98 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



perceptibly under the furious onslaught, appeared 

 for some moments as if he were going to fall, but, 

 recovering his equilibrium, and as if fully intent on 

 avenging the injury, returned the charge and dealt 

 his foe a crushing blow on the shoulder, side- 

 ways, with his tusk. The punishment must have 

 been severe, for the younger elephant at once 

 backed out of the fray, but, regaining his courage, 

 pluckily resumed the contest by rushing forward and 

 giving the big fellow a tremendous prod in the 

 shoulder, the force of the thrust snapping off a piece 

 of his tusk. This broken portion I afterwards found, 

 and keep as a memento of the only elephant fight I 

 ever saw. 



Seeing that the remaining bulls were growing 

 uneasy, and fearful lest they should get a whiff of 

 tainted air, I decided to bring this unique contest to 

 a close, so raising my rifle and taking careful aim at 

 the large tusker, who was standing broadside on and 

 presenting a perfect shot, I fired, dropping him 

 instantly with a bullet through the brain. I im- 

 mediately emptied my second barrel into his erstwhile 

 antagonist, breaking his shoulder and snatching my 

 light rifle from Simba, ended the animal's career. 

 The remaining elephants, scared by the fusillade, 

 had already disappeared, so before following them 

 up, we examined the slain. On the larger one's 

 shoulder, we found a huge gash about three inches 



