260 After Big Game in Central Africa 



my regret, the skull of my big elephant was left 

 behind. But the tusks accomplished the journey. 

 They form, to-day, two of the finest objects in my 

 collection, and are the admiration of all who see 

 them. 



In the preceding chapters I have narrated to the 

 reader the principal episodes in my elephant-hunting 

 experiences. May he have taken some interest in 



ELEPHANT SKULL. 



them ! Certainly elephant-hunting is the greatest 

 and noblest sport in the world. The following 

 is the opinion of the celebrated English sportsman, 

 Sir Samuel Baker, one of the greatest authorities on 

 this subject : 



It is the fashion for some people to assert that the elephant 

 is an innocent and harmless creature that, like the giraffe, it 

 is almost a sin to destroy it. I can only say that during eight 

 years' experience in Ceylon and nearly five years in Africa I have 



