down and talked in whispers for
some time, we then slowly advanced, peeping through the bush whenever
any opening gave us a chance of doing so.

I was leading, and was followed by Tembile, who carried my second gun;
then the other men came after, each stepping on the same spot, so that
we incurred but slight risk of treading on any dried stick, for to crack
a stick in the bush would have given the elephants warning of our
approach. Suddenly Tembile touched my shoulder, and, on my looking
round, he pointed to my right, and then stood motionless. On looking in
the direction at which Tembile was pointing, I saw an enormous elephant
standing motionless and broadside to me, and not ten paces distant.
Signalling to two of the Caffres to approach, I pointed to the
elephant's shoulder, and, raising my gun, fired my two barrels in quick
succession. Each of the Caffres fired a shot, then we turned and rushed
down the path up which we had advanced. For an instant there was no
sound except the echoes of our guns. Then the most tremendous screams
and trumpetings were given by some fifty elephants, and we heard the
branches of the trees snapping like a succession of rifle-shots.

We could not tell at first in which direction the elephants were moving,
the noise of the broken branches coming from all around us. After a
time, however, we learned from the sounds that the herd was moving away
from us. Having reloaded my gun, we advanced with great caution to the
spot from which we had fired. The elephant was not there, but his
tracks were quite distinct. He had rushed forward through the bush, and
had carried everything before him--trees being carried away as though
they were mere sticks.

A few paces from where he had stood we found blood in abundance, and
from the appearance of this blood the Caffres assured me the monster
must soon die. It was dangerous work following this wounded elephant,
because he would be more savage now than at any time; so we had to
advance with great caution. We had not gone far, however, before we saw
him leaning against a tree, swinging his trunk about, and swaying his
huge body. The Caffres told me not to fire, as he must soon fall, and
to fire would disturb the remainder of the herd. We waited only a short
time, when the elephant slipped down and remained quiet. Tembile
cautiously approached it and signalled to us that it was dead. We had
no fear of the game being carried off, so we left