from one of their fashionable watering places to another,
and hanging about the well-worn walks with a praiseworthy perseverance.
They were always too cunning for me, and either smelt my approach and
dashed away before I could get a shot, or remained inside the cover and
grumbled their displeasure, or trumpeted forth a challenge from a
stronghold situated a couple of hundred yards within the forest.
Finding that they were too wide awake to give a chance by this plan of
pursuit, I selected a fine large tree, and taking my desponding friend
as a volunteer, we perched ourselves amongst its branches, at about ten
o'clock at night. Scarcely had half an hour of silence passed, than my
partner voted it a nuisance not being able to smoke; shortly after he
complained a little of cramp; and in about an hour voted the whole thing
a wild-goose sort of chase, and came to the conclusion that we might as
well go home. Seeing great difficulty in maintaining the perfect
silence that was so necessary to success, I agreed with him, and we
descended the tree.

The walk through the strip of bush, that was dark as Erebus, was
anything but pleasant, from the briars and branches scratching face and
hands, to say nothing of the chance of finding oneself suddenly lifted
up by the trunk of some artful elephant, who might playfully put his
foot upon the small of your back by way of caution. We reached our
respective homes without an adventure, and on the following day I was
pleased to find that the elephants had not been near our tree during the
whole night, although the spoor showed that they came in great numbers
exactly under it on the morning.

I always found that a Kaffir was the most patient and easily satisfied
of my hunting companions. A few evenings, therefore, after my failure
with my restless friend, I took Inyovu, and supplying him with a whole
box full of the strongest snuff and a thick blanket, took my position
once more in the spreading branches of the old tree. I made every
preparation for standing a siege, in case the elephants attacked the
tree, as was told me would most probably occur, but which I did not for
one moment believe. To be well prepared in case of such a contingency,
I had filled a small tin saucepan with blue light composition, and
having sprinkled over it the tops of a box of lucifer-matches to obtain
quick ignition, I fixed it firmly in the branches close and handy. I
purposed pouring some of this when li