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CHAPTER V. 



STALKING GENERALLY DESCRIBED THE AUTHOR'S OWN EX- 

 PERIENCES TRACKING THE ELEPHANT FATIGUE OF ELEPHANT- 

 SHOOTINGQUALITIES REQUISITE IN AN ELEPHANT HUNTER 

 PARTY OF OVAMBOES SUCCESSFUL STALKING NOTES FOR THE 

 GUIDANCE OF ELEPHANT-HUNTERS. 



rpIIOUGH the elephant, if left unmolested, is of 

 J- a pacific disposition, yet, if roused and irri- 

 tated, he proves a most dangerous enemy, and, as 

 some will have it, " more difficult to conquer than 

 any other beast of chase." Be that as it may, he is 

 certainly the noblest game in the world, and from 

 his great power and sagacity, gives ample scope for 

 the hunter's skill and daring. 



In Southern Africa, the chasso of this animal is 

 conducted as well on horseback as on foot. Where 

 the country is tolerably open, the former mode, as 

 being not only the most exciting and imposing, but 

 the safest, the least fatiguing, and the most suc- 

 cessful, is greatly to be preferred ; but in wooded 

 districts the elephant is perhaps " stalked " to fully 

 equal advantage. 



Geographical researches being the main object of 

 my several journeys into the interior, and hunting 

 and shooting secondary considerations, it was only 



