244 ELEPHANT SHOOTING 



branch and fell to the ground, touching in his fall his 

 horse's side with his spur. The animal plunged and 

 bolted, and before Oswell could rise the elephant was 

 upon him. He expected every second to be crushed by 

 the weight of its enormous feet, but the elephant, in its 

 wild rush, had not seen his fall, and passed him by, posi- 

 tively placing his foot between Oswell's legs, which he 

 had instinctively parted. Few men have had such a 

 narrow escape, and indeed he had been saved from more 

 than he knew, for these thorn bushes cut like knives, and 

 few horses will face them. 



It is the custom of the Bechuanas to dig pits for the 

 animals to fall into, after the manner of the Scotch at 

 Bannockburn. The shape they have found to answer 

 their purpose best is a kind of long square, seven or eight 

 feet deep, but only one foot wide at the bottom, while the 

 breadth at the top is at least three or four feet. When 

 finished the pits are carefully covered up, and all traces of 

 disturbance removed by a sort of framework of reeds and 

 grass, held together by sand. In leaving the banks of a 

 river, where they often go at night to drink and wash 

 themselves, an old elephant will be placed in front so as 

 to examine the ground, lest pitfalls should beset then- 

 track. And if sometimes, in spite of all the care of the 

 leader, a young and foolish creature blunders into a hole, 

 the strongest among them will join together and by 

 means of their tusks and trunks will drag him out of his 

 death trap. 



Indeed, elephants, like many other animals, have 

 strong affections, and will often attach themselves to 

 one of their own herd, defending it from all dangers, as 

 the following story will show. 



Colonel Gordon Cumming was hunting elephants in the 

 country north of the Limpopo river, and they frequently 

 led him a long dance, for if they suspect a man's presence 

 in their neighbourhood they will go miles to get out of 

 his way. They even seem somehow to tell one another, 



