438 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



sure not to waste their powder. The consequence is, that when 

 the Grriquas kill one elephant, such marksmen as Gordon 

 Gumming and Andersson will bring at least twenty to the 

 ground, and this difference is the more remarkable as the 

 natives employ dogs to assist them, while the English trust to 

 themselves alone. It requires no little nerve to brave the 

 charge of the elephant, the scream or trumpeting of the brute, 

 when infuriated, being more like what the shriek of a steam- 

 whistle would be to a man standing on the dangerous part of a 

 railroad, than any other earthly sound, so that a horse unused 

 to it will sometimes stand shivering instead of taking his rider 

 out of danger, or fall paralysed by fear. 



Even the most experienced hunters have many dangers to 

 encounter while facing their gigantic adversary. Thus, on the 

 banks of the Zouga, Mr. Oswell had one of the most extra- 

 ordinary escapes from a wounded elephant perhaps ever re- 

 corded in the annals of the chase^ Pursuing the brute into the 

 dense thorny bushes met with on the margin of that river, and 

 to which the elephant usually flees for safety, he followed it 

 through a narrow pathway by lifting up some of the branches 

 and forcing his way through the rest ; but when he had just 

 got over this difficulty, he saw the elephant, whose tail he had 

 but got glimpses of before, now rushing full speed towards him. 

 There was then no time to lift up branches, so he tried to force 

 his horse through them. He could not effect a passage, and as 

 there was but an instant between the attempt and failure, the 

 hunter tried to dismount, but in doing this one foot was caught 

 by a branch, and the spur drawn along the animal's flank ; this 

 made him spring away, and throw the rider on the ground with 

 his face to the elephant, which, being in full chase, stiAl went 

 on. Mr. Oswell saw the huge fore-foot about to descend on 

 his legs, parted them, and drew in his breath, as if to resist 

 the pressure of the other foot, which he expected would next 

 descend on his body. His relief may be imagined, when he 

 saw the whole length of the under part of the enormous brute 

 pass over him, leaving him perfectly unhurt. 



In Abyssinia the elephant is hunted in an original manner. 

 The men who make this their chief occupation dwell constantly 

 in the woods, and live entirely upon the flesh of the animals they 

 kill. They are exceedingly dexterous, both on horseback and 



