THE ELEPHANT 23 



that it can be possible to approach so very close, in forest 

 or bush, to so huge an animal without seeing it. On one 

 occasion, hearing some shots near the road, the writer 

 left the path to investigate their cause ; he was pre- 

 ceded by a native, who presently ran into, almost to the 

 point of touching, a cow elephant, standing under a tree ; 

 the wind was of course blowing from her, and she had 

 no idea of human presence. Although at the moment 

 we did not anticipate seeing elephants, and were pressing 

 on with another object, it was still remarkable how the 

 beast seemed, as it were, to loom up only when we were 

 close upon it. 



Elephants are good swimmers, and rough or hilly 

 country offers no impediment to their movements. They 

 feed principally during the night or early morning, 

 standing about in shady places in the heat of the day, 

 although when used to being much disturbed, they often 

 keep moving slowly on all day, with only occasional 

 short halts. In hot weather they drink every night ; 

 when it is cooler less often, and their arrival at the water 

 is usually between nightfall and midnight. Their sight 

 is very poor, but whether their hearing is also, in reality, 

 indifferent, or whether the rumbling noises which every 

 individual in the herd is continually making render them 

 callous to other sounds, seems uncertain. Their scent 

 is extremely acute, and the flexible trunk is waved to 

 and fro to catch the slightest whiff of tainted air. There 

 do not appear to be any records of African elephants 

 having bred in captivity. 



The most experienced hunters favour the head shot, 

 which is taken in a straight line between the eye and 

 the ear, and just in front of the latter ; this, if at the 

 right angle, kills the animal stone dead. In old days the 

 Boer mounted hunters used to practise what was known 



