UGANDA, AND THE NYANZA LAKES 445 



missed the brain the shock dazed him and brought him to 

 an instant halt. Immediately Kermit put a bullet from 

 the Winchester into his head; as he wheeled I gave him 

 the second barrel between the neck and shoulder, through 

 his ear; and Kermit gave him three more shots before he 

 slewed round and disappeared. There were not many 

 minutes of daylight left, and we followed hard on his trail, 

 Kongoni leading. At first there was only an occasional 

 gout of dark blood; but soon we found splashes of red 

 froth from the lungs; then we came to where he had fallen, 

 and then we heard him crashing among the branches in 

 thick jungle to the right. In we went after him, through 

 the gathering gloom, Kongoni leading and I close behind, 

 with the rifle ready for instant action; for though his 

 strength was evidently fast failing, he was also evidently 

 in a savage temper, anxious to wreak his vengeance before 

 he died. On we went, following the bloody trail through 

 dim, cavernous windings in the dark, vine-covered jungle; 

 we heard him smash the branches but a few yards ahead, 

 and fall and rise; and stealing forward Kermit and I 

 slipped up to within a dozen feet of him as he stood on 

 the other side of some small twisted trees, hung with a mat 

 of creepers. I put a bullet into his heart, Kermit fired; 

 each of us fired again on the instant; the mighty bull threw 

 up his trunk, crashed over backward, and lay dead on his 

 side among the bushes. A fine sight he was, a sight to glad- 

 den any hunter's heart, as he lay in the twilight, a giant in 

 death. 



At once we trotted back to camp, reaching it as dark- 

 ness fell; and next morning all of us came out to the carcass. 

 He was full grown, and was ten feet nine inches high. 

 The tusks were rather short, but thick, and weighed a 

 hundred and ten pounds the pair. Out of the trunk we 

 made excellent soup. 



Several times while following the trail of this big bull 

 we could tell he was close by the strong elephant smell. 

 Most game animals have a peculiar scent, often strong 



