Not Wishing Him To
Come To Close Quarters With My Useless Leg, I Gave Him A Shot With My
Two-Ounce Rifle, At About 120 Paces.
It did not even check him, but it
had the effect of making him lower his trunk, and he came on at
undiminished speed.
Taking the four-ounce rifle from Wallace, I heard
the crack of the ball as it entered his head at about 100 yards. He was
down! A general shout of exclamation rose from Banda and all the
gun-bearers. I reloaded the four-ounce immediately, and the ball was
just rammed home when we heard the supposed dead elephant roaring on the
ground. In another moment he regained his legs and stood with his
broadside exposed to us, stunned with the heavy ball in his head. Taking
a steady shot at his shoulder, I gave him a second dose of the four-
ounce; he reeled to and fro and staggered into the jungle. I dared not
follow him in my crippled state, and we returned to the horses; but the
next day he was found dead by the natives.
I much feared that the shot fired might have disturbed the herd of
elephants, as they were reported to be not far distant; this, however,
proved not to be the case, as we met the watchers about a mile farther
on, who reported the herd to be perfectly undisturbed, but located in
the everlasting lemon grass. At this time the greater portion of the
Park was a mass of this abominable grass, and there was no chance of
getting the elephants in any other position, this serving them at the
same time for both food and shelter. How they can eat it is a puzzle; it
is as sharp as a knife, and as coarse as a file, with a flavour of the
most pungent lemon peel.
We shortly arrived at the spot in which the herd was concealed; it was a
gentle slope covered with dense lemon grass, terminated by a jungle. We
could just distinguish the tops of the elephants' heads in several
places, and, having dismounted, we carefully entered the grass, and
crept towards the nearest elephants. The herd was much scattered, but
there were five elephants close to each other, and we made towards
these, Banda leading the way. My only chance of making a bag lay in the
first onset; I therefore cautioned Wallace to have the spare guns handed
with extra diligence, and we crept up to our game. There were two
elephants facing us, but we stalked them so carefully through the high
grass that we got within four paces of them before they discovered us;
they cocked their ears for an instant, and both rolled over at the same
moment to the front shot. Away dashed the herd, trumpeting and screaming
as they rushed through the high grass. For a few moments my game leg
grew quite lively, as it was all downhill work, and I caught up an
elephant and killed him with the left-hand barrel.
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