THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



we all began to feel the earnestness of the situation, for 

 nothing is more terrible to meet in " jungleland " than a 

 wounded elephant. 



Fortunately for us, the wind had been in our favor so 

 far, so that the elephant had not been able to get our scent, 

 and, as he himself made a great deal more noise than we, 

 he could not even have heard us. A few moments later 

 the elephant suddenly turned completely around, and now 

 we had to follow him down the wind. We understood that 

 from this moment we had to be doubly careful, for the 

 elephant was now able to scent us as we came along. 



We stopped for a moment to consult. I told all of the 

 men to stay somewhat behind, and with only Mabruki, 

 the gun bearer, and my Kikuju headman, Moeri, I took up 

 the pursuit again, after once more having examined my 

 elephant gun and seen that it was loaded with two steel- 

 pointed bullets. So on we went again, slowly and carefully. 

 We had not gone thus more than about five minutes before 

 we suddenly were faced by the huge elephant, which had 

 made a complete half circle. Turning back close to his 

 own track, he had stood immovable for some time in the 

 thick bushes, waiting for his pursuers to come along. 



One of the most glorious sights met us ! The elephant, 

 larger in size than the well-known Jumbo, was almost upon 

 us, when we caught sight of him ! With his enormous ears 

 spread out, measuring fully ten feet from tip to tip, and 

 with his trunk bent up almost in an *' S " form, he made 

 a wild dash forward, charging down upon us most furi- 

 ously. For a moment I thought of what I had often heard 

 about the impossibility of killing an African elephant with 

 a front head shot, but, as escape was impossible, I aimed 



64 



