5 o BIG GAME SHOOTING 



feet 2 inches, but sporting measurements were not 

 so much thought of or so accurately taken in those 

 days (the 'forties) as they are now. At the present 

 time good representative African wild elephants prob- 

 ably average in stature about 10 feet 6 inches. 1 



The African elephant is not so forest-loving a 

 species as his cousin of Hindostan. He frequents by 

 preference fairly open country, studded with bush, 

 and is by no means averse to hills and mountains, 

 in the kloofs and valleys and upon the slopes of 

 which he finds suitable pasturage. He is a wonder- 

 ful hill-climber, and whether ascending or descend- 

 ing, can, if he chooses, progress at a pace quite 

 astonishing to look at. These animals are very 

 partial to the park-like, thin, open forest country, 

 where trees of low stature, seldom exceeding thirty 

 feet in height, are usually to be found. Their food 

 consists *of bark, leafage, the sappy portions of roots, 

 which they excavate with their trunks and tusks, and 

 wild fruits of various kinds. The roots thus excavated 

 are well chewed, and the juices having been extracted, 

 the woody remnants are rejected. Elephants almost 

 always feed and drink at night, usually making their 

 way to water between 9 and 12 P.M., and thereafter 

 feeding till early morning. During the heat of the 

 day, especially during hot weather, they rest, sleep- 

 ing, almost invariably in a standing attitude, shaded 



1 In the marshes of the Upper Nile elephants, practically free as they are 

 from the persecution of hunters, have the opportunity of growing to great size. 

 Some of them carry magnificent tusks. "One old bull in particular," says 

 Sir William Garstin, " owned a pair of ivories such as the elephant hunter 

 might secure in his dreams, but could very rarely come across in real life." 



