I was always right with these dear fellows.
The three hunters started. They bent over so low that their heads and shoulders only appeared above the grass; they were going directly towards the lone elephant. At times they would lie flat on the ground and disappear entirely from sight, then reappear again. The wind was in their favor, for it blew from the elephant towards them, so the huge beast could not scent danger. Fortunately also, they and he were going in the same direction, towards the lake. I whispered to Oshoria: “I am glad that the men will be in such a position that when they shoot the elephant, he will not be able to see them and charge.”
For before saying this it had suddenly come across my mind that the elephant might suddenly turn and follow them and that it would have perhaps been better if we had shared the danger with them, for nothing can be more dangerous than to face an elephant in an open space, and give him a straight shot. It requires then a very cool head, and a very quick eye to move just in time to avoid the charge of the huge creature.
The three men approached nearer and nearer, for the elephant had stopped several times, evidently to find out if there were any cows near that loved him better than the bull that had driven him away from the herd. At last the men came within gunshot. The elephant stood still, looking at the water of the lake. He was evidently thinking of taking a bath. Two of the hunters were on his left side, the other on his right. We watched them with breathless attention. All at once we saw them stand up,—then three flashes, followed by the detonations of their guns. Then we saw the huge beast falter and fall. We ran towards our three friends as fast as our legs could carry us, and when we came near them the three were seated on the body of the elephant. They shouted to us: “We are men! We are men!” And we shouted back to them: “You are men! You are men!” Then we all shouted together: “We are men!”
The elephant was a bull, but not so large as the one killed the night before. We had our axes with us and after some hard blows succeeded in getting out the two small tusks. We took no meat with us, for we had all we wanted. When we returned to our camp it was broad daylight, and we turned in and slept almost the whole day.
That evening, as we were seated silently round a huge fire, Oshoria suddenly said: “Oguizi, it is a great sight to see two bull elephants fight together for the mastery of the herd. The solitary one has generally been driven away from another herd by a stronger bull, and wanders in the forest all alone until he sees another herd; then he tries his luck again with the ruling bull. Twice in my life I have seen such a fight.”
“Tell me all about it,” I said.
“I will,” he replied, and after a pause he began: “One evening at dusk, not far from where we stand, I saw a big herd of elephants emerging from the forest. They walked slowly and silently in the middle of the prairie on their way towards the lake. They stopped twice, squealed and trumpeted, and then continued their march. Suddenly the bull stopped again, and the cow elephants came near him.
“At the same time I saw emerging from the forest on the opposite side a huge bull elephant. He was alone, and no herd followed him. The bull which had a herd trumpeted fiercely, as they do when they are angry and want to fight. The solitary bull answered in the same way, signifying that he also was ready to fight. The cows gave forth piercing squeals, and remained by themselves.
“Then the two bulls ran towards each other. It was fine to see them. The solitary bull had evidently not forgotten his previous ignominious defeat, and wanted to avenge himself, hoping to be the victor this time and have a herd of his own. They squealed and trumpeted in the fiercest manner as they approached each other. I could see that the cow elephants were very uneasy, for they rocked and swayed quickly to and fro, their trunks also waving rapidly.