SHOULDER-SHOT FOR ELEPHANTS 291 



some 10 or 15 yards, have stood close up alongside the 

 platform to receive the shot, which had been fired at an 

 angle up into the trees. I _could not have fired in my im- 

 mediate rear as the men were all sleeping about there, besides, 

 I should have had to shoot through a blanket. A shot fired 

 over Clements to my right would also have been dangerous, as 

 a number of villagers, hunters, and the two Karens were sleep- 

 ing in that direction, and again, a shot on the opposite side on 

 my left would have bored another hole through a waterproof 

 sheet. The perforation of a sheet or blanket would of course 

 have been a very insignificant matter indeed, if I had thought 

 there was the least danger in firing as I did. An inquest was 

 afterwards held by Mr. C. E. Daniel, then Assistant-Commis- 

 sioner of the Shan States of Momeik, at which it was shown 

 that my actions were under the circumstances perfectly 

 natural. 



There are four or five shots by which an elephant may be 

 killed ; these are well known, and have already been pointed 

 out in detail in an earlier chapter of this book, by Colonel 

 Pollok. The shoulder-shot by reaching the heart, which lies 

 exactly between and protected by the massive bones of either 

 fore-leg, was a favourite shot of mine. The heart may be 

 reached without touching the shoulder-bones by firing at an 

 angle behind the elephant, or with a raking shot forward into 

 the chest through the small of the ribs. Should the heart be 

 missed by this shot the lungs are penetrated. I have always 

 found that two well-placed bullets from an 8-bore behind the 

 shoulder brought an elephant to a standstill in a few minutes. 

 Most of the elephants bagged by me in Upper Burma were 

 killed by the shoulder shot, although I quite agree with the 

 late Mr. Sanderson, who says that head shots are the poetry, 

 and body shots the prose of elephant shooting. Elephants 

 as a rule are not given to charging unless suddenly confronted 

 by a human being. When wounded, however, and in fairly 

 thick cover they are most dangerous, as without the slightest 

 warning, although seemingly rendered hors de combat, they 

 will spin round and charge through undergrowth, and then 

 woe betide the sportsman or follower who, whilst fleeing, 

 should make a false step, trip, and fall, for he would in the 



