AN EXTEMPORISED PROJECTILE 



It was only now that my friend discovered he had no 

 more ball cartridges left, but knowing that if near enough, 

 he could finish off the animal with a charge of No. 6, he 

 tried again to make the elephant advance, but with no 

 better success, and as it was now getting dark, he decided 

 to get off. 



To walk up to a wounded leopard with a weapon charged 

 with shot was, as he knew, a risky thing to do, but he felt 

 he could not leave the beast to linger through the night 

 in pain, so was resolved to take the risk. 



Fortunately at this moment his orderly was suddenly 

 inspired with an idea, which he proceeded to demonstrate 

 at once. Extracting the shot from a cartridge, he tore a 

 strip from his pugri, and putting the pellets into it, rolled 

 them up tightly into a ball, then replacing the charge, 

 handed the cartridge to his master. 



The latter, quick to see the possibilities of this extem- 

 porised projectile, lost no time in testing it, and the next 

 time the leopard raised its head, in its attempt to charge, 

 he fired, killing it on the spot, for as he found later, the 

 charge had sped like a bullet, but scattering on impact 

 had made a frightful wound, an inch or two below the 

 ear. His first bullet, he now discovered, had hit the animal 

 in the back, and grazing the spine, had paralyzed the 

 hindquarters, thus accounting for its inability to charge. 



79 



