Part 17 (1/2)

”We must let none of those elephants escape,” said Hans, when a second tail was added to that previously taken ”Bernhard is with the other party, and depend upon it they will kill more than an elephant each

There are fine tusks in those elephants' heads on before us, and the creatures are so blown they cannot run fast noospurs to their horses, the pursuit was once e of several bullets four more elephants were laid low

”Now,” said Hans, ”I will say the sport is good We can return to our outspan to-night, and can tell e have done, not boastfully, but as men who have done well I hope the others have been as successful”

On returning to caht, Karls, and eat there; ill then talk over our day's sport What have _you_ done, Hans?”

Hans briefly related the results of his day's work, and described the size of the tusks which his elephants carried

”You have done better than we have,” said Hofst us, and two are not full-grown bulls”

Aswas ; and as we ular ani it adopted by the Africans, ill relate some of the anecdotes connected therewith

”You ask me where I shot my first elephant,” said Hofman ”It here few men now hunt elephants, because there are not erous place to hunt them in It was in the Fish-river bush in the old colony That bush, as you know, is very thick and thorny, and if they would only lie close, and didn't leave a footht live there peaceably for years even now; but when I was quite a boy there were not many men could say they had walked ten o down to Grahas he wanted, and when he went he generally took me I was little more than fifteen when he went down on the occasion I will tell you of

”We had to pass the Fish-river bush on the way fro I saw near the road,--or rather waggon-track, for it was nothing more,--a broken tree I turned into the bush to look, and then sahat I kneas the spoor of an elephant I didn't say what I had seen, for all of a sudden I got very aht I would er I knew that we outspanned about half a mile further on, and as the day was very hot, I asked o on after a short outspan, or wait a bit

”'I'll wait till near sundown,' he replied, 'for it is full ht than in this heat, and we can sleep a little now'

”'I'd rather go and shoot,' said I, 'if you'd lend un for?' inquired my father 'That is for elephants or rhinoster, and you will find nothing bigger than a buck'

”'I can always shoot better with that big gun,' I replied

”'Very well,' said my father 'Don't lose yourself in the bush; but you can't do that with the sun shi+ning as it is'

”'I'd like Blueboy to come with me, father; he'd carry my buck'

”Now Blueboy was a bush-boy as _fore-looper_ [Fore-looper is the leader of the tea fastened to the horns of the first two] to the oxen so than any one else, and I wanted to consult him about this elephant

”'Oh yes! take hi Blueboy, I told hilad enough to coether

”'There's the gun,' said ive you two es of powder, for you must not waste the ammunition Mind you're back an hour before sundown'

”This parting advice I hoped to comply with, and Blueboy and I walked off

”I kept quite silent till ere away froons, when I instantly said, 'Blueboy, we are after an elephant'

”'Yes,' said the sharp little fellow in his broken Dutch, 'I thought so

I saw you go into the bush where the tree was broken When did elephant break tree?'

”'The ot there'

”'We shall see e look,' was his reply

”We hurried on, and entered the bush, Blueboy going first He carefully exath rushed at a sh he had seen a treasure After turning this over once or twice, he pointed to the eastern part of the sky, and said, 'When sun there, elephant here He may now be far off, may be close here; we see soon Follow me now'