ELEPHANT FRIENDS AND FOES = 47 
which were numb from the cold mists of the morning, 
knowing that I might soon need a supple trigger 
finger. During this time the first gun boy was taking 
the cartridges, one by one, from his bandoleer and 
holding them up for my inspection—the ordinary 
precaution to insure that all the ammunition was the 
right kind, and an important insurance, because only 
a full steel-jacketed bullet will penetrate an elephant’s 
head. While still warming my hands, inspecting the 
cartridges, and standing with the gun leaning against 
my stomach, I was suddenly conscious that an ele- 
phant was almost on topofme. I have no knowledge 
of how the warning came. I have no mental record 
of hearing him, seeing him, or of any warning from 
the gun boy who faced me and who must have seen 
the elephant as he came down on me from behind. 
There must have been some definite signal, but it was 
not recorded in my mind. I only know that as [ 
picked up my gun and wheeled about I tried to shove 
the safety catch forward. It refused to budge, and 
I remember the thought that perhaps I had left the 
catch forward when I inspected the gun and that if 
not I must pull the triggers hard enough to fire the 
gun anyway. This is an impossibility, but I remem- 
ber distinctly the determination to do it, for the all- 
powerful impulse in my mind was that I must shoot 
instantly. Then something happened that dazed me. 
I don’t know whether I shot or not. My next mental 
record is of a tusk right at my chest. I grabbed it 
with my left hand, the other one with my right hand, 
and swinging in between them went to the ground 
