XI 



KILLING WORK 221 



all haste after the retreating herd, which, being large, 

 did not go very fast, and after a severe run managed 

 to kill three more, all full-grown animals, with fair 

 tusks. My Bushman Hartebeest ran splendidly, and 

 succeeded in heading a small herd away from the 

 main body, and in turning them back towards me. 

 Of these I killed two, and, had I not exhausted my 

 stock of bullets — of which I only had seventeen to 

 start with — I could without doubt have killed more, 

 as we ran them regularly to a standstill. 



During the intensely hot weather in September 

 and October, just before the rains fall, elephants soon 

 become f^itigued if driven about and exposed to the 

 fierce sun. When they get hot and tired they insert 

 their trunks into their mouths and draw out water 

 from their stomachs, which they dash over their 

 breasts and shoulders to cool themselves ; and when 

 the supply of water is exhausted they will sometimes 

 throw sand over their bodies, which one would 

 suppose would only make them hotter than they were 

 before. Though, as I have said, elephants get 

 knocked up comparatively soon when hunted during 

 the hot weather, yet, as may be imagined, it is killing 

 work following them on foot at that season, in deep 

 sandy ground and under a tropical sun, and with 

 nothing to drink but a very limited allowance of 

 water carried in a gourd, which soon gets lukewarm 

 from the intensity of the heat. 



Two of the cows just shot carried very fine ivory, 

 and the single tusk of the second killed, which was 

 almost straight, was exceptionally long, protruding 

 nearly three feet beyond the lip ; it, had, however, 

 a bad crack in it. I will take this opportunity of 

 saying that when an elephant has only one tusk the 

 bone on the other side is quite solid, and shows no 



