62 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



a rush as if to hit the elephant. To resist this un- 

 expected charge the wounded beast turned its head 

 from me, and in consequence received a bullet 

 exactly where I desired to place it. A few tremu- 

 lous movements of the gigantic carcass took place, 

 then a stagger, and this tower of animal matter came 

 down with a crash that seemed to make the hillside 

 vibrate. 



The head was a very fine one, even more so 

 than I at first conceived, but for all this there was 

 an alloy in my pleasure, viz., that Sunday's beeker 

 was empty, so I could not obtain a mouthful of 

 water. Now that the excitement was over I had 

 time to consider my own state ; it was most distress- 

 ing, for a drink doled out even in dew drops I 

 almost believe I would have parted with the finest 

 trophy that hunter had ever risked his life for. The 

 hardships that the sportsman endures who must 

 shoot elephants are not fanciful, for they are the 

 most severe trials of physical endurance that the 

 human frame can be submitted to, and yet my 

 countrymen, warned as they so constantly are, will 

 do it, and so on till there are no elephants left to 

 shoot. 



Providence, however, was good to me that day ; 

 but this is stale news. When has she not been so ? 

 It seems more than ungrateful to give her credit for 

 being so only on one occasion. So Umpiqua put in 

 an appearance. Of all our people he was the one I 



