I Have Frequently Seen Sixteen Or Twenty
Splendid Bulls Together, Presenting A Show Of Ivory Most Exciting To A
Hunter.
The females in Africa congregate in vast herds of many hundreds,
while in Ceylon the herds seldom average more than ten.
The elephant is by far the most formidable of all animals, and the
African variety is more dangerous than the Indian, as it is next to
impossible to kill it by the forehead shot. The head is so peculiarly
formed, that the ball either passes over the brain, or lodges in the
immensely solid bones and cartilages that contain the roots of the
tusks. I have measured certainly a hundred bull tusks, and I have found
them buried in the head a depth of 24 inches. One large tusk, that
measured 7 ft. 8 in. in length, and 22 inches in girth, was imbedded in
the head a depth of 31 inches. This will convey an idea of the enormous
size of the head, and of the strength of bone and cartilage required to
hold in position so great a weight, and to resist the strain when the
tusk is used as a lever to uproot trees.
The brain of an African elephant rests upon a plate of bone exactly
above the roots of the upper grinders; it is thus wonderfully protected
from a front shot, as it lies so low that the ball passes above it when
the elephant raises his head, which he invariably does when in anger,
until close to the object of his attack.
The character of the country naturally influences the habits of the
animals: thus, Africa being more generally open than the forest-clad
Ceylon, the elephant is more accustomed to activity, and is much faster
than the Ceylon variety. Being an old elephant-hunter of the latter
island, I was exceedingly interested in the question of variety of
species, and I had always held the opinion that the African elephant
might be killed with the same facility as that of Ceylon, by the
forehead shot, provided that a sufficient charge of powder were used to
penetrate the extra thickness of the head. I have found, by much
experience, that I was entirely wrong, and that, although by CHANCE an
African elephant may be killed by the front shot, it is the exception to
the rule. The danger of the sport is, accordingly, much increased, as it
is next to impossible to kill the elephant when in full charge, and the
only hope of safety consists in turning him by a continuous fire with
heavy guns: this cannot always be effected.
I had a powerful pair of No. 10 polygroove rifles, made by Reilly of
Oxford Street; they weighed fifteen pounds, and carried seven drachms of
powder without a disagreeable recoil. The bullet was a blunt cone, one
and a half diameter of the bore, and I used a mixture of nine-tenths
lead and one-tenth quicksilver for the hardening of the projectile. This
is superior to all mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness
with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red
heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladle-full at a
time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient
quantity to make three or four bullets. If the quicksilver is subjected
to a red heat in the large lead-pot, it will evaporate. The only
successful forehead shot that I made at an African elephant was shortly
after my arrival in the Abyssinian territory on the Settite river; this
was in thick thorny jungle, and an elephant from the herd charged with
such good intention, that had she not been stopped, she must have caught
one of the party. When within about five yards of the muzzle, I killed
her dead by a forehead shot with a hardened bullet as described, from a
Reilly No. 10 rifle, and we subsequently recovered the bullet in the
VERTEBRAE OF THE NECK!
This extraordinary penetration led me to suppose that I should always
succeed as I had done in Ceylon, and I have frequently stood the charge
of an African elephant until close upon me, determined to give the
forehead shot a fair trial, but I have ALWAYS failed, except in the
instance now mentioned; it must also be borne in mind that the elephant
was a female, with a head far inferior in size and solidity to that of
the male.
The temple shot, and that behind the ear, are equally fatal in Africa as
in Ceylon, provided the hunter can approach within ten or twelve yards;
but altogether the hunting is far more difficult, as the character of
the country does not admit of an approach sufficiently close to
guarantee a successful shot. In the forests of Ceylon an elephant can be
stalked to within a few paces, and the shot is seldom fired at a greater
distance than ten yards: thus accuracy of aim is insured; but in the
open ground of Africa, an elephant can seldom be approached within fifty
yards, and should he charge the hunter, escape is most difficult. I
never found African elephants in good jungle, except once, and on that
occasion I shot five, quite as quickly as we should kill them in Ceylon.
The character of the sport must vary according to the character of the
country; thus there may be parts of Africa at variance with my
description. I only relate my own experience.
Among other weapons, I had an extraordinary rifle that carried a
half-pound percussion shell - this instrument of torture to the hunter
was not sufficiently heavy for the weight of the projectile; it only
weighed twenty pounds: thus, with a charge of ten drachms of powder,
behind a HALF-POUND shell, the recoil was so terrific, that I was spun
round like a weathercock in a hurricane. I really dreaded my own rifle,
although I had been accustomed to heavy charges of powder and severe
recoil for many years.
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