Upon this treacherous surface a man could walk with great care.
Should the thin covering break through, he would be immediately
waist-deep in the soft mud. To plod through this was the elephant's
delight. Smearing a thick coat of the black mud over their whole bodies,
they formed a defensive armour against the attacks of mosquitoes, which
are the greatest torments that an elephant has to contend with.
I was watching the edge of the forest one afternoon at about four
o'clock, when I noticed the massive form of one of these tank rogues
stalk majestically from the jungle and proceed through the deep mud
towards the lake. I had the wind, and I commenced stalking him.
Advancing with my two gun-bearers in single file, I crept carefully from
tree to tree along the edge of the forest for about a quarter of a mile,
until I arrived at the very spot at which he had made his exit from the
jungle.
I was now within eighty yards of him as he stood with his head towards
the lake and his hind-quarters exactly facing me. His deep tracks in the
mud were about five feet apart, so great was his stride and length of
limb, and, although the soft bog was at least three and a half feet
deep, his belly was full two feet above the surface.
