;hap. xii. A JUNGLE TRIP. 341 



would not fire, as I was determined to bag my 

 wounded bird before I fired a single shot at another. 



They now reached the forest, but, instead of 

 retreating, the wounded elephant turned short round 

 upon the very edge of the jungle and faced me ; 

 the remaining portion of the herd (consisting of two 

 large elephants and two calves) had passed on intc 

 the cover. 



This was certainly a plucky elephant ; his whole 

 face was a mass of blood, and he stood at the very spot 

 where the herd had passed into the forest, as though 

 he was determined to guard the entrance. I was now 

 about twenty-five yards from him, when, gathering 

 himself together for a decisive charge, he once more 

 came on. 



I was on the point of pulling the trigger, when he 

 reeled, and fell without a shot, from sheer exhaustion ; 

 but recovering himself immediately, he again faced 

 me, but did not move. This was a fatal pause. He 

 forgot the secret of throwing his head back, and he 

 now held it in the natural position, offering a splendid 

 shot at about twenty yards. Once more the four- 

 ounce buried itself in his skull, and he fell dead. 



Palliser and Wortley came up just as I was 

 endeavouring to track up the herd, which I had now 

 lost sight of in the forest. Following upon their 

 tracks, we soon came in view of them. Away wc 

 went as fast as we could run towards them, but I 



