Destructive to the forest is the passage of a troop of elephants! Small trees he can tear up with his trunk alone, but to the larger ones he applies the more powerful leverage of his tusks.

These he inserts under the roots, imbedded as they usually are in loose sandy earth, and then, with a quick jerk, he tosses roots, trunk, and branches, high into the air,--a wonderful exhibition of gigantic power.
The hunters saw all these proof's of it, as they followed the spoor.
The traces of the elephant's strength were visible all along the route.
It was enough to beget fear and awe, and none of them were free from such feelings.

With so much disposition to commit havoc and ruin in his moments of quietude, what would such a creature be in the hour of excitement and anger?
No wonder there was fear in the hearts of the hunters, unpractised as some of them were.
Still another consideration had its effect upon their minds, particularly on that of the Bushman.

There was every reason to believe that the animal was a "rover" (_rodeur_),--what among Indian hunters is termed a "rogue." Elephants of this kind are far more dangerous to approach than their fellows.

In fact, under ordinary circumstances, there is no more danger in passing through a herd of elephants than there would be in going among a drove of tame oxen.