempt to free themselves 
Mambo fell and carried Abdullah with him. At the same 
moment the mighty head of the elephant appeared with trunk 
extended. Perceiving the imminent peril, Abdullah put a leaden 
