2 5 6 After Big Game in Central Africa 



moderate pace, and at the moment I perceive them 

 we are issuing from a thicket on their heels they 

 are crossing one of the open spaces in the direction of 

 another clump of trees. The large male is in the 

 middle, and it seems to me that there are only females 

 round him. One of the latter a large, old animal 

 is in the rear. I could easily overtake her and fire 

 if I wished ; but I covet the giant which exceeds all 

 his congeners in height by 2|- feet, and is big in 

 proportion : such a monster as I have rarely seen. 



The wind is in our favour. I decide to await a 

 more timely opportunity for firing : so I follow the 

 elephants at a distance into the thicket, which they 

 simply cross. The male, in stopping to eat, loses a little 

 ground, and I think that perhaps it will end by being 

 last. That is, in fact, what happens, for upon reaching 

 another open space I see it in the rear in company 

 with the old female, who now looks quite small by his 

 side. Running parallel to him, I arrive on a level 

 about ten yards away. The cruppers of an elephant 

 preceding him prevent me from seeing if he has 

 tusks. If only he has ! Stopping for a moment and 

 holding my breath, I fire two shots with the 8-bore 

 at intervals of one second ; then I make off as fast as 

 my legs will carry me in order not to be trampled on ; 

 for at the same moment the whole herd shows signs 

 of irritation, and the females begin trotting about in 

 all directions, retracing their steps and executing a 

 quadrille, the figures of which were none the less 

 interesting for not being regular. An old female 

 without tusks, driven wild by the reports and uttering 



