y
night, and turned my attention to the prospect of elephants. But no
elephants came, and after waiting for another hour or so, I think that
what between weariness and disgust, I must have dropped into a gentle
doze. Presently I awoke with a start. Gobo, who was perched close to me,
but as far off as the beam would allow--for neither white man nor black
like the aroma which each vows is the peculiar and disagreeable property
of the other--was faintly, very faintly clicking his forefinger against
his thumb. I knew by this signal, a very favourite one among native
hunters and gun-bearers, that he must have seen or heard something. I
looked at his face, and saw that he was staring excitedly towards the
dim edge of the bush beyond the deep green line of mealies. I stared
too, and listened. Presently I heard a soft large sound as though a
giant were gently stretching out his hands and pressing back the ears
of standing corn. Then came a pause, and then, out into the open
majestically stalked the largest elephant I ever saw or ever shall see.
Heavens! what a monster he was; and how the moonlight gleamed upon his
one splendid tusk--for the other was missing--as he stood among the
mealies gently moving his enormous ears to and fro, and testing the
wind with his trunk. While I was still marvelling at his girth, and
speculating upon the weight of that huge tusk, which I swore should be
my tusk before very long, out stepped a second bull and stood beside
him. He was not quite so tall, but he seemed to me to be almost
thicker-set than the first; and even in that light I could see that both
his tusks were perfect. Another pause, and the third emerged. He was
shorter than either of the others, but higher in the shoulder than No.
2; and when I tell you, as I afterwards learnt from actual measurement,
that the smallest of these mighty bulls measured twelve feet one and a
half inches at the shoulder, it will give you some idea of their size.
The three formed into line and stood still for a minute, the one-tusked
bull gently caressing the elephant on the left with his trunk.

"Then they began to feed, walking forward and slightly to the right as
they gathered great bunches of the sweet mealies and thrust them into
their mouths. All this time they were more than a hundred and twenty
yards away from me (this I knew, because I had paced the distances from
the tree to various points), much too far to allow of my attempting
a shot at them in