chap. x. A THOROUGH ROGUE. 237 



bullying no longer, he threw his trunk up in the air 

 and charged straight at us. The dust flew like smoke 

 from the dry grass as he rushed through it ; but we 

 were well prepared to receive him. Not wishing him 

 to come to close quarters with my useless leg, I gave 

 him a shot with my two-ounce rifle, at about 120 

 paces. It did not even check him, but it had the 

 effect of making him lower his trunk, and he came on 

 at undiminished speed. Taking the four-ounce rifle 

 from Wallace, I heard the crack of the ball as it 

 entered his head at about 100 yards. He was down ! 

 A general shout of exclamation rose from Banda and 

 all the gun-bearers. I reloaded the four-ounce imme- 

 diately, and the ball was just rammed home when we 

 heard the supposed dead elephant roaring on the 

 ground. In another moment he regained his legs and 

 stood with his broadside exposed to us, stunned with 

 the heavy ball in his head. Taking a steady shot at 

 his shoulder, I gave him a second dose of the four- 

 ounce ; he reeled to and fro and staggered into the 

 jungle. I dared not follow him in my crippled state, 

 and we returned to the horses ; but the next day he 

 was found dead by the natives. 



I much feared that the shot fired might have dis- 

 turbed the herd of elephants, as they were reported to 

 be not far distant ; this, however, proved not to be the 

 case, as we met the watchers about a mile farther on, 

 who reported the herd to be perfectly undisturbed, 



