on the loose earth, and we then recognised the footprints of the largest
elephant that I had hit. We followed this elephant very cautiously, for
he had separated himself from the others--a sign, as my companions said,
that "_Inglovu efar_" (the elephant was ill), especially as it was
evident he had not eaten, there being no branches broken along his
track. After following the track during about a quarter of the day, we
came so close to the elephant that we could hear him. Sometimes he
would make a low rumbling sound, at others he would blow through his
trunk, and then knock his tusks against the stem of a tree. All these
acts were indications of his being very uneasy, and I hoped the poisoned
arrow had begun to do its work. We sat down in the bush listening to
the elephant, and ate some of our corn; for I had determined to follow
this elephant for days, if possible, in order to find whether he died or
lived. The elephant stood quiet in the bush about as long as it took
the sun to move ten times its own diameter in the sky, and then it again
moved slowly forward, selecting the densest parts of the bush to move
through. About every hundred paces it stopped, and remained quiet for a
little time, and then moved slowly on again. All these proceedings
delighted my Caffre companions, who declared the elephant was very sick.
During the whole of the day we followed this elephant, and when the
night came we ascended a tree, and slept a little; but as we could hear
a leopard calling in the bush, and several bush-pigs were under the
tree, we were mostly on the watch. The night was fine, though there was
a heavy dew; and though we felt it very cold we did not like to go down
on the ground to light a fire for fear of the leopard. As soon as it
was light enough to distinguish the tracks, we again followed our
elephant. He had travelled during the night, but had gone very slowly;
and we saw some marks on the stem of a large tree that showed the
elephant had leaned against this, as though he could scarcely stand.

We had moved through the bush very quietly and slowly, stopping every
now and then to listen, and also to look all round us; for if we had
come on this elephant very suddenly he might have charged us, and,
before we could have escaped, he might have caught us and probably
killed one of us. Tembile told me that when an elephant caught a man,
he pushed him to the ground with his trunk, and then either knelt on him
o