With Flashlight and Rifle * 



back a hundred paces or so, and took up my position 

 upon a rock, with a black beside me carrying my rifle. 



Lost in thought and humming a tune to myself, 

 I suddenly seemed to hear something approaching me 

 from behind I couldn't hear well, however, as there 

 was a strong wind blowing from the opposite direction. 

 I turned round and saw, thirty paces off, a huge bull 

 elephant advancing towards me at full trot, in the 

 uncannily quick and noiseless fashion of his kind. I rolled 

 over quickly to one side, as did also my man, who now 

 observed the elephant for the first time. I gripped my rifle, 

 saying to myself, however, that it was too late to think of 

 shooting, and that next moment we should be crushed 

 to death. 



I also realised suddenly that my rifle was loaded with 

 lead-headed steel-bullets, which are quite useless with a bull 

 elephant. In this terrifying moment, the elephant, taking 

 fright apparently at our sudden appearance almost from 

 under his feet, gave out a resounding snort, and shaking 

 his huge ears, swerved off to the left, almost touching us 

 as he passed. 



Up we sprang now, and unloading my rifle with all 

 possible haste I reloaded, and succeeded in getting two 

 shots into the animal's shoulder from behind. After 

 following it for half an hour and noting from the way 

 in which his tracks were narrowing that he must have 

 been badly wounded, we found him standing under some 

 acacia-trees, and I was able to bring him down with two 

 effective shots in the head before he could make any 

 attempt to get at me. 



188 



