HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



result, but many have tried and have not lived to repeat 

 the performance. The Asiatic elephant, it is true, can, 

 when charging, be stopped by a forehead shot ; but it is 

 not so with the African elephant, who carries an enormous 

 amount of bone in the head, and a bullet even from the 

 heaviest rifle is seldom enough to stop him. The most 

 effective method according to my own observation, and 

 it is corroborated by other hunters, is to aim at the knee 

 when an elephant charges, for a well-placed shot here 

 rarely fails to stop the rush of the maddened beast, and 

 gives one time to gain a more suitable position from 

 which the heart or brain may be reached. I have seen 

 an elephant run a considerable distance even when 

 shot in the brain, and when shot through the heart 

 they will often travel for many yards before dropping. 

 Some people prefer the brain to the heart shot, but there 

 are several arguments for and against e ich. With the 

 heart shot, in the event of your first shot not being well 

 placed, the elephant still has his head and will lead you 

 a long dance, perhaps you may have to follow him for 

 days before again getting up to him. The brain shot 

 is good, but to my thinking, only those of experience in 

 elephant hunting should try it : judgment in elevation 

 alone is not an easy thing at close quarters, for if you 

 are standing on the ground the elephant is higher than 

 yourself. It is by no means easy to calculate the correct 

 angle that will ensure your bullet reaching the brain. For 

 men like Buckley and others of many years' experience, 

 the heart and brain are alike easy targets ; but Buckley 

 has told me himself that he prefers the heart shot to the 

 brain. Buckley has in his time killed over 500 elephants. 

 As I say, there are strong arguments for and against 

 both heart and brain, and the best thing is to get accus- 

 tomed to both as soon as you can. At first I did not 

 attempt the brain shot unless the brute was undisturbed 

 and the ears being still offered some idea as to where to 



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