36 



THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



within fifteen paces, when I let him have it, aiming 

 full at the centre of the hollow just over the trunk- 

 The ragged bullet flew true to the mark, burying 

 itself in the brain ; but the impetus of his head- 

 long charge carried him on, and with a mighty 

 splash that might have been heard at a quarter of 

 a mile's distance, he fell with his outstretched trunk 

 close to my feet, covering us over with mud from 

 head to foot. I felt sure that my aim was fatal, 

 but had it not been so, we should have been in a 

 pretty predicament, for we were both completely 

 blinded for the moment, and if he had not been 

 very severely hit, he might have caught us, one 

 after the other, before we could have cleared the 

 mud away from our eyes. Poor Googooloo got 

 much the worst of it, being also nearly choked ; 

 but after some spluttering and coughing, he wiped 

 his eyes on the tail of my shooting coat, and we 

 simultaneously burst out into a loud laugh at each 

 other's queer appearance. 



This elephant was evidently a most dangerous 

 rogue, for he had not only tracked us up entirely 

 by his extraordinarily keen scent (in following the 



