Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1888-10-11
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK J

man, whom | found alternately contemplate
ing the ruins of his kraal and, with the able
assistance of his last wife, thrashing the
jealous lady who had slept in the mealie hut,
because she was, as he declared, the author
Of all his sorrows.
Leaving them to work a way through
their domestic differences, | levied supply
of vegetable food from the kraal in consid-
Grafton of services rendered, and left them
with my blessing. do not know how they
settled matters because have not seen them
since
"Then started on the spoor of the three
bulls. For couple OF miles or SO below Une
kraal, as far, indeed, as the belt of swamp
that bordered the river, the ground was at
this spot rather stony and clothed with scat
tered bushes. Rain had fallen towards the
davbreak, and this fact, together with the
nature of the SOIL made spooring a very diff
ficult business. The wounded bull had, in
deed, bled freely, but the rain had washed
the blood off the leaves and grass, and the
ground, being so rough and hard, had not
taken the footmarks SO clearly as was con-
venient. However, we got along, though
slowly partly by the spoor and partly by
carefully lifting leaves and blades of grass,
and finding blood enough underneath
them, for the blood gushing from a
wounded animal often falls upon their
inner surfaces, and then, of course,
unless the rain is very heavy, it is not washed
away. 1t took us something over an hour
and a half to reach the edge of the marsh,
but once there our task became much easier,
for the soft soil showed plentiful evidences OF
bp qIf1s
way through the swampy land, we came at
last to a ford of the river, and here we could
see where the poor wounded animal had lain
down in the mud and water in the hope of
easing himself of his pain, and could see also
how his two faithful companions had assisted
him to rise again. We crossed the ford and
took up the spoor on the farther side, and
followed it into the marsh like land beyond.
No rain had fallen on this side of the river,
and the blood marks were consequently much
more frequent.
''All that day we followed the three bulls,
now across {. zen plains, and now through
patches of bush. They seemed to have trav-
eled on alraost without stopping, and no
ticed that as ey Went the wounded bull got
up his strength a little This | could see
from his spoor, which had become frmer,
and also frcm the fact that the other two had
given up supporting him. At last evening
closed in, and, having Travelled some eighteen
miles, we campsd, thoroughly tired out
Before dawn ON the following day we w~e
up, and the first break of light found us once
more ON the spoor. About half past o'clock
we reached the place where the elephants
had fed and slept The two unwounded bulls
had taken their fill, rs the condition of the
bushes showed, but the wounded
one had eaten nothing He had spent the
night leaning against good sized tree, which
his weight had pushed out of the perpendicu-
lar. They had not long left this place, and
could not be very far ahead, especially as the
wounded bull was now again so stiff after
his nights rest that for the first few miles
ihe other two had been Obliged TO support
aim. But elephants 60 very quick, even
when they seem TO be travelling slowly, for |
shrub and creepers that almost stop mans |
progress are no hindrance to them. The |
ihree had now turned 10 the left, and were
travelling back again in a semicircular line |
oward the mountains, probably with the |
dea of working round TO their old feeding |
grounds on the farther side of the river
There was nothing for it but to follow |
heir lead, and accordingly we followed with |
industry. Through all that long hot day did 4
We tramp, passing quantities of every sort of /
'ame, and even coming across the spoor of
ther elephants. But, in spite of my mems
| would not turn aside after these.
would have those mighty tusks or none.
''By evening we were quite close to our
ur game, probably within a quarter of a
nile, but the bush was dense, and we could
ee nothing Of them, so once more we had to
amp, thoroughly disguised with our luck.
hat night, just after the moon got up, while
was sitting smoking my pipe with my
ack against a tree, / heard an elephant
trumpet, as though something had startled
:, not 500 yards away. | was very tired,
ut my curiosity overcame my WEAKNESS, so,
'ithout saying a word to any of my men, all
whom were asleep, took my eight bore
nd a few spare cartridges and steered to-
ard the sound. The game path which we
ad been following all day ran straight on
/ the direction from which the elephant
ad trumpeted. 1t was narrow, but well
'odden, and the light struck down
pom it in straight white line | crept
long it cautiously for some 200 yards,
hen IL suddenly opened into a most beauti-
II glade some hundreds of yards or more in
idth, wherein tall grass grew and fat
'pped trees stood singly. With the caution
Drn of long experience, | watched for few
oments before | entered the glade. and then
w why the elephant had trumpeted There
the middle of the glade stood great
aned lion He stood quite still, making a
II, purring noise, and waving his tail to
I'd fro. Presently the grass about forty yards
l the hither side of him gave wide ripple,
I'd lioness sprang out of it like a flash,
I'd bounded noiselessly up to the lion.
eaching him, the great cat halted suddenly,
I'd rubbed her head against his shoulder.
41A.-sA,sytss.g0
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