io ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



my quarry without much difficulty. On the other 

 hand, if I merely wound an elephant and he bolts, 

 I make every effort to follow him up and finish 

 him, and I am glad to say that in the majority of 

 cases I accomplish this end. I adopt this procedure 

 apart from the question of obtaining ivory, for in 

 my hunting I have always endeavoured to bear 

 in mind the question of pain. Swift death is 

 comparatively little to any living thing long 

 drawn out pain is terrible, and when the question 

 of hunting is concerned, the professional is usually 

 too experienced a shot to entail any unnecessary 

 suffering on the animal he hunts, a compliment 

 which, I fear, cannot always be paid to the 

 amateur, or those who scurry through the country 

 with the object of writing a book. 



The following up of a wounded elephant, 

 especially if he joins a herd or crosses other 

 spoor and is losing little blood, calls up the finest 

 of skill in tracking. Where the remainder of the 

 herd have been feeding, his spoor may show that 

 he has been standing at rest ; his droppings are also 

 usually slightly apart from those of his companions ; 

 and lastly, the impressions of his feet may serve as 

 a means of identifying him from the rest of the herd 

 by showing his method of progression. There 

 is, also, always considerable risk in hunting a 

 wounded elephant down, for knowing that you 



