ward the
ant-hill where we crouched in the grass. They had not yet seen us, but
it seemed a miracle that they did not. If one of us had moved in the
slightest degree they would have charged into us with irresistible
force. We held our guns and our breath while these big animals, by a
most fortunate chance, passed by us to the windward of the ant-hill, not
more than thirty feet away. If they had passed to the leeward side they
would have got our wind and trouble would have been unavoidable. I took
a surreptitious snap-shot of them after they had passed by, and for the
first time in some minutes took a long breath.

Then we circled the herd again and came up to them. They were now
thoroughly uneasy. They knew that some invisible hostile influence was
abroad in the land, but they could not locate in which direction it lay.
We saw the sensitive trunks feeling for the scent and saw the big ears
moving uneasily back and forth. One large cow with a broken tusk was
facing us, vaguely conscious that danger lay in that direction. And
then, by some code of signals known only to the elephant world, the
greater number of elephants moved off down the slope and up the opposite
slope. Only the big, aggressive cow and four or five smaller animals
remained behind as a rear-guard. She stood as she had stood for some
moments, gazing directly at us and nervously waving her ears and trunk.

[Drawing: _The Rear-guard_]

Akeley climbed to the top of an ant-hill and made some photographs
showing the big cow and her companions in the foreground, while off on
the neighboring hillside three distinct groups of elephants were in
view. The latter were thoroughly alarmed and moved away very swiftly for
some distance and then came to a pause. The big cow and her attendants
then moved off, feeling that the retreat had been successfully effected.
Once more we followed them and came up to them, and then once more we
were flanked by a number of elephants that had previously disappeared
over the hill. They had swung around and were returning directly toward
where we stood, unsuspecting.

We barely had time to fall back to some small bushes, where we waited
while the flanking party approached. They came almost toward us, and
when only about fifty feet away I ventured a photograph, feeling that,
if successful, it would be the closest picture ever made of a herd of
wild elephants. I used a Verascope, a small stereoscopic French machine
whose "click" is alm