2,3 2 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
tusker who unfortunately winded them and made off 
before there was a chance of their obtaining anything 
like a fair shot. 
At the end of these few days of fruitless search, as I 
was somewhat better, though still very weak and pulled 
down, we struck camp, and after a march of some three 
miles came upon a small herd of giraffe, three of which 
C-shot, as we were greatly in need of meat. H - 
and I, the two cripples—for H-was also down with 
fever—pushed on, while the others remained behind to 
cut up the meat, as we were both anxious to get to our 
new camp, where we could lie down. I was mounted 
on our only surviving donkey, while poor II-hobbled 
slowly by my side, and though at every few yards we 
came upon fresh elephant-spoor, we were far too seedy to 
think of following them up. Before we had travelled 
in this melancholy fashion more than a mile beyond 
where C- had shot the giraffe, we were suddenly 
invigorated by the sounds of crashing branches, and the 
unmistakable grunting of elephants feeding on mimosa 
bushes. 
Here was an opportunity not to be missed even by 
two such poor creatures as we believed ourselves to 
be, and undoubtedly were, so we at once made shaky 
signals to our servants to bring our rifles. Unfortu¬ 
nately H - ’s man, thinking him too ill to shoot, had 
packed up all his cartridges and his complete battery 
excepting a 577° rifle. So, after borrowing some of my 
cartridges, we advanced on our unseen quarry, II - 
with his 577° rifle and I with my eight-bore. The ele- 
