Effects of Modern Rifles. 107 



In a medium-sized -buck, such as a bushbuck, impala, or 

 reedbuck, a slit or a soft-nosed bullet will usually go right 

 through, and then there will be plenty of blood to follow. 



With elephant, rhino, and hippo, solid sheathed bullets 

 should invariably be used, and a rifle like the ygmm. 

 Mauser will sometimes drive a solid right through these 

 animals when a 'body shot is taken. I have known such a 

 bullet go right through an elephant's head, but this is 

 unusual. 



There seems to be such shock with modern bullets 

 driven at great velocity that the arteries and blood vessels 

 are seared, and bleeding does not take place. 



Rifles like the -280, used with a sharp expanding bullet, 

 seem to work great destruction in the flesh and tissues, 

 and this prevents external bleeding. Such a weapon is 

 doubtless most reliable for red deer and the smaller 

 antelopes and other game of the world, such as bighorn, 

 markhor, ibex, and bear ; but most men who have had a 

 good experience of African game like a heavier blunt bullet 

 of the old shape. 



In a later chapter I will have more to say about rifles, 

 and I only mention them here in connection with the blood 

 spoor they cause. 



The easiest time to track is, of course, just after rain, as 

 all old spoor will be washed over with sand or mud and 

 recent tracks will show up distinctly. 



Perhaps the hardest type of ground to spoor on is either 

 rocky land or ground covered with a thick carpet of dried 

 leaves, as the vegetation will often have to be turned aside 

 to detect the marks on the earth. 



If an animal is running hard there is little difficulty, as 

 the soil will be thrown back and to the sides ; and a 

 running sable antelope leaves a very distinct trail, as his 

 hoofs spread out more than do the majority of game. 

 However, no hard-hit animal will keep up a fast run for 

 more than a mile or two, and it will soon settle down 

 to an easy walk, and will usually take to pretty thick 

 cover. 



