HABITS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1 5 



the more they are hunted, the more vicious they become. When 

 a herd is pursued on horseback, an individual will very often charge 

 as soon as it sees its enemy approaching, before a shot has been fired. 

 Sometimes one will run out, screaming loudly, with its trunk held high 

 in the air, on hearing a shot fired ; but, after going a short distance, 

 will suddenly stop screaming, drop its trunk, and return to the herd. 

 When an elephant is vicious and inclined to charge, it holds its tail 

 straight up, continually cocks its ears, and looks from side to side for 

 its enemy, at the same time trying to get his scent with its raised 

 trunk. When standing wounded, an elephant, if it thinks it sees its 

 foe approaching, raises its head and trunk and spreads its great ears ; 

 and should a movement or a whiff of tainted air turn its suspicions to 

 certainty, it will very likely charge immediately, screaming like a 

 railway-engine. When commencing its charge, the African elephant 

 often, perhaps usually, has its trunk raised aloft ; but immediately it 

 settles to a regular chase, the trunk is dropped and held in front of the 

 chest, though not coiled up under the jaws after the manner of that 

 of an Indian elephant when charging. The charge of an African 

 elephant, especially a cow or young bull, is so swift that probably 

 I 20 yards may be covered in ten seconds ; and, with a few yards' start, 

 only a very active man could keep ahead even for 60 or 70 yards. 

 No matter how fast it may be travelling, an elephant never attempts 

 any pace but a kind of shuffling trot. When alarmed, elephants do 

 not run far, but settle down to a quick walk, known to South African 

 hunters as ' de long stap,' which a man must run at a good jog-trot to 

 keep up with ; this pace they can maintain for many miles. When 

 chased during very hot weather, either on horseback or by good 

 runners on foot, elephants quickly show signs of being distressed. They 

 soon commence to put the tips of their trunks into their mouths, and 

 drawing about a bucketful of water from their stomachs, squirt it over 

 their shoulders. Sometimes, when the water-supply is exhausted, they 

 will pick up sand and blow it over themselves. If the proportion of 

 charges to the number of animals shot be any criterion, my experience 

 is that the African elephant is more vicious when irritated than the 

 buffalo. Fortunately, a charging elephant can almost always be 

 turned by a shot as he is coming on, no matter where the bullet may 

 strike. When charging, African elephants usually keep up a quick 

 succession of short sharp screams of rage, but sometimes they are 

 silent. 



" During the rainy season elephants become excessively fat, and if 

 not much hunted cows often keep in very good condition all the year 



