o our left came running
breathless to say that he had seen the mighty game. I, halted for a
minute, and instructed Isaac, who carried the big Dutch rifle, to act
independently of me, while Kleinboy was to assist me in the chase; but,
as usual, when the row began, my followers thought only of number one. I
bared my arms to the shoulder, and, having imbibed a draught of aqua
pura from the calabash of one of the spoorers, I grasped my trusty
two-grooved rifle, and told my guide to go ahead. We proceeded silently
as might be for a few hundred yards, following the guide, when he
suddenly pointed, exclaiming, "Klow!" and before us stood a herd of
mighty bull elephants, packed together beneath a shady grove about a
hundred and fifty yards in advance. I rode slowly toward them, and, as
soon as they observed me, they made a loud rumbling noise, and, tossing
their trunks, wheeled right about and made off in one direction,
crashing through the forest and leaving a cloud of dust behind them. I
was accompanied by a detachment of my dogs, who assisted me in the
pursuit.

The distance I had come, and the difficulties I had undergone to behold
these elephants, rose fresh before me. I determined that on this
occasion at least I would do my duty, and, dashing my spurs into
"Sunday's" ribs, I was very soon much too close in their rear for
safety. The elephants now made an inclination to my left, whereby I
obtained a good view of the ivory. The herd consisted of six bulls; four
of them were full grown, first-rate elephants; the other two were fine
fellows, but had not yet arrived at perfect stature. Of the four old
fellows, two had much finer tusks than the rest, and for a few seconds I
was undecided which of these two I would follow; when, suddenly, the one
which I fancied had the stoutest tusks broke from his comrades, and I at
once felt convinced that he was the patriarch of the herd, and followed
him accordingly. Cantering alongside, I was about to fire, when he
instantly turned, and, uttering a trumpet so strong and shrill that the
earth seemed to vibrate beneath my feet, he charged furiously after me
for several hundred yards in a direct line, not altering his course in
the slightest degree for the trees of the forest, which he snapped and
overthrew like reeds in his headlong career.

When he pulled up in his charge, I likewise halted; and as he slowly
turned to retreat, I let fly at his shoulder, "Sunday" capering and
prancing, an