344 
THE NEW AFRICA 
Cubango river hunting, taking seven horses and as many light¬ 
weight Hottentot hunters with him. They came upon a troop 
of one hundred and twenty elephants, which Van Zyl had gone 
to seek, and when quite assured of their habits, after watching 
them for a time, he waited one day, with his horses in splendid 
fettle, for them to approach the river to drink, thus catching 
them while thirsty, and therefore not in a condition to endure 
a hard run. He gave orders to his outriders to take up the 
chase one by one, each one to relieve the other, and continue 
the chase as soon as he could get up after the first one’s horse 
was blown by the speed, and thus following on the track, 
managed cleverly to drive the exhausted elephants, already 
suffering from thirst, to a standstill in a valley, where there 
existed a dried-up pan covered with reeds, in which the tired 
brutes trampled round and round in a ring, having during the 
chase spent what little water they still held in the reservoir of 
their trunks by throwing it over their bodies to cool themselves, 
a habit peculiar to elephants when hard pressed. Not a shot 
was fired during the chase, as Van Zyl well knew that 
elephants scatter at the sound of firearms. By simply 
driving them at a forced speed he effected his intention of com¬ 
pletely tiring them out while in the troop. Having succeeded 
entirely in his wish, he then sat down and deliberately shot the 
whole lot, who were now too tired to attempt to escape, and, 
cutting out the ivory, loaded up his wagons, taking the road 
home by the lake. 
Naturally the natives were indignant, as he expected, when 
they heard the news of this wholesale slaughter of the animals 
that represented the wealth of their country. They determined 
to take their full share of the ivory, an intention Van Zyl antici¬ 
pated by preparing to outmanoeuvre them. 
Knowing the country well, and ably backed by his Hottentots, 
Van Zyl, while travelling cautiously homeward, received the 
information that a regiment of three hundred Baros was wait¬ 
ing to meet him at a certain spot. Giving his men instructions 
to trek night and day towards Walfish Bay, and not to strike the 
