Grass was overpowering.
With the length of start that the elephants had got, we were obliged to
follow at our best pace, which, over such tangled ground, was very
fatiguing; fortunately, however, the elephants had not yet seen us, and
they had accordingly halted now and then, instead of going straight off.
There were only four elephants together, and, by a great chance we came
up with them just as they were entering a jungle. I got a shot at the
last elephant and killed him, but the others put on more steam, and all
separated, fairly beating us, as we were almost used up by the heat.
This was very bad luck, and we returned in despair of finding the
scattered herd. We had proceeded some distance through the high grass,
having just descended a steep, rocky hill, when we suddenly observed two
elephants approaching along the side of the very hill that we had just
left. Had we remained in the centre of the hill, we should have met them
as they advanced. One was a large female, and the other was most
probably her calf, being little more than half-grown.
It was a beautiful sight to see the caution with which they advanced,
and we lay down to watch them without being seen. They were about 200
yards from us, and, as they slowly advanced along the steep hillside,
they occasionally halted, and, with their trunks thrown up in the air,
they endeavoured, but in vain, to discover the enemy that had so
recently disturbed them.
