330 THE ELEPHANT. 



to make the young herbage spring up with greater 

 facility ; and, during the day, discovered a herd of 

 bull-elephants quietly browsing on the side of a hill, 

 two hundred yards to windward of us. I started 

 them with an unearthly yell, and, selecting the 

 finest, fired both barrels behind his shoulder, when 

 he instantly turned upon me, and, in his impetuous 

 career, charged head-foremost against a large bushy 

 tree, which he sent flying before him, high into the 

 air, he himself coming down at the same moment 

 violently on his knees. He thus met the raging fire, 

 and wheeled to the right-about. 



" I followed, loading and firing as fast as possible, 

 sometimes at the head, and at others behind the 

 shoulder, until the elephant's fore-quarters were 

 severely punished ; notwithstanding which he con- 

 tinued to hold stoutly on, leaving the grass and 

 branches of the forest scarlet in his wake. 



" On one occasion, he endeavoured to escape by 

 charging desperately amid the thickest of the flames ; 

 but this did not avail him, for I was soon alongside, 

 and blazed away at him until I began to think he 

 was ball-proof. Having fired thirty-five rounds, 

 with my two-grooved rifle, I opened upon him with 

 the Dutch six-pounder; and when forty bullets had 

 perforated his hide 1 , he began for the first time to 

 show symptoms of exhaustion. Poor old fellow ! 

 it was now all over with him ; so I resolved to 

 expend no more ammunition, and shortly afterwards 

 he subsided in the dust." 



Again, "On the 31st August we held for To- 

 wan nie, a strong fountain in the gravelly bed of a 



