48 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



her warning. In a few moments the rustling subsided, the monkeys and 

 birds returned to their normal state. The elephants had evidently settled 

 down without going far; but only at rare intervals during the rest of the 

 day did we hear the squeal of a chastised youngster or the breaking of a tree. 



With my gun bearers I went down into the forest. Trails crisscrossed in 

 all directions so that it was impossible to follow a given trail any distance. 

 A band of a dozen or so got our wind and passed us in confusion at close 

 range, but the bush was so dense that I had but small glimpses of them. A 

 mile into the forest brought us to an irregular clearing, two hundred by 

 five hundred yards in extent, almost bisected by a "peninsula" of forest. 

 At the base of this peninsula I nearly ran against a young bull, one of a 

 considerable number as I soon discovered. The whole herd began work- 

 ing toward the point of the peninsula and I ran along the outer edge to 

 head them off. Just as the leader emerged from the point, they saw or 

 winded us — shifty, uncertain breezes had sprung up — and they turned 

 back. I ran into the timber to try for a better view of them. I soon found 

 myself facing a cow who, solicitous for her very young calf, had wheeled 

 about, all attention and menacing. Fortunately at the moment we were 

 partially screened behind a clump of small trees, and as we remained motion- 

 less the cow's fears were soon allayed and turning, she gave the calf a boost 

 with her trunk and followed the herd, which was moving oflf toward the 

 clearing on the other side. 



Hurrying out and around the point, I found the herd in the clearing, 

 rounded up in close formation, conscious of the presence of an unseen enemy. 

 There were about twenty-five elephants, mostly cows, and just as I was on 

 the point of backing off to a safer distance, thinking there were no big bulls 

 in the lot, a fine pair of tusks appeared at the near side. A clump of bushes 

 offered cover for a near approach and I went in quickly to within twenty 

 yards of him, and as his front leg was thrust forward offering a good oppor- 

 tunity for a heart shot, I fired both barrels of the double rifle in quick 

 succession. 



All was commotion as I seized my second rifle, and seeing that there was 

 no direct charge, retreated some fifty yards to the top of an ant hill from 

 which I could see what was going on. I then witnessed a scene such as I 

 had heard described and which I had been keen to verify. A number of 

 cows were clustered about the bull, for he had fallen thirty yards from where 

 he was shot, and with their tusks and trunks were doing their best to get 

 him upon his feet; the remainder of the cows were doing patrol duty, rushing 

 about in an increasing circle, searching for the source of trouble. That 

 meant me, so 1 retired to a safe distance and waited for the atmosphere to 

 clear. This bull stood eleven feet, four inches high at the shoulders, and the 

 tusks weighed ninety-five and one hundred and ten pounds respectively, 

 while the circumference of the front foot around the sole was sixty-seven 

 and one-half inches, the largest recorded, I believe. 



