第12章 AN ELEPHANT HUNT(2)

I know no greater luxury than giraffe marrow，unless it is elephant's heart，and we had that on the morrow.We ate our ****** meal，pausing at times to thank Good for his wonderful shot，by the light of the full moon，and then we began to smoke and yarn，and a curious picture we must have made squatted there round the fire.I，with my short grizzled hair sticking up straight，and Sir Henry with his yellow locks，which were getting rather long，were rather a contrast，especially as I am thin and short and dark，weighing only nine stone and a half，and Sir Henry is tall and broad and fair，and weighs fifteen.But perhaps the most curious-looking of the three，taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration，was Captain John Good，R.N.There he sat upon a leather bag，looking just as though he had come in from a comfortable day's shooting in a civilized country，absolutely clean，tidy，and well-dressed.He had on a shooting-suit of brown tweed，with a hat to match，and neat gaiters.He was，as usual，beautifully shaven，his eyeglass and his false teeth appeared to be in perfect order，and altogether he was the nearest man I ever had to do with in the wilderness.

He even had on a collar，of which he had a supply，made of white gutta-percha.

"You see，they weigh so little，"he said to me，innocently，when I expressed my astonishment at the fact；"I always liked to look like a gentleman."Well，there we all sat yarning away in the beautiful moonlight，and watching the Kaffirs a few yards off sucking their intoxicating "daccha"in a pipe of which the mouthpiece was made of the horn of an eland，till they one by one rolled themselves up in their blankets and went to sleep by the fire，that is，all except Umbopa，who sat a little apart (I noticed he never mixed much with the other hairs)，his chin resting on his hand apparently thinking deeply；Presently，from the depths of the bush behind us came a loud "woof！

woof！"

"That's a lion，"said I，and we all started up to listen.Hardly had we done so，when from the pool，about a hundred yards off.came the strident trumpeting of an elephant."Unkungunklovo！Unkungunklovo！"(elephant！

elephant！)whispered the Kaffirs；and a few minutes afterwards we saw a succession of vast shadowy forms moving slowly from the direction of the water towards the bush.Up jumped Good，burning for slaughter，and thinking，perhaps，that it was as easy to kill elephant as he had found it to shoot giraffe，but I caught him by the arm and pulled him down.

"It's no good，"I said，"let them go."

"It seems that we are in a paradise of game.I vote we stop here a day or two，and have a go at them，"said Sir Henry，presently.

I was rather surprised，for hitherto Sir Henry had always been for pushing on as fast as possible，more especially since we had ascertained at Inyati that about two years ago an Englishman of the name of Neville had sold his wagon there，and gone on up country；but I suppose his hunter instincts had got the better of him.

Good jumped at the idea，for he was longing to have a go at those elephants；and so，to speak the truth，did I，for it went against my conscience to let such a herd as that escape without having a pull at them.

"All right，my hearties，"said I."I think we want a little recreation.

And now let's turn in，for we ought to be off by dawn，and then perhaps we may catch them feeding before they move on."The others agreed，and we proceeded to make preparations.Good took off his clothes，shook them，put his eyeglass and his false teeth into his trousers pocket，and，folding them all up neatly，placed them out of the dew under a comer of his mackintosh sheet.Sir Henry and I contented ourselves with rougher arrangements，and were soon curled up in our blankets and dropping off into the dreamless sleep that rewards the traveller.

Going，going，go -What was that？Suddenly from the direction of the water came a sound of violent scuffling，and next instant there broke upon our ears a succession of the most awful roars.There was no mistaking what they came from；only a lion could make such a noise as that.

We all jumped up and looked towards the water，in the direction of which we saw a confused mass，yellow and black in color，staggering and struggling towards us.We seized our rifles，and，slipping on our veldtschoons (shoes made of untanned hide)，ran out of the scherm towards it.By this time it had fallen，and was rolling over and over on the ground，and by the time we reached it it struggled no longer，but was quite still.

And this was what it was.On the grass there lay a sable antelope bull -the most beautiful of all the African antelopes -quite dead，and transfixed by its great curved horns was a magnificent black-maned lion，also dead.What had happened，evidently，was this.The sable antelope had come down to drink at the pool，where the lion -no doubt the same we had heard -had been lying in wait.While the antelope was drinking the lion had sprung upon him，but was received upon the sharp，curved horns and transfixed.I once saw the same thing happen before.The lion，unable to free himself，had torn and beaten at the back and neck of the bull，which，maddened with fear and pain，had rushed on till it dropped dead.

As soon as we had sufficiently examined the dead beasts we called the Kaffirs，and between us managed to drag their carcasses up to the scherm.

Then we went in and laid down，to wake no more till dawn.

With the first light we were up and ****** ready for the fray.

We took with us the three eight-bore rifles，a good supply of ammunition，and our large water-bottles filled with weak，cold tea，which I have always found the best stuff to shoot on.After swallowing a little breakfast we stared.Umbopa，Khiva，and Ventv?gel accompanying us.The other Kaffirs we left with instructions to skin the lion and the sable antelope，and cut up the latter.