“I distinguished a huge bull which was leading them”
The black mass kept moving slowly, and I watched it intently. After a while, I made out certainly that it was a herd of elephants. Later I distinguished a huge bull which was leading them. I counted twenty-three elephants. Looking again for Oshoria, I saw him standing close to me, also watching the elephants. He made a sign for me to follow him, which I did. Then he pointed out to me a big, moving black mass. It was another herd, but much larger than the one I had discovered. They were walking slowly in the direction of Quabi, Ngola, and Ogoola. I could see the herd sidewise. The elephants were led by a huge bull, which looked larger than any of the others. I made out forty-three elephants. As they stood still, their bodies slowly rocked and swayed to and fro. Once in a while their big ears pricked up. Their trunks were in motion, curling and uncurling themselves. Their tails with the long, coarse, black hair beat their flanks. Now and then the cows squealed, and their squeals were followed by the violent trumpeting of the bulls, which sounded strange in the midst of the silence of the night.
Suddenly the herd stopped, and the bull uttered a piercing trumpeting. Did he scent danger? Was he aware of our presence? What was the cause of the sudden halt? These were questions I asked myself. After a while I heard another trumpeting, unlike the first one we heard. Then a general trumpeting of all the herd filled the prairie with its sound. This was responded to by a loud, angry trumpeting from the bull of the other herd. Were these two bulls to fight for the mastery of the two herds? A fight between two such monsters would be fine to look at. “If the bulls fight,” I whispered very low to Oshoria, “we must look on and not fire at them.”
I had hardly uttered these words when a big cloud hid the moon, and the herd of elephants could not be seen. When the cloud had passed over, we saw the elephants moving slowly.
Just then I was startled by a great crash of trees in our rear. Elephants were in the forest and were going out on to the prairie. The noise they made as they tramped in the jungle came nearer and nearer; the huge creatures were evidently coming our way. Oshoria came close to me and took me to a very large tree, so as to be protected by its size, which would prevent us from being trampled upon by the elephants. Suddenly the elephants stopped, the bull uttered a sharp and shrill trumpeting. The bulls of the two other herds answered also with trumpetings of defiance. There was to be a great battle. For one reason or another the elephants in the forest changed their course and entered the prairie on our right. I counted seventeen of them; they were walking in single file, led by the bull, which after a while stopped; the herd then came together into a group. The bull uttered another loud trumpeting, which was answered by the trumpeting of the other two bulls. Not a buffalo was in sight; at the appearance of the elephants they had moved away.
It was a fine sight to see these three herds walking slowly in the prairie, with the dim light of the moon shining upon them. They were the very emblem of strength among the animals of the earth. The herd that had been in our rear was the first to enter a plantain field. Soon after we heard them breaking the plantain trees, while the animals now and then gave forth low trumpetings of satisfaction.
We left our hiding-place and crept towards the plantain trees. Oshoria looked at his guns,—I looked at mine. The cartridges were in place. Soon we were in the midst of the scattered elephants. I had hardly seen them when I thought I heard the trampling of one of the two other herds coming in our direction. If that was the case, we should be in great danger, for we should find ourselves between the two herds. If they met, it was probable that the two bulls would fight. “Who knows,” I said to myself, “perhaps the third herd is coming here also. Then there may ensue a grand battle among the bulls for the mastery of the herds,—and the cow elephants may run in every direction.”
There was no time to be lost, if we did not wish to have elephants all around us; either we must kill one of those in sight, or fire a gun to scare them. In either case there was danger.
I noticed that the bull and cow elephants were restless,—they evidently thought the two other herds were coming towards them.