THE ELEPHANT. 189 



to abound with elephants. The hunter told him that 

 he was not deceived ; that three years before he had 

 met with more than three thousand on the banks of 

 the river, but that since that time an immense number 

 had been destroyed. 



Our traveller, who delighted in this life of adven- 

 ture, was astonished to hear the hunter express how 

 much he desired to quit this wandering existence, and 

 to establish himself quietly on his farm. 



"I should have thought," said Eose to him, "that 

 a peaceable life would appear very monotonous to you 

 after so many daily emotions." " No, truly," replied 

 the hunter; "I have a wife and little children, and I 

 have been constrained to do this by necessity and by the 

 debts which I have to pay : soon all these difficulties 

 will be surmounted. In the space of twenty months I 

 have killed eight hundred elephants. Four hundred 

 have been brought down by the good gun which I still 

 carry, but it will be with great pleasure that I shall 

 cease to make use of it. How could I count the num- 

 ber of times when the elephants, seeking to take ven- 

 geance on me, have found themselves within a step of 

 the place where I was crouching ? One day I had 

 just fired into a numerous group ; the sound was 

 repeated by the echo and deceived the- elephants, 

 whi ch flying in the opposite direction, passed into the 

 bush where my Hottentots and I were concealed Tho 



