The thought of elephants charging down those narrow trails, perhaps from two directions at once, was one that started a copious flow of cold perspiration.

We waited for several years of intense apprehension.

There was absolute silence.

The elephants also were evidently awaiting further developments.
[Photograph: A Clearing in the Forest] [Photograph: A Kikuyu "Cotillion"] [Photograph: Kikuyu Women Flailing Grain] Then we edged slowly onward along the trail, approaching each turning with extreme caution and then edging on to the next.

Somewhere ahead and on two sides of us there were real, live, wild elephants that probably were not in a mood to welcome visitors from Chicago.