BULLET AND SHOT 



reached camp, B. and I went out. The elephant 

 was, however, very badly placed, and he discovered 

 us before I had got well up to him, and a hastily 

 fired shot failed to stop him. 



We then went on the tracks of another single 

 elephant, which we followed for a long distance. 

 At last we knew from the signs that the quarry 

 could not now be very far ahead, and we soon 

 saw him moving slowly across our left front. I 

 saw no tusks, and whispered to B. to whom I 

 had allotted my 8-bore rifle, while I retained my 

 gun of similar bore in case of emergencies to 

 take care that he was not a mucknah, and B. 

 replied, " No, I can see his tusk." The next 

 moment, I saw a foot or so of thick tusk, the 

 rest being hidden in the grass. B. put up the 

 rifle, took a steady aim, and fired, and down went 

 the tusker. We ran in to his head at once, and, 

 by my advice, B. gave him two or three more 

 shots to make sure, but I believe that he was a 

 dead elephant when he fell. 



His tusks were a truly magnificent pair, weighing 

 127 Ibs., and their measurements are given in the 

 previous chapter. So long and incurved were they, 

 that one overlapped the other at the tips. 



A STUNNED TUSKER 



As an instance of the advisability of making 

 quite sure that an elephant is really dead, I may 

 quote an experience of Colonel now Brigadier 



242 



