xiii STIRRING TIMES AT LECUNDI 133 



was standing, most likely on the look out for his 

 pursuers. 



Owing to the shade of the tree and the 

 surrounding thicket of tall grass, a decisive shot at 

 the animal was impossible, for I could only discern 

 the top of one enormous ear, and the tip of his trunk, 

 the latter uplifted and sniffing for our scent. The 

 difficulty now was to decide on some satisfactory plan 

 of action, and I felt it would be inadvisable to tempt 

 the brute to charge us, for it is no easy matter to 

 place a bullet in a vital spot when the approaching 

 animal is almost entirely hidden by dense grass until 

 he is actually on you. Finding that the wind had 

 completely dropped, and noticing, about three 

 hundred yards to our left, a hillock from which it 

 was probable that I should be able to get a better 

 view of the elephant, we retraced our steps for some 

 thirty paces, and cautiously made our way towards 

 this eminence. From its summit, I could dimly 

 discern our quarry, so fixing a telescopic sight to my 

 light '318 rifle, I discovered that he had left the 

 shade of the tree and was now standing in the long 

 grass at an angle to the path which he had made. 

 Above the vegetation, I could clearly see his gigantic 

 black ears flapping, and being able, thereby, roughly 

 to calculate the position of his forehead, I decided 

 to risk a shot, knowing that if I deferred matters 

 much longer the failing light would make it impossible 



