Death of a Large Rogue. 109 



watching him. He was perfectly motionless and silent 

 in this attitude for some moments. He was thirty yards 

 from me, as I supposed at the time, and I reserved my 

 fire, having the four-ounce rifle ready. Suddenly, with 

 his trunk still raised, his long legs swung forward 

 toward me. There was no time to lose ; I was discov- 

 ered, and a front shot would be useless with his trunk 

 in that position. Just as his head was in the act of 

 turning toward me I took a steady shot at his temple. 

 He sunk' gently upon his knees, and never afterward 

 moved a muscle. His eyes were open, and so bright 

 that I pushed my finger in them to assure myself that 

 life was perfectly extinct. He was exactly thirty-two 

 paces from the rifle, and the ball had passed in at one 

 temple and out at the other. His height may be imag- 

 ined from this rough method of measuring. A gun- 

 bearer climbed upon his back as the elephant lay upon 

 all-fours, and holding a long stick across his spine at 

 right angles, I could just touch it with the points of my 

 ringers by reaching to my utmost height. Thus, as he 

 lay, his back was seven feet two inches, perpendicular 

 height, from the ground. This would make his height 

 when erect about twelve feet on the spine an enormous 

 height for an elephant, as twelve feet on the top of the 

 back is about equal to eleven feet six inches at the 

 shoulder. If I had not fortunately killed this elephant 

 at the first shot, I should have had enough to do to take 

 care of myself, as he was one of the most vicious-look- 

 ing brutes that I ever saw, and he was in the very act 

 of charging when I shot him. 



With these elephants the four-ounce rifle is an invalu- 

 able weapon ; even if the animal is not struck in the 

 mortal spot, the force of the blow upon the head is so 



10 



