We crossed the ford, and took up the
spoor on the further side, and followed it into the marsh-like
land beyond. No rain had fallen on this side of the river, and the
blood-marks were consequently much more frequent.
"All that day we followed the three bulls, now across open plains, and
now through patches of bush. They seemed to have travelled on almost
without stopping, and I noticed that as they went the wounded bull
recovered his strength a little. This I could see from his spoor, which
had become firmer, and also from the fact that the other two had ceased
to support him. At last evening closed in, and having travelled some
eighteen miles, we camped, thoroughly tired out.
"Before dawn on the following day we were up, and the first break of
light found us once more on the spoor. About half-past five o'clock
we reached the place where the elephants had fed and slept. The
two unwounded bulls had taken their fill, as the condition of the
neighbouring bushes showed, but the wounded one had eaten nothing. He
had spent the night leaning against a good-sized tree, which his weight
had pushed out of the perpendicular. They had not long left this place,
and could not be very far ahead, especially as the wounded bull was now
again so stiff after his night's rest that for the first few miles the
other two had been obliged to support him. But elephants go very quick,
even when they seem to be travelling slowly, for shrub and creepers that
almost stop a man's progress are no hindrance to them.
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