88 Wild Life in Central Africa. 



I hope he will not feel annoyed with me for describing 

 his adventures with wild beasts ; but as he refrains from 

 mentioning these facts in his own writings, I see no reason 

 why they should not be put on record, especially as some 

 people who have mentioned them make mistakes in the 

 details. 



Since I have lived in Central Africa a good number of 

 sportsmen have been killed by elephants, and a sad case 

 was that of a Mr. Johnstone, who was killed about the year 

 1904, near the Luangwa river, in North-Eastern Rhodesia, 

 by a big bull elephant he had wounded and followed up. I 

 heard the evidence taken down which was given by some 

 of his boys. 



He wounded this elephant, and, on following, came up 

 to it and gave it several more bullets. It then attacked 

 him and knocked him down, and, in killing him, it broke 

 one of its tusks into several pieces. I expect the ground 

 was hard or rocky, and, when it struck, the tusk went right 

 through him and hit the hard ground. Some of the natives 

 said it also tore him in pieces, but I cannot say whether 

 this is correct, though cases have been known of elephants 

 treating a body in this way. Anyhow, he was in a frightful 

 state, and his remains were brought to the native com- 

 missioner at Nawalia, and are buried there. This station 

 has now been abandoned, and I expect the grave is 

 untended and overgrown with vegetation. Such has 

 been the fate of several other men I knew or have 

 heard of. 



Mr. Shaw, of the King's African Rifles, was badly hurt by 

 a wounded elephant in Nyasaland, and he was taken to 

 Fort Jameson hospital, twenty-two miles off, where he died 

 shortly afterwards. This was his first elephant, and it is 

 possible he may have acted recklessly in following it. 

 However, men of great experience have been killed, for a 

 Mr. Goddard, who had shot 1 10 elephants, was killed by the 

 next one he fired at. I have been told that he felt his nerve 

 going and had a presentiment that he would come to grief 

 soon, and so it happened. 



