FLOOR AN ELEPHANT, BUT LOSE IT FOR A TIME 299 



the severing of which would cause it to die from loss of blood. 

 Sanderson says, " A shot that goes through the skull nto his 

 neck without touching the brain may kill him, but it will take 

 time." While the elephant was in this position I was only 

 about six paces off behind the tree already spoken of, vainly 

 endeavouring to extract the empty cartridge case which had 

 somehow expanded in the chamber, so that I should have 

 two shots instead of one to meet him with should he get up. 

 I did not succeed, however, in getting it out. In the meantime 

 my plucky hunter had been doing his best to hamstring the 

 unfortunate beast with his sharp "dah," or fighting sword; 

 this, however, owing to the frantic endeavours made by the 

 beast to regain his legs, he failed to do, and as I saw that the 

 elephant was about to regain his feet, having got on to his 

 fore-legs, I aimed for the forehead bump shot between and 

 below the eyes, and fired ; but whether through nervousness, 

 or excitement, I cannot say, my shot did not reach the brain, 

 nor did it seem to have the slightest effect, as, slowly regain- 

 ing his hind-legs, he swept majestically down the hill-side 

 without uttering a sound, evidently making a bee line for the 

 herd already referred to in the valley below. I was awfully 

 disgusted with my bad luck, or bad shooting, call it which you 

 will. We took on the tracks immediately, and followed on as 

 quickly as possible ; after about half-an-hour's tracking we 

 suddenly heard two shots fired down in the valley somewhere 

 in D's neighbourhood, which showed that he had got on to 

 something. An interval of about half-an-hour then elapsed, 

 when eight or ten shots were fired at intervals. My hunter, 

 then turning round to me in an excited state, said he was 

 convinced that D had come upon my elephant, which might 

 have been partially disabled by my last shot passing through 

 the forehead into the neck or body, and that he was now all 

 unconsciously killing my animal. This was too much for me ; 

 it was about mid-day, and the whole jungle had been 

 thoroughly disturbed by our shots, so I thought it useless 

 looking for game, and returned to camp, intending, if D had 

 not already killed the animal I had wounded, to take on the 

 tracks next day. Towards evening D returned to camp 

 triumphantly waving an elephant's tail in his hand, jubilant at 



