HINTS ON EAST AFRICAN STALKING, ETC. 203 



Several cases of the kind have come under my own obser- 

 vation. At one time I thought that this extraordinary vitality 

 was confined to the antelopes, but I have seen the same 

 peculiarity displayed twice by buffaloes, once by an elephant, 

 once by a rhinoceros, and once by a zebra. I used to be of 

 opinion that a beast so wounded was reduced to a state of 

 semi-paralysis, and was incapable of moving from the spot on 

 which it was standing when hit, but I have proved that this is 

 not always the case. 



When first struck in such cases, the beast almost invariably 

 drops its head, and sometimes stands with open mouth in the 

 same manner that a beast stands after it has been shot through 

 the stomach. 



From my own observations, the shots which have thrown a 

 beast into this curious condition have invariably struck it low 

 down, through the lower edge of one or both lungs. The shot, 

 however, has not necessaiily been fired when the beast has 

 been standing in one particular position, as I have known these 

 shots fired when the beast was broadside on, stern on, and 

 facing me. 



If there is any doubt as to whether the animal is hit through 

 the stomach or low down in the lungs, the sportsman should 

 take advantage of the beast as it stands with its head down, 

 and either give it another shot immediately or carefully ap- 

 proach nearer to make quite certain of placing his bullet in 

 the right spot. Should he then be quite satisfied that his 

 second bullet has struck the right spot behind the shoulder, 

 and should the beast still continue to stand in the same posi- 

 tion, or move on only a short distance, he can be pretty sure 

 that the case is one of those I allude to, and he had better 

 either finish with a shot in the brain or the vertebrae of the 

 neck, or leave it to die quietly, as it very soon will do. Any 

 more shoulder shots would be simply thrown away. Of course 

 a beast shot in the stomach should be killed with the shoulder 

 shot at once, as it is always likely to pull itself together for a 

 while and travel for miles. 



