WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



away from human habitations. A Greek trader, hving 

 at a station in Moschi, told me that he once killed a 

 huge male elephant almost within sight of the station. 

 The natives had observed the animal for days, and re- 

 ported his presence to the merchant. The officers of 

 the station told me of similar experiences. 



The reckless killing of these valuable animals should 

 be stopped before it is too late. A good beginning has 

 been made by Count Goetzen, the German governor 

 of the Moschi district, who has issued ordinances for- 

 bidding in no equivocal terms the hunting and killing 

 of elephants in this province. 



The elephant is capable of developing extraordinary 

 speed, as I have often had occasion to observe. The 

 usual gait is neither a trot nor a gallop, but a kind of 

 shuffle. This may be quickened into a shuffling trot. 

 The animal moves on its path noiselessly, like the 

 rhinoceros and hippopotamus; on the dry ground of 

 the steppe, however, a trotting herd produces a thun- 

 der like rumbling noise. 



The elephants are excellent mountain-climbers, and 

 they, as well as the rhinoceroses, have left their traces in 

 the softer kinds of stone on the very top of high moun- 

 tains. Their paths often lead over steep mountain- 

 saddles, and they frequently shorten their marches by 

 sliding downhill in a sitting posture. Although they 

 are bulky, they are at the same time agile and graceful, 

 as any one may observe by visiting the circus, where 



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