I40 SURROUNDED BY A WILD HERD. 



covers itself with mud and sand to keep off the mosquitos 

 and flies of all kinds, so I crept up very cautiously and soon 

 spied two very dirty-looking elephants standing under a tree. 

 I got up to about seventeen yards of them, and taking 

 aim at the brain of the nearest one, was actually pressing 

 the trigger of my rifle, when I heard the clink of a chain 

 just in time to save its life. I firmly believe that these two 

 elephants had covered themselves with mud and sand so 

 as not to be recognised and attacked by the wild herd 

 around them. 



There were about sixteen of the wild ones, all females 

 with young ones, which accounted for their being so trouble- 

 some. I had great difficulty in getting up to them, and 

 in my first attempt failed to kill one ; I had to run some 

 distance to intercept them as they were now thoroughly 

 alarmed, and rushing through the grass which in some places 

 was so high that I could only see the tops of their backs ; 

 suddenly an old female either saw or smelt me, and came 

 charging through the grass right at me ; to run would have 

 been dangerous, as there were no trees to get behind, so 

 I waited till I could see her eyes ; on she came, and when 

 she was not more than eight yards from me I let drive and 

 planted a ball exactly between her eyes ; but to my horror she 

 did not fall ; there was a stream behind me, and the hop step 

 and a jump I made over that stream would, I think, have 

 won me a prize at any of the athletic games of modern times. 

 Nothing like an enraged elephant at one's back to make a 

 long jump. As I jumped I looked over my shoulder, thinking 

 the beast was upon me, and I saw that she had fallen dead. 

 I immediately recrossed the stream, and with my other barrel 

 knocked over another which was trying to pass its fallen 



