528 ifcinss of tbe 1Rofc, IRifle, anb Gun 



right or the left makes all the difference. To make certain, 

 Wedderburn gave his elephant a third shot in the head, 

 which, as he imagined, killed him. He was not dead, 

 however, and regaining his feet, charged on his 

 antagonist. 



" At this moment," says Leveson, " Wedderburn either 

 lost his presence of mind and fired without any aim, or 

 finding that the mortal place in the centre of the fore- 

 head was hidden by the upraised trunk, must have 

 endeavoured to bring him down by a side shot, but his 

 fourth bullet produced no effect, and in the twinkling of 

 an eye, before he could get out of the way, the infuriated 

 animal was upon him, twisted his trunk round his legs 

 and hurled him to the ground." 



Of course he was trampled to death in an instant ; 

 but by a remarkable coincidence " the Old Shekarry " 

 fell in with the same elephant about eight hours later. 

 He, too, was charged, and nothing but his wonderful 

 skill and nerve saved him from a similar fate. 



"Scarcely had the attendant mounted than I knew 

 he was discovered by the hoarse appalling scream of 

 rage that rang through the air, sounding as if close 

 at hand ; and barely had he time to reach the ground 

 and catch hold of the spare guns, than the infuriated 

 monster burst through a patch of high reeds in our rear, 

 that had hitherto concealed him from our sight, and 

 charged splashing up towards us. When I first caught 

 a glimpse of him, he was certainly not more than five 

 and thirty paces distant, and I immediately raised my 

 trusty rifle ; but life and death were on the shot, and 

 it did not belch forth its deadly contents until he had 



