112 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



bushes and getting in front of him, which I did in 

 order to get a broadside shot as he passed me. One 

 of the four cows that still accompanied him walked 

 along, carrying her head high and her tail straight in 

 the air, and kept constantly turning from side to 

 side. " That cow will bother us ; shoot her," said 

 Nuta, and I wish I had taken his advice ; but her 

 tusks were so small, and the bull seemed so very 

 far gone, that I thought it would be a waste of 

 ammunition. I therefore waited till he was a little 

 in front of where I stood, and then gave him a 

 bullet at very close quarters, just behind the shoulder, 

 and, as I thought, exactly in the right place ; but he 

 nevertheless continued his walk as if he had not felt 

 it. Reloading the same gun, 1 ran behind him, 

 holding it before me in both hands, ready to raise 

 at a moment's notice, and, the four cows being some 

 twenty yards in advance, I shouted, hoping he would 

 turn. The sound of my voice had the desired effect ; 

 for he at once raised his ears and swung himself 

 round, or rather was in the act of doing so, for 

 immediately his ears went up my gun was at my 

 shoulder, and as soon as he presented his broadside 

 I fired, on which he turned again, and went crashing 

 through the bushes at a trot. I thought that it was 

 a last spasmodic rush, and that he would fldl before 

 going very far ; so, giving the gun back to Nuta to 

 reload, I was running after him, with my eyes fixed 

 on the quivering bushes as they closed behind him, 

 when suddenly the trunk of another elephant was 

 whirled round, almost literally above my head, and a 

 short, sharp scream of rage thrilled through me, 

 making the blood tingle down to the very tips of my 

 fingers. It was one of the wretched old cows, that had 

 thus lain in wait for me behind a dense patch of bush. 



