76 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



open ; presently his gigantic form quivered, and, fa /ling over, h 

 expired. At night we again watched the fountain. Only one 

 elephant appeared ; late in the night he came up to leeward, and 

 got our wind. I, however, shot two fine old muchocho, or white 

 rhinoceroses, and wounded twd or three borele, which were found 

 by the natives. 



On the 19th I proceeded with Carey and Piet, and a few Baka- 

 lahari, to a small fountain lying one mile to the south : here we 

 made two shooting-boxes of boughs of trees. There were three 

 pools at which the game drank, the largest not being more than 

 twelve feet in breadth. I and Carey at night shot one fine bull 

 elephant and four rhinoceroses, wounding two others, which 

 escaped. On the night following we also wounded two elephants, 

 which got away. 



The next night I put in practice a novel experiment I had long 

 entertained that of hunting elephants by moonlight with dogs 

 and horses, as in the day, being very much annoyed at wounding 

 and losing in the last week no less than ten first-rate old bull 

 elephants. I communicated my idea to " Stick-in-the-mud," and 

 we hastily proceeded to saddle my steed. I led my dogs, eight 

 in number, through the forest to leeward of where a bull who had 

 come to the fountain to drink had gone in, and when I saw that 

 they had got his wind I slipped them. ' They dashed forward, 

 and next minute I followed the baying of the dogs and the crash 

 and the trumpet of the elephant. He rushed away at first w : th- 

 out halting, and held right for the mountains to the southwest. 

 When, however, he found that his speed did not avail, and that 

 he could not get away from his pursuers, he began to turn and 

 dodge about in the thickest of \he cover, occasionally making 

 charges after the dogs. I followed on as best I could, shouting 

 with all my might to encourage my good hounds. These, hear- 

 ing their master's voice beside them, stuck well by the ewphant, 

 and fought him better than in the day. I gave him my first two 

 shots from the saddle ; after which, I rode close up to him, and, 

 running in on foot, gave him some deadly shots at distances from 

 fifteen to twenty yards. 



