THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 



imaginary angles to the brain from different points 

 of view. 



In order to kill an elephant by the head -shot, 

 it is necessary that the brain should be penetrated 

 by the bullet ; if that be missed, very little harm 

 will be done to him, unless if by a very bad shot 

 his jaw should be broken, in which deplorable 

 event the poor creature might die a lingering 

 death from starvation ; or except in the case of 

 an animal standing on lower ground than the 

 sportsman and facing him, in which case the bullet 

 might go through the head and into the neck, 

 and so eventually cause death. 



It will be seen that what has to be done is first 

 to calculate the spot upon the huge head which 

 the bullet must strike in order to cut its way into 

 the brain, and then to hit that spot. The sports- 

 man must, in fact often with very little time for 

 calculation judge the angle to the brain, which 

 varies according to the position of the head, with 

 every motion of the latter, and also with the 

 relative height of the ground upon which the 

 elephant and he are respectively standing, and 

 then shoot with extreme accuracy. 



The simplest rule is, I think, to imagine a line 

 drawn through the head from one ear-hole to the 

 other, and then to try to place the bullet so that 

 it will pass just in front of the centre of that 

 imaginary line if the side shot be taken, or through 

 its centre if the elephant be facing directly towards 

 the sportsman. 



If the ground upon which both hunter and 



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