half of the
pack, and we returned home by eight A.M., having killed two elk.

Daybreak is the proper time to be upon the ground for elk-hunting. At
this hour they have only just retired to the jungle after their night's
wandering on the patinas, and the hounds take up a fresh scent, and save
the huntsman the trouble of entering the jungle. At a later hour the elk
have retired so far into the jungle that much time is lost in finding
them, and they are not so likely to break cover as when they are just on
the edge of the forest. I had overslept myself one morning when I
ought to have been particularly early, as we intended to hunt at the
Matturatta Plains, a distance of six miles. The scent was bad, and the
sun was excessively hot; the dogs were tired and languid. It was two
o'clock P.M., and we had not found, and we were returning through the
forest homewards, having made up our minds for a blank day.

Suddenly I thought I heard a deep voice at a great distance; it might
have been fancy, but I listened again. I counted the dogs, and old Smut
was missing. There was no mistaking his voice when at bay, and I now
heard him distinctly in the distance. Running towards the sound through
fine open forests, we soon arrived on the Matturatta Plains. The whole
pack now heard the old dog distinctly, and they rushed to the sound
across the patinas. There was Smut, sure enough, with a fine buck at bay
in the river, which he had found and brought to bay single-handed.

The instant that the pack joined him, the buck broke his bay, and,
leaping up the bank, he gave a beautiful run over the patinas, with the
whole pack after him, and Bran a hundred paces in advance of the other
dogs, pulling up to him with murderous intent. Just as I thought that
Bran would have him, a sudden kick threw the dog over, but he quickly
recovered himself, and again came to the front, and this time he seized
the buck by the ear, but, this giving way, he lost his hold and again
was kicked over. This had checked the elk's speed for some seconds, and
the other dogs were fast closing up, seeing which, the buck immediately
altered his course for the river, and took to water in a deep pool.
Down came old Smut after him, and in a few moments there was a beautiful
chorus, as the whole pack had him at bay.

The river went through a deep gorge, and I was obliged to sit down and
slide for about thirty yards, checking a too rapid descent by holding
on to the rank grass