e in four directions thirty or forty feet. A large tree grew
near the intersection of the trails, and here we waited within reach of
its friendly protection. It was much more reassuring than to stand
poised in a narrow trail with no possibility of sidestepping a charge.
We waited at the crossing for further sounds of the elephants--waited
for some time with rifles ready and then gradually relaxed our taut
nerves. A line of porters with their burdens were huddled in one of the
trails awaiting developments. I took a picture of the situation and had
stood my rifle against the tree, and sat down to whisper the situation
over. All immediate danger seemed to have passed. It seemed to, but it
hadn't.

[Drawing: _The Porters Came Down the Trail_]

Like a sudden unexpected explosion of a thirteen-inch gun there was a
thundering crash in the bushes behind the porters, then a perfect
avalanche of terrified porters, a dropping of bundles, a wild dash for
the protection of the tree, and a bunch of the most startled white men
ever seen on Mount Kenia. I reached the tree in two jumps, and three
would have been a good record. The crashing of bushes and small trees at
our elbows marked the course of a frenzied or frightened elephant, and
to our intense relief the sounds diminished as the animal receded. I
don't think I was ever so frightened in my life. But I had company. I
didn't monopolize all the fright that was used in those few seconds of
terror.

We then decided that there was no sane excuse for hunting elephants
under such conditions. We at least demanded that we ought to see what we
were hunting rather than blindly stumble through dense bush with
elephants all around us. So we beat a masterly retreat, not without two
more serious threats from the hidden elephants. A boy was sent up a tree
to try to locate the elephants, but even up there it was impossible to
distinguish anything in the mass of vegetation around. We fired guns to
frighten away the animals, but at each report there was only a restless
rustle in the brush that said that they were still there and waiting,
perhaps as badly scared as we were.

My second elephant experience came the next day.

We started forth again, with a single tent, our guides and gunbearers, a
cook and a couple of tent boys and twenty porters. This time we politely
ignored all elephant trails in the dense bush and pushed on through the
forest. Here it was infinitely better, for one could see