202 



LARGE GAME. 



CHAP. IV. 



manner much game really killed by one is not counted to 

 one, and much that is killed by others, and first wounded 

 by you, belongs to you ; but as the hunters are .paid accord- 

 ing to what they kill, the invariable application of the 

 rule renders it possible for great numbers of men to shoot 

 together, and to finish off without jealousy each other's 

 game, a thing that would be impossible under any other 

 regulations. 



On two different occasions at this same spot where we 

 found this bull, I was lucky enough to kill an elephant 

 with a single bullet. They are rare in this part of the 

 country, only frequenting it during the deadly summer 

 months, when there are no hunters left to take advantage 

 of the opportunity, and it was during a season most of 

 which I passed on the Bombo mountains instead of going 

 out to the colonies, that I had these chances. 



The first occurred one day when, having come down 

 to try and get some meat, I was walking along the bank 

 of the river when an exclamation from the native who 

 accompanied me made me look about, and then catch 

 sight of a herd of elephants going down through the 

 open on the other side towards a ford. I was not very 

 far from the spot on this side where, if they crossed, they 

 would come out, and though I feared that they were only 

 going to drink and would keep the breadth of the river 

 between us, I crouched under the sparse reeds which grew 

 along the bank and ran forward to it, arriving there a 

 second before the first of the line entered the water. It 

 was a tuskless cow, and she walked in some distance, the 

 others spreading out like a fan behind her, and then they 

 all commenced to drink, standing in a line facing me, and 



