muster strength to make a charge with great impetuosity. Being
anxious to finish him, I dismounted from my steed, and availing myself
of the cover of a gigantic nwana-tree, whose diameter was not less than
ten feet, I ran up within twenty yards, and gave it him sharp right and
left behind the shoulder. These two shots wound up the proceeding; on
receiving them, he backed stern foremost into the cover, and then walked
slowly away. I had loaded my rifle, and was putting on the caps, when I
heard him fall over heavily; but, alas! the sound was accompanied by a
sharp crack, which I too well knew denoted the destruction of one of his
lovely tusks; and, on running forward, I found him lying dead, with the
tusk, which lay under, snapped through the middle.

I did not tarry long for an inspection of the elephant, but mounting my
horse, at once set off to follow on the spoor of the two old fellows
which the ostrich had alarmed. Fortunately, I fell in with a party of
natives, who were on their way to the wagons with the impedimenta, and
assisted by these, I had sanguine hopes of shortly overtaking the noble
quarry. We had not gone far when two wild boars, with enormous tusks,
stood within thirty yards of me: but this was no time to fire: and a
little after a pair of white rhinoceroses stood directly in our path.
Casting my eyes to the right, I beheld within a quarter of a mile of me
a herd of eight or ten cow elephants, with calves, peacefully browsing
on a sparely-wooded knoll. The spoor we followed led due south, and the
wind was as fair as it could blow. We passed between the twin-looking,
abrupt, pyramidal hills, composed of huge disjointed blocks of granite,
which lay piled above each other in grand confusion. To the summit of
one of these I ascended with a native, but the forest in advance was so
impenetrable that we could see nothing of the game we sought. Descending
from the hillock, we resumed the spoor, and were enabled to follow at a
rapid pace, the native who led the spooring-party being the best tracker
in Bamangwato. I had presently very great satisfaction to perceive that
the elephants had not been alarmed, their course being strewed with
branches which they had chewed as they slowly fed along. The trackers
now became extremely excited, and I strained their eyes on every side in
the momentary expectation of beholding the elephants. At length we
emerged into an open glade, and, clearing a grove of thorny mimosas, we