THE ROYAL ELEPHANT HUNT AT THE KNYSNA. 201 



slacken his pace, but with ears and tail erect he 

 rushed on right in the direction of the Duke, who was 

 standing in the centre of his line. ! _Jhere was something 

 very peculiar in the way the elephant advanced. It 

 did not look like either a trot or a gallop, but more 

 resembled the gliding motion of a ship in smooth 

 water, as if the immense monster were bearing down 

 under a press of sail before the wind. It has been 

 put into the Cape papers that the Duke went on 

 his knee to fire, but nothing of the kind occurred. 

 He coolly took his large gun from the hand of young 

 Atkinson, who had been carrying it for him, and 

 did not pull a trigger until the elephant was within 

 less than twenty yards. He then discharged both 

 barrels in quick succession, sending one bullet into 

 the animal's head just above the right eye, and then 

 hitting him with the second bullet a little lower 

 down, between the trunk and the root of the right 

 tusk. No one could possibly have been more steady 

 and deliberate than the Duke was vhen he fired, 

 and it was fortunate for himself that he was able to 

 display such pluck ; for he allowed the elephant to get 

 so close, that if he had been at all nervous, and his aim 

 less sure, his own life and the lives of some of those at 

 his side would inevitably have been sacrificed. As 

 soon as the elephant received the Duke's two bullets 

 he stopped in his career, shook his head, and reeled 



