Mirogo had left a native to keep an eye on the movements of the herd, and as we approached the forest the man met us and guided us on our course. The herd was considerably farther to the west than the one of the morning, and as it had not been alarmed in any way it was supposed not to be the one whose numbers we had reduced with our rifles.
The locality which the new herd had sought was not at all to my liking, as the ground at the edge of the forest was covered with wait-a-bit thorn-bushes; and the reader will allow me to remark that the wait-a-bit thorn is one of the most aggravating things which the African continent produces. I do not know who gave this bush its name, but he was certainly somebody with a practical turn of mind. The wait-a-bit thorn is barbed like a fish-hook, and whenever you get into one of the bushes you cannot get out in a hurry; as fast as you release one piece of your clothing another gets entangled, and very often the stranger leaves the greater part of his wardrobe in the possession of the bush. This is particularly the case when he happens to be in a hurry; when an elephant, buffalo, lion, or other savage beast is charging upon a hunter, and a wait-a-bit thorn-bush stands in the way, the hunter has many lacerations, both of clothing and flesh, in order to escape. The natives treat one of these bushes with the greatest respect. Jack suggested one day that the natives went naked because they could not afford to supply thorn-bushes with clothing.
We outflanked those wait-a-bits and moved into the forest, where there were no worse things than creepers. Every few minutes we paused to listen, and before a great while we heard the elephants breaking branches, and evidently feeding leisurely. Mirogo led the way, and I followed, with Kalil close at my heels, carrying my gun. We had got quite close to the herd, whose size we could not make out, though Mirogo thought there were not fewer than half a dozen elephants in it.
We were about a hundred yards away—perhaps a hundred and fifty—when the elephants paused in their feeding and began to snort uneasily. Mirogo fell back to me, and whispered that he thought something was disturbing them on the other side. It was evident we had not disturbed them, as the little wind there was blew from them to us. I concluded that it was a rhinoceros, or perhaps a buffalo, which was beyond them.
The elephant is not friendly to either of those animals, and he is especially hostile to the rhinoceros. When two of those creatures meet face to face there is pretty sure to be a fight. They do not exactly go around hunting for an encounter, but they do not, on the other hand, make any great effort to avoid one. They are terrible antagonists, the horn of the rhinoceros doing fearful work in ripping up the elephant, while, on the other hand, the elephant's tusks are apt to make deep perforations in the thick skin of the rhinoceros.
The crashing in the woods sounded nearer, and the character of it showed that the animals had stopped feeding and were moving toward us. I seized my gun and got ready for work; and I was not a moment too soon in doing so. A stately bull-elephant appeared, walking slowly, head on, in my direction. I was screened from him behind a tree, and the course that he was taking cut me off from anything but a shot directly at the forehead. He was within twenty yards of where I stood, and had not perceived me. Mirogo was off at one side, and Kalil was crouched flat to the ground directly behind me.
CHAPTER XIV.
HUNTING GIRAFFES—NOVEL MODE OF CAPTURE—A BIG SNAKE.
The elephant presented a good broadside toward me, and I fired; or rather I went through the motions of firing, without doing so. The cartridge was defective, and the hammer of the rifle gave forth, as it descended, the disappointing thud with which every hunter is acquainted. It is not much of a sound, but it was enough to send the elephant scampering through the forest.
My disappointment can be, as the reporters say, "more easily imagined than described." Not only was I disappointed, but I was angry—angry all through; and if the maker of that cartridge had been in my reach I am sure I could have wrung his neck.