rounding country, in the hope of seeing an elephant.
My guides took no interest whatever in this action,
and refused to climb the hill. Upon my return they
asked me whether I had seen elephants. I said,
“ No.” “ Have you heard elephants?” I said, “ No.”
“ Come,” said they, “ let us waste no more time; we
have heard them, and there is a large herd not far
from us.” I bore in mind the fact that the Le-
guinan had assured me the day before that his medicine
had told him we should not find elephants; and
S o m e o f m y M e n w i t h I v o r y
I felt that as I had assured him that my medicine
was sufficient to produce these animals, it would be
somewhat impolitic to set off in the direction indicated
by these guides. So 1 refused to do so, and
returned to the vantage point at the top of the hill.
There can be no doubt that, though civilization
can accentuate certain more or less artificial sensations,
it does not increase the faculties of sight, hearing,
and smell. Upon my return to the top of the
hill, I took with me the Leguinan, and asked him in
what direction he had heard the elephants. He indicated
by pointing. With my field-glasses I was unable
to distinguish anything in the direction he
pointed, and so told him. He seemed much disappointed,
and by his actions appeared to lose a degree
of his faith in my power as a medicine-man. I satisfied
myself by telling him that we should undoubtedly
find elephants on that day. 1 told him we would go
where he indicated, and if we did not find any there,
we certainly should find them elsewhere during the
day. This seemed to please him, and we all set out.
Before doing so, the natives removed their sandals
and cloaks, and those armed with bows laid them
aside. Their right hands grasped their elephant
spears, while in their left they carried an extra elephant
arrow. Two of the men, supposed to be the
best hunters of the tribe, preceded me, and we advanced
silently and swiftly toward the bushes, where
these people assured me they had both heard and
seen elephants. After going on for an hour and a
half, we entered the bush, and there saw fresh signs
of elephants. Then we stopped.
The country for some miles from the base of the
Loroghi range is covered with dense scrub, thorns,
and bush, which is intersected by elephant trails running
in all directions. These paths are wide under
foot, and the marching is not bad ; but at a height
of three feet from the ground the bushes reach over
and meet, thus making progress in an upright position
impossible; one must creep along almost on one’s
knees. The naked savages pass silently, and with sufficient
rapidity, but I, with my thick boots and canvas
coat, could not move without noise and difficulty.
Owing to the dense growth of bushes, it was impos