134 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



to take definite aim. Adjusting the telescopic sight 

 to four hundred yards, I fired for what I took to be 

 the centre of his forehead, but, the bullet striking him 

 too high, he uttered a shrill scream of rage and 

 charged in our direction. As he came on, I gave him 

 a second bullet in the face, which deflected him from 

 his course and sent him crashing through the reeds 

 to our left. Fearing that I was now going to lose 

 him, I got Ntawasie, a fine strong, strapping fellow, 

 to hoist me on his shoulders, and from that coign 

 of vantage I quickly emptied the three remaining 

 cartridges out of my magazine into the departing 

 elephant, trusting to reach a vital spot or further 

 disable him, but they failed to bring him down, and, 

 shortly afterwards, the bush had again swallowed 

 him up. Suddenly we heard a terrified yell and a 

 distinctly human one coming from the direction 

 which the animal had taken, and, Simba, turning to 

 me, said excitedly : ' Master, the elephant has met 

 our men who are following us up,' and his conjec- 

 ture, as we subsequently discovered, proved to be 

 correct. What had actually happened was as 

 follows. My cook and my other boy, Usufu, 

 fearing I might be obliged to pass a night without 

 food or water, had hastily packed a few necessaries 

 together and followed us up, and on hearing the 

 firing had departed from our tracks and veered to 

 the right, only to meet the elephant rushing madly 



