I got a momentary clear view of his head, and had a snap shot, and he fell. Instantly the rest dosed round him, heads inwards, to lift him up with their tusks, and there was nothing to see but a ring of stems. I ran out from my shelter to try and get another shot, but the next moment they had got him on to his feet and, surrounding him on all sides, so that it was impossible to get even a glimpse of him; the whole herd bore down on me. They were not charging, they were only stampeding, and I happened to be in the direction they had chosen. I did not wait, but turned to nm, and looking over my shoulder saw a perfect avalanche of flesh bearing down upon me. As often happens with elephant, they did not go far, but suddenly stopped dead and listened. I looked round and saw that they had stopped, but could not see the wounded male. Just by me was a small tree with sloping trunk and a fork about twelve feet up. I thought that they were unlikely to come my way again, but would go off another way now, and that if I could reach this fork I might be able to get a glimpse of the bull over the backs of the others. It was a ridiculous thing to do, because twelve feet is just about level with the elephant’s eye, and one would have been a very conspicuous object there. Anyhow, I commenced clambering up this tree as best I could with my rifle in my hand. There was another wild rush in my direction, and just as they reached within a few yards of my tree I caught hold of a rotten branch, which broke, and I fell heavily to the ground, not more than a few yards from the feet of the nearest elephant. This strange fruit dropping off the tree so startled them that they swerved away at right angles and crashed into the bamboo, pushing and jostling to get in front of each other. As they could only pass between the clumps and they all chose the same two clumps, it was almost half a minute before the last of the herd had passed. The hind view of them charging and pushing each other, all trying to get the same path, reminded me more than anything of a scrum in a Rugby football match. I saw my wounded bull again, reeling like a drunken man, but by the time I had picked myself up and got my rifle he had passed, and there were a number of small ones bringing up the rear who successfully blocked the view. The sleeper with lion during these events had taken himself to the top of his tree, from which safe eminence he directed operations. The Elikuyu, however, had remained close by me during the first part of these proceedings and only made himself scarce when we found ourselves in the road
of the herd. He shortly appeared, and we went back to the dead elephant, and the old man descended from his perch, but no sooner had he come down than a herd came rushing through the bamboos towards us and we ran again. They came up to the dead elephant and then returned. I began to wonder how many herds there were around us and climbed up a tall tree to investigate. Owing to the thickness of the bamboos I could see nothing from there, but heard what I took to be the wounded elephant staggering and stumbling about a little way down the slope of the hill. I decided to investigate, but the sleeper with lion preferred to remain up his tree, and he did not come down again during the rest of the morning. I crept towards the sounds down an elephant path in the bamboos and presently saw the back of the head and part of the body of what I took to be the wounded one. I tried for the back of the ear, but could not get a clear shot; however he dropped to the shot and then there was a wild screaming and breaking of bamboos as a herd came rushing towards me. I hurriedly put another shot into the fallen elephant, and then scrambled back up the slope to the top of the hill, where the ground was level and one could move about better. They appeared by the sounds to have reached the spot where the wounded elephant lay, and then moved off. I waited till all was quiet again and then returned to investigate. The wounded elephant was no longer there, but I heard bodies moving about in the bamboo but could not see more than a few yards, owing to its density. Close to where the elephant had been lying there was a sapling, and I clambered up this to try if I could see anything. When I reached a fork about ten feet up three female elephant appeared and passed and then returned, and stood about thirty yards below my tree with their trunks curling in the air, testing the wind. They moved backwards and forwards several times, and then passed out of sight, and I returned again to the dead elephant. I then called for the porters I had left behind to come and cut it up, and while doing this we went back a little way and heard other elephant unconcernedly feeding at the bottom of the valley. The porters arrived after making detour to avoid them, and I sat down and made some cocoa, thinking that I would give the elephant time to clear off before following the wounded one. After the operation of cutting up the elephant had JUNE 2011 AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE | 43