EXPERrMENTAL SK0T3. !5 



rushing past him, while the old fellow ge5m<?d t<-) pazo 

 at their unwonted appearance with surprise 



Halting my horse, I fired at his shoulder, and ,'ieonr- 

 ed him with a single shot. The ball caught him I'.i^h 

 upon the shoulder-blade, rendering him instantly dead 

 lame ; and before the echo of the bullet could reach 

 my ear, I plainly saw that the elephant was mine. The 

 dogs now came up and barked around him, but, finding 

 himself incapacitated, the old fellow seemed determin- 

 ed to take it easy, and, limping slowlv to a neighbor- 

 ing tree, he remained stationary, eyeii^ his pursuers 

 with a resigned and philosophic air. 



I resolved to devote a short time to the contempla.ion 

 of this noble elephant before I should lay him low ; ac- 

 cordingly, having ofi'-saddled the horses beneath a shady 

 tree which was to be my quarters for the night and en- 

 suing day, I quickly kindled a fire and put on the ket- 

 tle, and in a very few minutes my coffee was prepared 

 There 1 sat in my forest home, coolly sipping my coffee, 

 with one of the finest elephants in Africa awaiting my 

 pleasure beside a neighboring tree. 



It was, indeed, a striking scene ; and as I gazed upon 

 the stupendous veteran of the forest, I thought of the 

 red deer which I loved to follow in my native land, and 

 felt that, though the Fates had driven me to follow a 

 more daring and arduous avocation in a distant land, it 

 was a good exchange which I had made, for I was now 

 a chief over boundless forests, which yielded unspeak- 

 ably more noble and exciting sport. 



Having admired the elephant for a considerable time, 

 I resolved to make experiments for vulnerable points, 

 and, approaching very near, I fired several bullets at 

 different parts of his enormous skull. These did not 

 aeem to affect him in the slightest ; he only acknowl- 



