irection, then in another; sometimes it
was a big trail that plowed through the long grass like a river, with
little tributaries branching in and out where the individual members of
the herd had swerved out of the main channel to feed by the way. And
sometimes when all the herd were feeding, the main trail disappeared, to
be replaced by a maze of lesser trails leading in all directions. But by
the skilful tracking of our gunbearers the main trail would be found
again some distance onward. We followed the trail for hours, and then,
night coming on, we went into camp near a small stream, choked with
luxuriant vegetation. Akeley thought he heard a faint squeal of an
elephant far off, and while the porters made camp we went on for a mile
or so to investigate. But no further sounds indicated the proximity of
the herd.

Early the next morning we took up the trail again, and in less than an
hour my Masai sais pointed off to a distant slope a couple of miles
away, where a black line appeared. It looked like an outcropping of
rock. Akeley looked at it and exclaimed, "By George, I believe he's got
them!" and a moment later, after he had directed his glasses on the
distant spot, he said briskly, "That's right, they're over there." And
so, for the first time, after having scanned suspicious-looking spots in
the landscape for weeks and always with disappointment, I saw a herd of
real live elephants. To the naked eye they looked more like little
shifting black beetles than anything else, but in the glasses they were
plainly revealed with swaying bodies and flapping ears and swinging
trunks.

In elephant hunting the first important thing to consider is the wind,
for the elephant is very keen-scented and is quick to detect a breath of
danger in the breeze. Fortunately we had seen them in time. If we had
gone ahead a few hundred yards they would have got our wind and gone
away in alarm, but this had not occurred. We could see that they were
feeding quietly and without the slightest evidence of uneasiness.

[Photograph: Some Kikuyu Belles]

[Photograph: Wanderobo Guides]

We left our horses and the porters under a big tree and told the latter
to come on if they heard any firing; otherwise, they were to await our
return. Then, with only our gunbearers and a man carrying Akeley's large
camera, we circled in a wide detour until we were safely behind the
elephants. The wind continued favorable, and we cautiously approached
the brow of