Close £hia?-ters. 71 



chance, and with redoubled speed we rushed after 

 them. 



Suddenly we broke from the high jungle in which we 

 had been for the last two hours, and we found ourselves 

 in a chena jungle of two years' growth, about five feet 

 high, but so thick and thorny that it resembled one 

 vast blackthorn hedge, through which no man could 

 move except in the track of the retreating elephants. 



To my delight, on entering this low jungle I saw the 

 female at about forty yards' distance, making off at a 

 great pace. I had a light double-barreled gun in my 

 hand, and, in the hopes of checking her pace, I fired a 

 flying shot at her ear. She had been hunted so long 

 that she was well inclined to fight, and she immediately 

 slackened her speed so much that in a few instants I 

 was at her tail, so close that I could have slapped her. 

 Still she ploughed her way through the thick thorns, 

 and, not being able to pass her owing to the barrier of 

 jungle, I could only follow close at her heels and take 

 my chance of a shot. At length, losing all patience, 

 I fired my remaining barrel under her tail, giving 

 it an upward direction in the hope of disabling her 

 spine. 



A cloud of smoke hung over me for a second, and, 

 throwing my empty gun on one side, I put my hand 

 behind me for a spare gun. I felt the welcome barrel 

 pushed into my hand at the same moment that I saw 

 the infuriated head of the elephant with ears cocked 

 charging through the smoke. It was the work of an 

 instant. I had just time to cock the two-ounce rifle and 

 take a steady aim. The next moment we were in a 

 cloud of smoke, but as I fired I felt certain of her. The 

 smoke cleared from the thick bushes, and she lay dead 



