ii4 After Big Game in Central Africa 



scent me, and draws near a few steps, its ears open ; 

 then, changing its mind, it turns its back on me and 

 continues to amuse itself. 



At last the rope arrives, and the attempts to cap- 

 ture the animal begin. Young as he is, the tender 

 nursling easily knocks us over with its head ; as to its 

 feet, they are as heavy as those of a horse, and must 

 be carefully avoided. But I believe that at bottom 

 he wishes more to amuse himself than to escape, and 

 he submits to it with a good grace. We end by pass- 

 ing a strong rope round its neck and forefeet, and 

 tethering it to a tree. I send to the camp for con- 

 densed milk and the additional staff. 



Let us now see what has become of the first 

 elephant. Returning into the thicket, we advance with 

 precaution towards the place where I opened hostilities. 

 In the midst of the broken reeds lies a gray mass 

 stretched on its right side, and in its temple are two 

 minute holes, clear-cut as though by a punch, from 

 which flow two small streams of blood. The dead 

 elephant is enormous, and its tusks (weighing fifty-two 

 pounds and a half each), are very fine. 



Not often have I had such an occasion of firing 

 at the head with success. How many times in succes- 

 sion have I not tried this shot without other result 

 than bleeding the animal or exasperating it ! A 

 rather interesting study is to be written on the 

 question of the shot at the head, and I intend to 

 return to it in one of the chapters which follow. 



This elephant hunt was the last of the rainy 

 season of 1895, or rather the last which was success- 



