THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 



of the brain. Similarly, should the angle be 

 greater than forty-five degrees, the aim must be 

 proportionately in front of, in place of at, the 

 bump behind the ear. In the case of an elephant 

 charging with his trunk coiled up in front of him 

 and his head held high, the proper aim is at the 

 curled trunk in a line with the brain. 



The question, then, which the beginner in 

 elephant shooting must ask himself before firing 

 is, " What spot upon the outside of the head 

 must I hit in order that my bullet may reach the 

 vital spot?" The answer is not nearly so simple 

 as it may appear, since very few men nowadays 

 can get practice enough at elephants to enable 

 them to kill these animals with anything approach- 

 ing to the certainty which was exhibited by the 

 practised hands of the old days, who received 

 rewards from Government for their destruction. 



I have not gone in for shooting elephants be- 

 hind the shoulder, and the late Mr. Sanderson, 

 after giving this method a fair trial, denounced it 

 as needlessly cruel. I shall therefore confine 

 myself to the usual Indian method of firing only 

 at the brain. Personally, I do not believe that a 

 shot damaging the top of the latter is necessarily 

 fatal in fact, judging by analogy, I am almost 

 certain that such is by no means sure to cause 

 death, but if shot through the middle or lower 

 portions of that organ, the animal dies instan- 

 taneously. 



Very frequently a bullet passing through the head 

 very close to the brain, or possibly through the top 



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