to6 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



accustomed to the sight of an animal at a respectable distance, 

 they can soon be driven up alongside of it, and get as eager in 

 pursuit of elephant and large game as their riders. 



By neglecting this rule, I very nearly came to grief on an 

 afterwards capital pony. It was his debut, and a wounded 

 elephant charging with a scream, so terrified him that he was 

 paralysed with fear, and stood stock-still after turning round ; 

 spurs had no effect, and how we escaped I cannot now 

 tell. The bull came within a few feet of his tail and then 

 wheeled. I can only suppose he got the scent of the human 

 being, for he was quite near enough to have swept me from 

 the saddle with his trunk. By a little careful treatment this 

 pony became a very valuable one, and I once in after days 

 shot i2o/. worth of ivory from his back in half an hour. Have 

 nothing to do with a vicious or uncertain tempered horse. 

 If you find you have been taken in with such a one, shoot 

 him ; the first loss may not be so bad as the last. Never 

 ride a stumbler up to anything that bites or butts. I had one, 

 and he twice fell with me before a charging elephant. Luckily 

 I did not come off, and pulled him up just in time to escape. 

 Horses used to be cheap enough, but I dare say the price has 

 risen. I mounted myself well from 7/. IO.T. to 157. apiece. 

 Your ponies for they are hardly more ought to be quick get- 

 ting their legs, and a turn of speed is desirable ; for though in the 

 open it is easy sailing away from an elephant, in bush or broken 

 ground for 200 yards he will sometimes press a slow horse. 



I was once, in particular, hard put to it by a smart though 

 rather small bull. I had fired both barrels, and on he came. 

 I might have had twenty yards' start, but for the first 100 he 

 gained on me, and I had to ride as if in a close finish. A 

 good Hantam horse is an exceptionally tough beast. Whilst 

 at ' Oologs Poort,' a farm then in the occupation of a Mr. 

 Nelson, I was buying mounts, when a Hottentot riding a neat 

 round-ribbed bay came in with a return-letter from the town 

 of Cradock, as far as I remember, seventy miles distant. The 

 horse's appearance pleased me much, and though I found the 



