THE PACHYDERMS 53 



sufficient, and the stunning impact, although not 

 actually killing the monster outright, either drops 

 him for the time being or so shakes him as to turn 

 him from his purpose. In the second place, elephants, 

 although extraordinarily acute of scent, have very 

 poor eyesight. If the hunter, even though he stand 

 within forty or fifty paces of the big pachyderm, 

 remains perfectly still, he will in all probability be 

 taken for a tree stump or some other natural object 

 and passed by. The frontal head shot, so popular 

 formerly with Indian elephant-hunters, is a matter of 

 some risk with the African species. The forehead 

 is much more sloping, and the brain-pan is not so 

 easily penetrated. The side shot, aiming a little to 

 the left of the orifice of the ear, is a much safer one 

 if the head is to be fired at at all. Recent sportsmen, 

 armed with modern small-bore rifles, have had very 

 successful experiences with the shot between the ear 

 and eye ; Mr. A. H. Neumann, especially, using the 

 .303 Lee-Metford rifle and solid bullets, having killed 

 elephants of the largest size with these tiny missiles. 

 The heart and lungs are, however, the most readily 

 accessible of the vital parts, and the average sports- 

 man will still in most cases prefer to plant his bullet 

 in those organs. With the .303 Mr. Neumann 

 made also successful shooting at the heart, and 

 secured his game without difficulty. 



In the dense wait-a-bit thorn jungles in which 

 elephants love to seclude themselves, however, it 

 is not often easy to pick one's shot carefully 

 at a vital part. A weapon giving great shocking 



