te, and he stood whisking his tail and
flapping his ears, playing with his young charges. Still I knew very
well that should I venture down, his anger would revive, and he would
rush at me as before. I determined, therefore, to wait patiently till
my friends could come to my rescue.

As I was looking round, trying to discover where Jack and the boys had
got to, I saw the head of a negro moving among the brushwood. I thought
it must be that of Chickango; but presently I caught sight of another
and then another creeping along like serpents, now moving slowly, now
more rapidly. I concluded that their leader had his eye on the
elephant, as whenever he stopped they stopped, so that they could
scarcely be distinguished on the ground. Each man carried a large spear
in his hand. They increased in numbers, approaching from all quarters.
It was evident that they had tracked the elephant, and at length closed
in on him. They were fierce-looking warriors, and I could only hope
that they might prove friendly, as from their numbers they would have
been awkward people to deal with as enemies. I expected every moment
that the elephant would discover them, for I thought, by the way he
stopped and looked about, that he was aware that danger was near. The
hunters, however, remained perfectly still, and I could scarcely have
believed that some fifty or more human beings were close to me, ready in
an instant to spring up into active exertion. I anxiously watched their
proceedings, keeping my eye on the man I supposed to be their leader.
Once more I saw him stealthily moving on; then suddenly springing up
from behind a tree, he darted his spear with tremendous force right into
the elephant's neck, and before the creature could look round, had again
disappeared behind the tree. The young elephants had caught sight of
their assailants, but instead of flying, rushed up again to their
guardian, one of them intertwining its trunk round his neck. And now
from every side the hunters started up. Spear after spear was darted
into the elephant's back, till it literally bristled with shafts.
Whenever the creature turned round, he was met by new assailants, while
the young ones were meantime untouched. The hunters probably knew that
they would fall easy victims when their guardian was killed. The poor
creature turned round and round, apparently to defend its young charges
from the spears of its assailants. Its life-blood was now flowing f