in TOUCH AND GO 35 



with one hand, while he pointed excitedly with the 

 other to where the elephant stood sniffing the air, 

 some thirty yards away. I made a desperate effort 

 to rise to my feet, but found, to my intense dismay, 

 that owing to the injuries I had received, this was 

 an impossibility. My back, head, and legs felt as if 

 they had been thoroughly beaten, my left hip was 

 terribly bruised, while my left eye was almost 

 closed up, but, judge of my annoyance, when I 

 discovered that my left thumb was dislocated and 

 my left arm and shoulder so badly strained that I 

 was quite unable to hold my rifle in position. In 

 the m$tte, I had dropped my heavy '577 elephant 

 rifle, so bidding Simba sit down beside me, I 

 managed, with some difficulty, to place my '318 

 across his shoulder and fire for the elephant's ear ; 

 but owing to the shaking I had received, I couldn't, 

 try as I would, keep my rifle steady, and the bullet, 

 instead of hitting him in the desired spot and 

 penetrating his brain, went wide and struck him 

 high up on the right side of the head. At once, he 

 slewed round and advanced towards us as if utterly 

 surprised to find that he had failed to annihilate his 

 enemy. So, telling Simba to hold my rifle barrel 

 firmly, I drove another cartridge into the breech 

 and waited patiently for my bulky opponent. 

 When he was within fourteen or fifteen yards of 

 us, I took aim and making a supreme effort to 



D 2 



